Pastor’s Message June 2026

Hello one year anniversary!  We have made it through each of the past twelve months including the beautiful turning of all four seasons!  It feels like it went so fast.  I am curious how you reflect back on my being your pastor for a year?

 

Here are a few of my highlights.

 

1) Welcome.  I can now authenticate the genuine welcome our family first experienced as summer visitors three years ago.  We felt good vibes joining you on our summer vacation.  And that was not a fluke, or a fake, or an engineered trick of church greeter training.  You all are simply a great group of people who enjoy being with each other and including others.

 

2) Historic.  Our church is alive with a force propelling us forward.  I think there is a pioneering spirit written into the DNA of our church that never gives up, keeps working hard, and looks for the new opportunity.  Sure…there is a tenacity that also won’t easily let go of tried and true methods and practices, but that determination and grit has built three buildings, hired dozens upon dozens of pastors, and performed even more baptisms, weddings and funerals.

 

3) Bridge.  Of course I will toss in the word of the year for 2026!  But it is clear we are the Bridge.  We are connecting years of past history to this year, today, and now on into the future.

 

4) Fun.  If we are not having fun…what is the point – and that is the point!  I have enjoyed being with you all in worship, in outings to Buck Lake, in Christmas singinging, in planting acorns, in freezing weather as well as sweltering hot, in memorials, maybe in board meetings, in kitchen clean up, and everything in between.  It has been a joy to simply be with you all through all the days of my first year as your pastor.

 

5) A cord of 3 strands is not easily broken.  And sometimes…two is too much!  Susie and I started out the year together as the team we have been for many years.  But this church was already a strong cord made up of many people, bonded together, and carrying on the work of  creating church…which has been a beautiful surprise.

 

6) Growing in God’s Love.  Finally, this first year has helped me grow in God’s love.  I have thought about God in new ways and opened up to new territory because I have been with you, learned from your stories of faith, and discovered new things from you.  Thank you!  And I hope the same has been true for you because of me popping into your life.

 

And now Summer!  Hooray!  Warmth!  More fun!  Meals that Matter!  Book studies and more!

Pastor Tim Grade