Pastor's Message - September 2026

~A Sense of Past and Future~

“God has put a sense of past and future into their minds,

yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

~Ecclesiastes 3:11

Dear Members and Friends,

Another summer winds down, another school year begins, another harvest season is upon us–though few of us know much about that. September afternoons feel much the same as August, blazing and bright. It’s the morning and evening air that foretells a bittersweet truth: winter is not far off. It’s not just the cooler temperatures, bearing hints of impending snow. It’s also that crisp, fresh aroma in the late and early air. There are still tomatoes on the vine, but it smells like the start of autumn. I’m grateful to live in a place where the ever-changing seasons remind us of the cyclical nature of all life.

Any life has its seasons, which in turn are ordered by regular cycles. Infancy, childhood, teenage years, stasis, old age. In each of these seasons, you’ve got regular cycles of holidays, and the various months with their different kinds of weather and skies, birthdays and anniversaries. And each day of the week has its own style as well. (Remember Rain Man? “Fish sticks on Wednesdays.”) Sundays just keep a-coming. My life (probably unlike yours) is largely spent in a weekly cycle of preparing for Sunday. Churches go through cycles, too. We journey each year through lazy summers

to Kickoff Sunday, Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter.

What I’m trying to say is that the rhythm of church life enriches our individual lives with a sense of past and future, but most importantly with a sense of the present moment. The act of gathering with our chosen community on a weekly basis is good for us, whether we feel its redemptive power or not. Weekly corporate worship is a lot like

physical exercise: You don’t know how much better it’s making you until something unexpected arises and you find you’ve got the strength to handle it.

We hope to see you back at church in this fall season. Kickoff Sunday will be a little bit different this year. On Sunday, September 13, instead of our usual breakfast before worship, we’ll be holding a brunch after worship. At that time, we’ll have guided discussions at our tables about what we learned at our 75th anniversary Speaker Series, what we envision for our church, and how we might lean into the social changes as a congregation. Don’t worry. You don’t need to have attended the Speaker Series to take part in the discussion.

As we start the cycle again, I’m grateful to be making this journey with you.

Christ’s Peace,

~Brian