Welcome Back to Church
Rally Day marks the start of Sunday school and the return of our program year at church. Many people take a break from normal routines during the summer and that often includes Sunday worship. I hope that you had a restful summer. Maybe you even had the chance to travel somewhere interesting and fun. I look forward to seeing you again in worship.
If you got out of the routine of regular worship or if you were here every Sunday during the warm weather, welcome back to church. If it’s been years since you attended our worship service or if you participate in everything the church has to offer, welcome back to church. If you have a sense of wonder that there might be a larger force out there if even if you don’t know what to call it or if you know that you can turn to Jesus in prayer, welcome back to church. If you’ve given up on God or feel that maybe God has given up on you, welcome back to church.
Welcome back to the community that welcomes your faith and your doubt, your sincere convictions and your honest questions. Welcome back to the community that invites you to sing in a pew or in the choir. Welcome back to the community that invites you to join in prayer or sit in silent contemplation. Welcome back to the community that invites you to greet your strangers and friends alike in the sanctuary or coffee hour. Welcome back to the community that invites you to deliver a hot meal to a neighbor in need whose name you may never know. Welcome back to the community that invites you to share your gifts and to discover gifts that you never knew you had.
Welcome to the community where you are welcomed and affirmed and loved simply because you are God’s precious child and welcome to the community that invites you to grow into the person that God created you to be.
On Rally Day, we celebrate all of the ways in which this congregation engages in ministry in this community and beyond. This year, I hope you will consider seriously how you will get involved in the life-affirming and life-changing work of God’s people gathered here at Central Congregational.
Welcome back to church.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Chris