I am looking forward to sharing thought with you this Sunday around the topic, “Hope Towards Racial Harmony.” This represents a start towards a longer conversation about how to engage this topic meaningfully and helpfully. My hope is to begin a conversation that will lead to prayer, planning, advocacy, and persistence in the effort towards racial harmony. I have done a great deal of listening—there is more to hear. And though I have studied this over time and in concentrated measure this week, I am no expert in the field—others more capable and knowledgeable than I are providing helpful background and insight. My role, as I see it, is to bring us to Jesus, to invite us to hear him, to learn from him, and follow his way forward.

 

Something I have learned in my listening, while anger may be an immediate response, it is not a lasting remedy. Anger can be a helpful servant alerting us to peril or wrongdoing, but it is a terrible master as it distorts perception, clouds judgement, and can lead to irreparable harm. Our culture doesn’t need us to remain angered, it needs us to be fatigued--wearied with the state it is in. We have to honestly assess where we are in this issue and ask if this is how we want to live. That we actually can ask that question with a sense of options in answering is itself telling. The Black community and Persons of Color among us don’t have the same latitude in answering this question—it is answered for them by the dominant culture, and though it’s not the answer they hope for, it’s the answer with which they must live. And this is but one example of these kinds of answers that has been their historical experience. We approach this topic humbly and prayerfully seeking a better way.

 

This Sunday is Communion Sunday. Please have the elements—bread and fruit of the vine—on hand for your household. As you have over the past couple of months, designate someone in your household to serve, and I will lead you through the service.

 

Since the governor has lifted some of the restrictions for churches to meet, some have wondered how that impacts us. Although we would be permitted to meet, at this point we may only meet outdoors, and we must still follow the guidelines for social distancing for a limited gathering. This isn’t very workable, and it would prevent us from live-streaming the service. For the time being, the building will remain closed and we will continue to livestream the service at 10:00AM on Sundays. We’ll only likely begin to plan for on-site gatherings when King County enters Phase 3. We’ll keep you posted.

 

Following the service this Sunday, we will meet via Zoom in a congregational meeting to elect nominees to an Associate Pastor Nominating Committee. This meeting will begin at 11:00AM. Pre-registration will help us get the meeting info to you. You can pre-register by sending your name and email contact information to . Once we get this, we will send you the login information. Each member voting in the meeting must have their own login and device. If you don’t have two devices (tablet, computer, smartphone), you can still join the meeting on a landline telephone. Instructions for this are in the information email we send. You will find background information for our meeting on our church website: www.lfppc.org.

 

Thanks for being who you are! We continue to pray God’s blessing and grace over you regularly.

 

Warmly,

—frank