Dear Church, Thank You
Pastor Joanie On Sunday, the choir sang these words from Heather Sorenson’s anthem “These Walls“:
Let these walls tell the story of Jesus lifted high.
Let our praises rise above this roof and reach to heaven’s sky.
Let this Church show the power of broken lives made whole,
of families restored with faith in one accord within these walls.
Our hearts are swollen with joy after our Homecoming celebration. It was a joy to be together to celebrate the 130 years of life of Hood Memorial Christian Church. On Sunday our church family was made up of first time guests, families new to the church in the last few months, members for 90 years or more and even folks that grew up in the church and came back to celebrate how God is still at work in Dunn with this community of faith. What a beautiful testimony of this church family. Truly our praises rose above the roof to reach our God!
On a personal note, we want to say Thank You. Homecoming to us means we have found a place where we belong! Homecoming means we have found a church family with unconditional love. The voice of the choir sang, “Let this Church show the power of broken lives made whole, of families restored with faith in one accord…” Those lyrics really hit home!!
Hood Memorial has been a family of faith that has been instrumental in healing a lot of brokenness in our lives. The restoration of many features of the building at Hood Memorial has coincided with the restoration of our family in a powerful way. As we’ve seen the building put back together and shine, we have also felt the ministry of our family fall into place.
We are grateful for a church family that provides healing and is willing to heal with us. We are grateful for the many ways this church family promotes restoration:
- of buildings,
- of lives,
- of families,
- of faith.
Restoration is a sacred gift to the community, to individuals in their faith journey, and to families needing to belong.
Admittedly on Sunday, our brains were overwhelmed with so much going on. It was wonderful to witness family and friends reconnect and children feel loved. We want to appropriately say Thank You for the Pastor Appreciation Gift you shared with both of us on Sunday. Our hearts stopped when we saw the gift that you had so generously given. Our hearts are full and overflowing. Words cannot express our gratitude in way that genuinely shows the love that we feel.
Thank You for being a church that is led by God. Thank You for being a church where generations build their faith. Thank You for being a faith community that gets on their knees to pray and support one another. Thank You for sharing God’s power to us, to this community, and to the world. Thank You for not only welcoming our family, but so many families who have been searching, and hurting, and wandering. Thank You for both challenging us and allowing yourselves to be challenged. Truly our church begins inside the walls on the corner of Clinton and Cumberland and grows and stretches out from there. Praise be to God!
Full of Love and Grace,
Pastor Joanie and Pastor Jason
Did You Miss Our Homecoming Message?
Read or listen here: Church: Something More than you See
This Week:
Wednesday, October 23rd, 1:30 pm – Prayer & Inspiration
Wednesday, October 23rd, 6:30 pm – Choir Practice
Thursday, October 24th, 3:00 pm – Ladles of Love Meal Preparation & Delivery
Sunday, October 27th , 11:00 am – Worship
Sunday, October 27th, 4:00 pm – Trunk or Treat in the church parking lot. Please come and open your trunk and offer goodies to the children in our community (please no peanuts).
Upcoming Events:
**November 1st, Midway High School Home Football Game, Feed the Marching Band (around 5:30 pm)–see Robie Butler for ways to help
**November 2nd, Cotton Festival
**November 3rd, All Saints’ Day Celebration
**November 10th, Veterans Day Concert 4:00 pm
**We are looking for folks to help us with Sanctuary Flowers each week. It is a great way to honor or remember someone special in your life. Flowers can be a homemade arrangement, artificial or real, or provided from a local florist. There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board outside of the children’s classroom.