Dear Saints,

As I write this article, I am noticing how many things are different than they were last year at this time. Teachers and students are heading back into the classroom for in-person schooling, travel and conferences have resumed, working from a home office and a company office have become the norm, and gathering with family and friends for celebration have returned!

The same holds true for GPC community life. There are several new and returning things this fall. Here are some highlights:

• The choirs return in worship this month, and we get to enjoy a hymn sing on September 4 for the first time in a while!
• An all-church picnic is planned for after worship on Sunday, September 25.
• We have completed the Holy Cow survey and the Pastor Nominating Committee will be finishing the Ministry Information Form this month.
• Livestreaming of our worship services will begin this month. The camera and equipment installation is now fully complete and Zach Wall, our new AV technician, has been assisting us quite well.
• The Session will begin to focus on the results of the survey and plan on ways of addressing items that the congregation shared as important or in need of work.
• The Deacons will be helping to extend the sacrament of communion on World Communion Sunday, by bringing communion to home bound or remote worshippers on October 2 or later that week.
• The Properties Committee has several repair projects that are finally able to receive attention as contractor schedules open up.

There is much to be hopeful about this fall, and I am thankful for all the ways you encourage me and one another as we serve side by side.

I am always looking out for glimpses of hope and God’s work in the world, so much so that I began reading a new book entitled, “Hope – A User’s Manual” by MaryAnn McKibben Dana. In this book, she shares a great deal about what hope is and what hope is not. She writes that hope, “is not a process or a set of goals but a narrative in which we live and move.”

I am hopeful about what is next for GPC — as we seek to surround ourselves with discernment, wisdom and grace. I give thanks to God for each of you and the integral part you are in this community of faith.

Looking forward to living and moving in hope with you all,
Rev. Sarah Robbins, Interim Pastor