Pastoral Message

Hello Church! Here is today's daily church information update.

First of all, thanks to all of you have been mailing, dropping off or making your offerings on-line! It really helps us a lot. We have many new Vanco users. If you need help setting up an on-line offering using Vanco, please call the church and we will try to help you out.

Second, as you all know, we are working on starting up Drive-In Church. We are hoping to start it on Palm Sunday, but that will depend upon when the equipment arrives. According to Amazon, it should arrive between April 2 - 6. As long as it arrives before April 4, we will be doing Drive-In Church on Palm Sunday. If the transmitter arrives later, we will do Drive-In Church for Easter. Watch Facebook for updates. I will always do a YouTube service, even after we begin doing Drive-In Church. And for those of you concerned about the stay-at-home order issued by Governor DeWine, religious institutions are specifically EXEMPTED from that order. By the way, the palms we ordered for Palm Sunday just arrived, which made me so happy in a way. The arrival of the palms means that Easter is coming soon, no matter what is going on here in the world, and nothing can prevent it! THAT is some GOOD NEWS!

Third, Natural Treasures, the supplement store across from the church on Main Street, has stacks of toilet paper in their front window. I am sure it is expensive, but in case you are desperate . . .

Fourth, by now you have probably heard that the Ohio legislature is not scheduling a new in-person opportunity to vote at the Polls. They have extended certain deadlines to allow voting by mail. If you want to vote by mail, follow this link to the Ashtabula Board of Elections. https://www.boe.ohio.gov/ashtabula/absentee-information/absentee-voting/ You have to download a request form, fill it out, and mail it back by April 25, and mail-in ballots have to be postmarked (so get them hand-cancelled or get printed postage at the post office!) by April 27. That is NOT a lot of turn-around time, so request your ballot NOW if you want to vote in this primary. By the way, you have to pay for the postage to request a mail-in ballot, but mailing the ballot back to the Board of Elections should be free. If you live in a county other than Ashtabula, make sure to request your mail-in ballot from your home county!

Fifth, how about some GOOD news! Peggy D. just had a cold - nothing worse! - and she is starting to feel better finally. Also, Debbie B. is still on the mend after her back surgery and finishing up her physical therapy at home, but she is starting to feel better too. Bill P. is home and still recovering from his triple by-pass. And Jack and Sara Jane are back in town. They are self-isolating for a couple weeks just to be safe, but I am sure they would love to hear from you over the phone or by mail. Please keep all of these folks in your prayers.

And don't forget to call the church if you need any help, or if you are willing to help anyone out who needs it. This is the time to live out what we believe in and what Christ calls us to do - to love our neighbors! And in case you get bored, we have some tasks that could be done here at church. We have some members who are starting to get the gardens around the church cleaned out and ready. We are also in need of wiping down the woodwork in the sanctuary with Murphy's Oil Soap. We have had staff and volunteers working on other projects, so that the church will be clean and ready for everyone once we can gather together again as the church.

That is everything I have to share for now. Health and Blessings to you all!

Pastor Randy

(from e-mail dated 3/27/20)