A Word from Pastor Nathan
If your ears were burning on Tuesday at 3pm, it’s because I was talking about you. My colleague said, “I hear you celebrating the courage of your congregation.” Wow. She nailed it. I told her, “You just gave me the theme of the next newsletter article—celebrating the courage of WACC.” Sunday, February 28, 2021, will mark our 128th week of mutual ministry, 50 of which have been spent in the context of a global pandemic, which is 39%. We cannot ignore the grief that surrounds the loss we feel; we have to pay attention to it and name it. However, I want to celebrate your courage.
Here are some specifics: You’ve learned how to navigate YouTube. When we began offering worship opportunities online, you figured out how to watch on phones, pads, and smart TVs. Over time, you started engaging in the live chat during the premieres. Though we flew by the seat of our pants during the first months of the pandemic, our Worship Committee discerned how to make the Advent season beautiful through a Christmas tree, poinsettias, and the Advent wreath. Music has also been a huge part of our Advent services. While we weren’t able to host the EHS Madrigals, Evan Collins arranged music and contracted with musicians, all which made our worship meaningful.
The Christian Education Committee has sponsored Tuesday morning Zoom gatherings. Lisa Ward and Chris Baumgartner have gathered people to read and discuss devotions from The Upper Room. Debbie Walker has recorded Children Worship & Wonder stories, too, which made her specialized ministry accessible to children and adults from our doorsteps.
How about those bi-weekly social hours that Brenda Keenan hosts and the January pandemic mixer? And the repair from the flood, or the 27—twenty-seven!!—people who zoomed in for the study of Dear White Christians on Monday? Wow! I’m in awe.
If someone from the present would’ve written our late-September 2018 congregation with news of all that would transpire over the next 128 weeks, we would’ve never believed the tale. “Who, us?” we might have asked. Looking back, I don’t think we knew what we had in us, but if we had to name it, I think COURAGE would work. Faith requires courage; change requires courage; life itself requires courage. I’m celebrating your courage, Washington Avenue, and giving thanks for your courage that inspires my faith and excites me for our future of shared ministry.
Courageously yours,
