|
First Presbyterian Church of Mount Vernon Ohio |
|
106 North Gay Street Mount Vernon OH 43050 740-393-1326 Office Hours: 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. M-F |
|
Sunday Schedule
8:30 a.m. Contemporary Worship
9:45 a.m. Christian Education for all ages
11:00 a.m. Traditional Worship |
|
Sunday Schedule
8:30 a.m. Contemporary Worship
9:45 a.m. Christian Education for all ages
11:00 a.m. Traditional Worship |
|
Welcome | First Time Visitor | Mission Statement | Pastor's Message | News | Life Groups | Music | Programs | Calendar | Committees | Children's Ministries | Youth News | Daily Readings | Worship Audios | Worship Videos | Contact Us | Helpful Links | |
|
Pastor's Message |
|
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” |
|
There are many wonderful things happening in and through our congregation right now. I regularly witness the activity of God in the lives and relationships of our members and friends. Much of what I see is not visible to the entire church. It is especially difficult to share the spiritual growth that God is causing within individual hearts and wills. However, there are times where the growth that God is creating becomes visible. These visible signs are in fact the tip of a spiritual iceberg that God is growing in our midst.
One visible sign of God’s work can be seen in our recent new members. First, we received sixteen new members this month, this was a largest class in recent memory. But the individual new members show us much more of what God is doing than their number reveals. As exciting to me as the number of folks who chose to join our congregation is the fact that we had others who participated in the class but chose not to join at this time. . . let me explain.
Over the last several years we have been exploring and engaging in ever greater intentionality. (The 40 Days of Purpose that we engaged in last fall were an outgrowth of that.) The Session and I have been specifically discussing the meaning of membership for about two years. (My recent sermon series entitled, “The Meaning of Membership” and our current series, “Growing in Spiritual Maturity” are an outgrowth of that.) In our most recent new members class I spent more |
|
time than in any previous class underscoring the fact that, according to our Book of Order, membership equals ministry.
The folks who attended the class but chose not to join are continuing to worship with us. They are, in many cases, already engaged in activities outside of worship. Some participate in our service to the community. Others are engaged in ministries within the congregation. However, for several different reasons, they were not yet ready to embark on membership. I believe that this is one of those “hard to see” signs of spiritual growth in our midst. I believe this because the sixteen folks who have joined the church are all very aware of the importance of engaging in ministry as a part of the new membership here.
We are a congregation that is very blessed. We are growing in membership. More importantly, we are growing in ministry. Speaking for just a moment about members who have joined the church over the last several years, I encourage you to think about this. Among the actively serving Elders there are members who have joined in the last three years. Among the actively serving Deacons there are members who have joined in the last three years. And, leading brand new ministries are members who have joined in the last three years. As you read the new member profiles in the newsletter (written by a new member from one class ago, Elizabeth Wiley), I encourage you to pay attention to the activity of God in our midst.
In Christ, Jonathan |