Greetings on this Halloween eve of All Saints’ Day,
I greet you with joy and the comfort of God’s grace! Tomorrow morning, we return to in person worship for both the 8:15 and 10 am services with risk management protocols in place. Please read the attached guidelines before returning for ‘in person’ worship. The 10 am Facebook livestream will continue to broadcast from the sanctuary, with subsequent post to the website, www.auburnmethodist.org. Since we are not sure how many will feel ready to attend ‘in person worship’ at this time, we may need to ‘cap’ our attendance when social distancing capacity is reached. If that is the case, we will arrange for overflow seating with projection in the Fellowship Hall on subsequent Sundays within the limit established by Maine’s governor.
Also attached to this email are copies of the Worship Guide, last week’s message, and Mission Giving Opportunities. An invitation zoom link to our coffee fellowship chat (Sunday, 2 pm) will follow. The Missions Committee will meet in the Fellowship Hall after 10 am worship with masked, social distancing. Please remember to change your clocks tonight and enjoy your extra hour. At the 10 am service tomorrow, we will consecrate our new chancel wall, celebrate the cloud of saints who rest from earthly labor, and participate in holy communion using Celebration Cups which may be picked up from the offering table prior to sanctuary entrance. I encourage those who worship with us online to have bread and grape juice elements available for participation in the sacrament.
Church Council will meet Thursday (11/5) at 7 pm, via zoom, the Men’s Fellowship Breakfast Group will meet on Saturday (11/7), 7:30 am, via zoom, and Finance Committee will meet on Sunday (11/8) 11:45 am, via zoom. Also on Sunday (11/8), SPRC will meet with our District Superintendent, Karen Munson at 1 pm, via zoom, and at 2 pm, we will hold our annual UMC of Auburn Church Conference, also via zoom. The Church Conference is an all-church open meeting and all members have vote. I especially request that members of the Church Council attend. I encourage you to vote on Tuesday if you have not already cast your ballot.
Our pledge campaign letters have been mailed. If you have not received a pledge card and wish to participate, extras will be on the offering table near the sanctuary entrance or you may call the church office (207-782-3972), M-F, 9 am to 12 n, and we will send one to you. It has been recommended that all 2021 salaries of church staff and pastor remain at the 2020 level. We are deeply grateful to all who pledge to God’s work through the mission and ministry of the UMC of Auburn. THANK YOU!
We celebrate with Cooper Watkins and his family this week as Cooper receives the rank of Eagle Scout for his project of generously and capably renovating our church storage shed. We are proud of you, Cooper! Please hold Terry Badger, Suzie Howland, Stan Rice and others in the parish in prayer who are recovering from surgery or managing health concerns. For those of you who helped in any way to make our season of Drive-in services possible, we offer thanksgiving.
May your Saturday be blessed with joy,
Pastor Steve Bascom, UMC of Auburn