Welcome Pastor Kim
I am very excited that our new Associate Pastor Seungrok Kim will be helping to lead us in worship on Sunday. He joined us from OKC for a zoom worship planning meeting on Wednesday. Pastor Seungrok comes to us from serving a church in the city for the last ten years. He has gifts in sound engineering, preaching, teaching and video editing. These are all gifts that will greatly benefit us as a congregation. His previous church had services six times a week including daily morning prayer service. His family includes his wife and daughter who will be joining him in Tulsa as soon as their housing has been finalized. Seungrok will be serving as both our Associate Pastor and the Pastor of Living Water church. If you do not have a photo of your family in the church directory, I encourage you to add one to help him learn people’s faces and names.
Jill Maud has graciously offered to lead us in welcoming the Kim family with a gift basket. Seungrok says they do not have any allergies but they stay away from spicy foods. Jill has created a sign up link for you to follow for instructions and gift ideas. (Also a gift card is always welcome.) Bring your item with you on Sunday and drop it off at the Service Station.
As you know the CoVid numbers for Tulsa County have been the highest ever. We have had multiple families in the church infected in the last ten days. I have been in quarantine this week because of multiple exposures. I am going to test today to see if I can return to my home and work. I have been at the farm staying in the tiny house to keep my loved ones safe. We are adding some precautions for Sunday. The first is (can you guess?) masks. We need you to wear them again in every part of the building and at all times. And the second one is that we will be serving communion with prepackaged elements rather than coming down front together. Everything that I have read indicates that these measures will be necessary until the numbers decline. And of course, if you feel safer worshiping with us at home, I encourage you to gather with us virtually. But I will miss seeing you. Please connect with us on the Connection card so we will know that you were with us.
This week we will begin our new series called “Believe” where we will remember what our core values are and dive into the scriptures that inform these values. These values were ingrained in the culture of this congregation when I first came in 2006. Now they are articulated so wonderfully. I am using clips from a tv show that has spread all over the world with people claiming that their lives have been changed because of it. This Sunday we will explore the atmosphere that I am calling “The Faith Way” infused by our values of leading with love and allowing people to come as they are.
Stay safe out there!
