Dear Friends,

My mini-sabbatical has come and gone. While the time went very quickly (three weeks seemed more like 20 days!), I’m very grateful that I was able to accomplish the goals I set forth for myself in last month’s Grace Notes:

1. Rest and Renewal.
2. Reading and Study.
3. Preparation

You’ll be hearing more about the reading and study part in the coming days. While I enjoyed my time away from the rigors of my work and ministry here at Grace, it is great to be back with you and I thank you sincerely for allotting me this time away. It was time well-spent for me personally and, in the long run, I pray it will benefit our church.

The summer is now looming before us. Soon our school children and college students will be finishing up their school years and will be enjoying the warm and sometimes hectic days of summer and time away from books and studies. I loved summer vacation as a kid, although it always seemed like it would never come! But it did and we tried to make the most of it.

There will be some changes here at Grace, too. For one thing, by vote of our Executive Committee, our summer worship services (which begin on Father’s Day, June 18) will now begin at 10:00 A.M. rather than 9:30 A.M. Over the years I’ve heard concerns about the earlier hour and the desire expressed that we change the hour to make it easier for various members to be present each Sunday. I hope this change will be a positive one and improve the accessibility of our worship services.

As in the past, there will be no Sunday School hour before worship. Graceland 2nd Hour, however, will continue for our kids and there will be childcare for our infants and preschoolers.

As the summer season draws closer, I would like to encourage each member and friend of Grace Baptist to intentionally take time each day to pray for yourself, your families and friends, our nation and world, and especially for our church and the new things God is bringing to life here. For many, daily prayer comes naturally. It’s already what someone has called a “holy habit.” For others, it will take some effort. But we need to pray and we must pray and I believe it will make a difference.

Someone once said that “…we in the church are midwives, faithfully bringing God’s transforming love into the world in tangible ways.” I see many evidences of that here at Grace and pray that it will continue during the summer months. Throughout my sabbatical I prayed for a greater sense of what God is calling us, Grace Baptist Church of Blue Bell, to be and do. Please join me in this prayer as we seek to be midwives of God’s goodness and greatness in a town and world that need it so much.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor George Hawthorne