Dear Friend(s) of St. James Lutheran Church,
I hope you and your family have been well. Life is always pretty crazy and hard, but Covid-19 has made many people even more aware of how much we need God and each other. And so there’s something I want to invite you to, `Getting Started’.
At St. James Lutheran we have two kinds of people that we love and care about very much: `friends’ and `members’. Friends come out and worship, take part in the doings of the church, etc. –all really good. However, somehow they’ve never made a commitment to be a member. (Maybe they’ve never been asked to!) Members, on the other hand, are much like friends, but they are people who’ve also taken some classes with me and got nice and clear on what we believe and stand for, and then have stood up to make that commitment to Christ and to His family, the church.
There are four classes, taught on Sundays at 11:45am, and they’re called `Getting Started’.
Why might someone want to take these classes? First, to become more informed and confident in their Christian faith. Many people haven’t been in a religion class since they were 13, and a lot of adult-level questions have come up for them since then. `Getting Started’ is a great place to get them answered.
Second, lots of couples had small children baptized and made promises to raise them in the Christian faith. This class will equip them to teach and express that faith to their kids because, frankly, the questions children ask come up at home. They will understand as much or as little as their parents do.
Third, the church is not a theater that you walk into for a show, or a club that you pay a fee to join. It’s a family, loving and caring and growing together. When people become alive to how real God is and how much He loves them, then they want to be part of His family, commit, and be involved. ‘Getting Started’ gives people the information they need to decide if St. James Lutheran is for them (or not!).
So I’d like to invite you to please come to the next set of `Getting Started’ classes. They’ll be on January 30th, February 6th, 13th, and 27th , from 11:45 to 1:15 pm in the church library.
Please get back to Maria Honnold (class administrator) and let her know if you plan to come. You can reach her by emailing: marwar1@optonline.net Or call the church office: 631-584-5212 and tell Pam.
I hope you’ll come. I think you’ll really enjoy this.
All for the King,
+Pr. Neil