Greetings One and All!
May the grace of God be with you this Memorial Day weekend. Phillips Brooks once wrote, “The glory of the star, the glory of the sun–we must not lose either in the other. We must not be so full of the hope of heaven that we cannot do our work on the earth; we must not be so lost in the work of the earth that we shall not be inspired by the hope of heaven.” We are an Easter people, living with hope, even as we labor to make this a better world, a world which honors all who have died to give us what we value. The heritage we celebrate today was dearly won.
I hope you will be able to join us tomorrow for our Facebook Live UMCA worship service as we celebrate our Methodist heritage and honor those who have died for liberty and justice for all. The service will be broadcast at 10 am and then posted on our website (www.auburnmethodist.org) for any who wish to view it later. I have attached the order of worship guide to this email as a companion resource as well as the text from last Sunday’s message. Mary MacMahon will offer church school at 11 am via zoom and Kary and Cherie will offer youth group via zoom at 6 pm. Let me know if you need either link. At 2 pm, I invite you to join us for our weekly coffee fellowship chat (zoom invitation link in separate email).
The Youth Group has collected items for homeless care kits this past week and will be delivering them to the Community Concept Wellness Shelter in Lewiston. Thank you to all who contributed! If you wish to contribute and have not had opportunity, feel free to offer a designated donation and we will make sure it reaches the Shelter.
Some are asking when we may be able to reopen for ‘in person’ worship. I will be forming a ‘Re-launch Team’ over the next couple of weeks to help us identify procedures and protocols which need to be in place before re-opening can be considered. The Council will make the decision on when to reopen, but it will not be until we can be certain that we can gather safely and inclusively. Thank you for your patience. The New England Conference and State of Maine have issued extensive guidelines for re-opening and we will be using these (as well as updates from the CDC) to help with the preparations. It is our hope that online worship services will continue even after we re-open for ‘in person’ worship.
Thank you ever so much for your faithful tithes, pledges and offerings. They are making a big difference as we seek to adapt our ministry together to the unusual time we are in!
May God’s grace be with you,
Pastor Steve Bascom, UMC of Auburn
Dear pastor Bascom,
Hope all is well. We miss going to Church. Please let us know when Sunday services will resume. We need to keep our Faith in God and in spirit at the pinicles of our lives. We pray ever day for our return to UMCAuburn, and rejoin our Church in fellowship.
In Faith – Lucy & Donald