UPDATE: 10/29/20
Blessings, Hilmar Covenant Family,
We have several reminders for this Sunday Worship Gathering.
First of all, we are meeting indoors! Please enter through the Family Center Main Doors (facing East) and be ready for the same COViD screening we have utilized since we reopened. We are still committed to providing an excellent livestream experience. Please prepare communion elements if you are participating from home.
Second, it is Brittany Stonestreet's last Sunday as our Minister of Worship and Connections. She will be traveling by car across the country. We ask you to consider bringing an encouragement card for her as well as a gift certificate for food or lodging that she can use as she heads to her family home. We will also have an appreciation and prayer time during the worship service.
After our worship service, we will have a wonderful, socially distanced of our new Heritage Hall. We will celebrate the hard work that Brittany, and others, have invested in making this a special room to remember God's faithfulness through the history of Hilmar Covenant.
Finally, because we have so many wonderful activities planned for Sunday, we ask you to move your clocks back an hour Saturday evening and enjoy the end of daylight savings with an extra hour of sleep.
May you find peace in the presence of Christ throughout your week.
Rev. Bud Locke, transitional pastor
Hilmar Covenant Church
bud@hilmarcovenant.org
209/668-0400 office
209/406-7101 mobile
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Update: 10/20/2020
Even though I have been a part of the Hilmar Covenant Church community for a very brief time, I am enjoying my time with your staff, Council and congregation. I anticipate the day when I can interact even more with you and the Hilmar community. You are proving yourselves to be a joyous and faithful people.
As we end the month of October and head into November, I have some updates for you:
- Since Merced County is in the RED category regarding COViD-19 transmission, churches have been approved to meet at 25% of room capacities or 100 people, whichever is less. This means that on November 1st we will be moving our weekly worship service into the gym. We are discussing how we might provide a worship experience that is safe, relevant and interactive; develop a deep ministry to kids and families; and prepare ourselves to extended ministry in the future as our status changes. If you are interested in being a part of this conversation and assisting us in this effort, email me (bud@hilmarcovenant.org)
- Our Nominating Committee is asking for recommendations for people to serve on the 2021-23 Leadership Council. I am sure you know people in our congregation who have demonstrated lives full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom. These are the people you would love to see God use to influence the future of Hilmar Covenant Church. Please email those names to nominations@hilmarcovenant.org.
- On a sadder note, Brittany Stonestreet has tendered her resignation as our Minister or Worship and Connections with two weeks notice. In my short time knowing her, I have grown to admire her gentle spirit that seeks to hear and see God. I love how she passionately desires to bring our online and live congregation into an encounter with the Risen Savior. More details will be forthcoming about our recognition of Brittany when we celebrate how God has brought her to Hilmar Covenant for this season. I have already prayerfully begun the process of seeking a transitional worship leader as the Council seeks God's direction for our next steps. Click here for Brittany's letter.
Finally, last Sunday I spoke about the centrality of the Word of God. We looked at how the urgent is rarely the most important and that the most important is rarely urgent. I believe that in this time of great transition, fluidity and even chaos, our call is to remain committed to the "mooring line" of God's Word. Let's not let actions and busyness distract us from our true purpose as a church: to dive deep into the Living Word, Jesus Christ!
