“God be with you till we meet again;
by his counsels guide, uphold you,
with his sheep securely fold you;
God be with you till we meet again.” – hymn #672 United Methodist Hymnal
This will be the last pastoral letter you will receive from me for a few weeks. Tami and I are headed to Europe as I begin a 4-week renewal leave. Renewal leaves are encouraged for pastors every four years to keep them spiritually fresh and growing. Since I am entering my 8th year as pastor of Resurrection and have not yet taken a renewal leave, I promised Staff/Parish Relations Chair Dick Andrews that I would take one before the end of the year.
We plan to visit Waterloo, Belgium, where Tami lived during middle school. We will also spend some time with an old friend from our high school youth group who is a professor in the Netherlands. And we will take a river cruise on the Rhine starting in Switzerland. We will not be in Europe the whole time, as we will come back and have a week or so to spend time with family before I return to the church office on Monday, September 14.
Pastor Bill Robertson will be preaching on the four Sundays while I am away. If you have emergency pastoral needs while I am away, please contact Dan Kocher in the church office.
When I return, we will be gearing up for our annual worship in the park and picnic on September 20 at 10:00 am. (There will be no 8:30 service that day.)
God be with you till we meet again.
Pastor Mark