Pastoral Message

   Spoiler Alert!  The last Sunday of this month is Palm/Passion Sunday!  It is still light out at 5:30pm!  I don’t care about the groundhog of last month, spring will make an appearance despite the snow!  We are officially and fully into Lent although I feel like the whole world has been experiencing Lent since the end of February/ beginning of March 2020.  We have sacrificed freedoms and celebrations, gatherings and singing for quite a while now.  We have been hearing for so long that there is a light at the end of this tunnel - that some have feared that the promised light was some sort of rumor or empty promise.
        Our country, our state, our community has experienced such loss and grief - we mourn the losses and we celebrate the “essential” that had before 2020 been taken for granted.  As we long for “normal,” let us pause and think for a moment what we mean by “normal.”   What have you learned in these last 50 weeks that may change your hope for what we will emerge into when we leave our isolation behind? 
        Local Covid cases are down.  The school reports regularly now “no new cases today.”  The number of folks that I know have been partially or fully vaccinated grows steadily.  When our Church Leadership Team deems it is the right time for in-person worship at Alplaus UMC, I will be ready!  I am certain that the time will come.
 
Blessings,
Pastor Kristi