Dear FPCSA Family & Friends,
Yesterday I received my USA stimulus financial payment. This morning I sent the full amount to FPCSA.
I’m not telling you this so you’ll think I’m some great philanthropist. Quite the contrary. Because I am still employed, I do not feel comfortable profiting from the economic crisis in which we find ourselves. Churches across the country are feeling the domino effect of this crisis. Since most church budgets are based on the faithful giving of members and friends, and since many church members are adversely affected by layoffs and furloughs, congregations across America are being hit hard. Yesterday I met on zoom with pastors in our Presbytery. Many spoke of the financial crisis in their ministries and how they were not sure how they could continue.
FPCSA is not immune. We’re running about 50% of our normal income at this time. That is why I chose to use my stimulus money to assist our church family.
If you have been hit by layoffs or loss of work, please do not feel obligated to maintain your pledge; use the stimulus money for your needs. That is what it is there for. However, if you are continuing to receive your normal income and this stimulus money is a bonus, I ask you to consider using your stimulus money to assist your church family.
FPCSA is still receiving checks in the USPS mail. Thank you to all who have faithfully maintained your pledges. We have also added an online giving option. It takes a few minutes to set it up the first time around, but once it’s set up, it’s fast and convenient. The link is below or you can go to the church website: fpcsa.com
Online Giving: https://fpcsa.churchcenter.com/giving
Another comment by the Presbytery pastors yesterday is that they are tired. Most of us are maintaining the pre-COVID-19 workload, but we’ve added a host of new ways to communicate and reach out. These new skills take time, research, trial and error to figure out. It’s exhausting. And to have it happen during the time of Holy Week only exacerbates the stress.
Your church staff is definitely feeling the stress. Poor Ms. Sandra was hired a short time before the stay-at-home order was made. She barely met a few children before the church suspended gatherings. Although she said she was social media handicapped, she’s worked hard to reach out to our children. With the help of Genesis, Ms. Sandra launched a private facebook group for the children’s ministry; she also started to build bridges between FPCSA families and La Semilla families. She’s doing great!
Similarly, Xander‘s work with youth has expanded. The youth ministry has a different activity pretty much 6 days a week to connect with our young people, from check-ins to online board game night to physical workouts. They are working hard to stay connected.
If you have children who are elementary or youth aged, please be sure they are taking advantage of these resources to connect with their leaders and their peers. All of us are feeling isolated and disconnected. We’re doing all we can to provide opportunities to connect.
For adults, we have Morning Coffee with Pastor Lance every morning on the church facebook page. On Wednesdays we have Family Friendly Fellowship time at 5:00 p.m. We have the Pastor’s Bible Study on Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. And live stream Sunday Message on the church facebook page at 10:00 a.m. Our Sanctuary Singers section leaders are also uploading music to the facebook page meant to bless and encourage us. For parents, if there’s a better time to connect for the Family Friendly Fellowship time, please let me know. I was hoping we would get more families, but we’re not.
Please fill out the Connection Cards so we know how best to connect with you. Also, you can let me know on the connection card what prayer requests you might have. I’m already praying for you. But it would be helpful to know how I can pray more intentionally. So let me know how I can be praying for you.
Connection Card: https://fpcsa.com/connection-card
I’m really proud of our church family and how we’re caring for each other. On several occasions different people have delivered groceries to our more vulnerable members. I really appreciate you all so very much!
Finally, I know he would prefer to be behind the scenes, but I want to give a shout-out to Scott Overpeck. Much of what we are implementing is what he does for a living in his consultation work. And he’s helping us gratis. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude. Thank you, Scott!
I look forward to connecting with you soon!