June 2020 (Monthly Communion)

FBC Gallatin,

I’m thankful that the Lord has continued to sustain our church through this difficult season during the pandemic. It has been a joy to see the many different ways that we have all been connecting and caring for each other through this time. I am also thankful that some of us were able to begin gathering together to worship in the month of May after 2 months of not gathering. Every week has been a blessing to see a few new faces, but it has also been a reminder that many more have been unable to be with us. But for those who have been unable to regather with us in person for various good reasons, I am so thankful that so many of you have been faithfully watching our live stream service and staying connected in different ways. I am praying for everyone as it relates to this pandemic that the Lord would continue to keep you encouraged in the Gospel, connected with each other, and safe and healthy.

As I mentioned in our first partial worship service gathering on May, 10th, we are going to be partaking of communion more frequently to account for about half of our congregation who have not yet been able to gather and partake of communion. In this regard, we will be partaking of communion monthly on the same day that we have business meetings. Therefore, anticipate and prepare for communion on the second Sunday of each month which will be June 14th this coming month. And I am also pleased to announce that we will have our first church business meeting of the members that same evening that we take communion and I will begin a short teaching series through our church covenant and we will have a lot of encouraging things to discuss our first meeting back since COVID-19 began.

I am pleased to announce along with Pastor Wood that our youth group will resume in June in a different “social distancing” kind of way on Wednesday, June 3rd. I am also excited to announce that we will be hosting our association worship service on June 28th to sing, pray, and hear a short sermon from our Director of Missions Alan Brock as his last address of our association before going to another association to continue to serve faithfully as he has for us. This service will be held outdoors to ensure we can keep appropriate distance but I think it will be a very encouraging night of worship for the continued partnership and encouragement of like-minded churches in our association.

Regarding the other services of our church like Sunday School, our evening prayer service, Wee Worship, and our nursery, Pastor Wood and I are continuing to evaluate the advice of our Governor and local health department regarding the safety of our gatherings. We have prioritized rearranging our church building to accommodate for safer socially distanced seating for our gathered morning worship and we will announce when we might begin our other services when it is safe and logistically possible to do so. For now, I am just so thankful to be able to focus on gathering with some of you for our worship services in a different way during this season and to also provide an online stream as well for those who remain at home. And I am also happy to commend all of the creative ways other groups have been meeting through digital online platforms, and then even some meeting in homes where there is more space and flexibility to have additional meetings.

Lastly, I want to remind us all about how good and gracious our great God is to all of us. And I would encourage you all to be praying to Him regularly. Maybe even using some of the tips we learned together during our evening worship in the morning series where we adore our great God in prayer, confess our sins before him, thank Him for everything we can think of, and bring our supplications and requests to Him because we know he cares for us so well (A.C.T.S). Please always know that I am praying for you and I’m here for you if you would ever like to talk and pray together. I ask that you would also pray for each other and for me as well.

Sincerely,

Pastor Daniel Pelichowski