Dear St. John’s friends and family,
I cannot express to you how much I miss being in community with you. We have certainly entered into some strange times. My prayer is that you continue to stay safe and well, while still staying plugged in to your church home through a variety of ways. Your St. John’s staff and clergy have been working hard to find new ways to keep us in community throughout these past several weeks. Honestly, I feel like I’m in a whirlwind, like the tornado has come and picked us all up and we’re spinning around with hope that we’ll be spit out in Oz soon. This isn’t anything anyone could have expected or planned for.
Though the state is slowly opening back up, our bishop has requested that United Methodist churches in the Texas Annual Conference remain closed for another month. This leaves me with a roller coaster of emotions. As soon as I heard that churches could open and expand capacity, my mind began reeling with all kinds of ideas of how to meet and yet remain safe. And then worries took over. How can we be safe enough? Is it even possible? And then this morning, while on a conference call with our District Superintendent and local United Methodist clergy, it was very clear that we will stay the course. Very little will change this month for St. John’s UMC or the other United Methodist Churches across the conference. We will continue to worship virtually. Continue to meet virtually. Continue to call one another and write cards of encouragement and thanksgiving. We will try new things and launch new Bible studies through Zoom. We will lament another the loss of being separated and we will celebrate that our church family is safe and well. We will count our blessings and look for God at work in our lives with each passing day.
I am as disappointed as you are, yet I am also relieved that we have one more month of separation. I want you to stay safe and well. To open up the church doors now, is to open up the possibility that we could pass on the virus from one to the other. Please continue to use every precaution when you are out and about. Stay safe, wear your mask in public, wash your hands a lot, sanitize, stay at least 6 feet away from others and spend intentional time with Jesus. And pray for our first responders and all of the people working in the medical field. They need lots of encouragement.
Remember that the separation is temporary. This “temporary” may be longer than we expected, yet it is still temporary. We still have each other. We still have faith, hope and love. We still have a myriad of ways to reach out to one another and share God’s amazing love. Even in a pandemic, we are a blessed people! I encourage you to spend lots of time with Jesus, I just don’t want you moving in with him on a permanent basis any time soon!
Lastly, I want you to know that I love you. I am honored to be your pastor. Thank you for the love and encouragement that you extend to me, to Rev. Cindy and to the staff. You are a great blessing! Thank you for continuing to support your church through your faithful generosity. In so many ways, you are expressing the attributes of God in a trying time. You are living out kingdom principles and expressing your faith in a variety of ways. You are representing God’s peace in the storm. You have helped me be more courageous. And I thank you.
Grace and peace,
Rev. Stephanie Hughes