Who Would Have Thought...

It's hard to imagine that the last time we gathered together in our worship center was on Sunday, March 8th...almost 7 months ago.  In fact, I went back this week and listened to our first Facebook live service that took place on March 15th, and in that service, I announced that we would be cancelling our in-person worship services through March 29th.  When I made that announcement, I never would have imagined that those 3 weeks would turn into 7 months. 

Thankfully, this Sunday, October 4th, at 9:30am, we will be offering a limited occupancy, in-person worship service.  As I stated in an email earlier this week, based on state guidelines, we are limiting capacity in the worship center to 50 people and are asking that you reserve your spot ahead time by email, phone or text.  Also, all social distancing protocols will be strictly followed and masks will be required.

Our speaker this Sunday is our very own Mary Jo Sharp.  Mary Jo will be speaking on the topic of Deconversion and Doubt.  If I ask a person why they aren’t in church today, many may say it’s because of the hypocrisy of Christians. For Mary Jo Sharp, this objection is personal, painful, and forms the background of her latest book, Why I Still Believe. Though she’s an apologist and professor, her experiences in the church have driven her to question if Christianity is true…or even worth it. Having been drawn to God through the beauty of His creation, but seeing the ugliness of human failings, she’s heartbroken that what she found in church didn’t match what she longed for. Mary Jo calls her journey an “anti-deconversion” story about finding hope and answers in the grace of truth of Jesus.

A former atheist who came to faith, Mary Jo has experienced two worlds of American culture: the post-Christian culture of the Pacific Northwest and the evangelical culture of the Bible Belt.  You won't want to miss her story!
 
While we are excited to offer this opportunity, we also recognize that there are those who will not be able or do not feel comfortable attending a public gathering.  With this in mind, Sunday's church service will be available via livestream on YouTube beginning at 9:30am.

You can watch the livestream by visiting our church webpage, www.parksidefellowship.org.  Once you are on our home page, scroll down to where you see "SCHEDULE".  Click on the "streaming on YouTube " and you will be automatically directed to the service.

Also, for those of you who are not able to attend the live service, we will still have our regular zoom meeting at 11:00am. 

Finally, attached to this email is our weekly prayer list.  Thank you for being a church that prays!

See you Sunday.

Pastor Doug