March 17, 2023

The past week has been busy in the life of our church. Let me share with you what has been happening:

• Dick Dickson arrived before 9:00am on Monday. He volunteers as an office angel while his wife, Bernie, works at the Food Pantry. Bernie is working with Ellen Horseman, Kristy Mosley, and Grace Murphree at the Pantry this morning. Monday afternoon, Grace, Kristy and Ellen will return to help the Open Door Class serve at Sue’s Table.

• Later that morning, Patsy Hale arrived with several volunteers who are setting up tables and decorations for the meal we will serve the Dorman family Tuesday. Jeanette Pratt, Annie Mae Stafford, Sharon Lorvig, Janey Trawick, Cynthia Outlaw, and Anita Stafford are all working with Patsy to prepare.

• Erin is in the office doing the usual Monday morning chores of counting yesterday’s offering and preparing deposits. Mondays are my days to prepare the Lesson and this letter that goes out each week. This morning I’m also visiting with the Dorman family to plan for the funeral service tomorrow.

•  At noon, HUB met here to plan for various coming events. They will once again be sponsoring the Getting Ahead Program that helps those on the fringes get the help they need to right their lives back on track. It will begin in May and meet here on the third floor. It meets on Monday evening so they can eat with Sue’s Table.

• Cars will begin lining up before 4:00pm for Sue’s Table but unless the weather is bad, we will wait to 4:45pm to begin serving cars. Tate and Annie Mae will do a few carryouts to those homebound and the kitchen crew will clean up the kitchen and take out the trash. We will have a small group that meets at 6:00pm

• On Tuesday we will have Food Pantry from 9:00am to 11:00am. Susie Elsea will come get this mailing prepared and take it to the post office. The preschool will open for early arrivals at 8:00am. The weekly email will come out before 11:00am.

• At noon, we will have a lunch then a visitation before the funeral for Annette Dorman at 2:00pm. Volunteers will come early and many in the congregation will drop off food prepared at home. Others will stay to finish decorating and serve the family. The volunteers will clean up and attend the service at 2:00pm

• Erin will shut everything down after the service and change the paraments back to purple for Sunday.

• On Wednesday, we are back to getting ready for Sunday. That means doing the bulletin, preparing the emails, paying the bills, and writing thank yous for memorials. We have a noon Bible Study. Youth meet at 6:00pm. Handbells meet at 6:30pm. Choir meets at 7:30pm

• Thursday is the day we make sure everything is done. This Thursday is a little different because I'm preparing to go out of town and getting things covered for next week. This will be the last preschool day before Springbreak.

• We try to take Fridays off. It does not always workout because the Food Pantry is open and sometimes we have other events happening. SPRC appreciates our congregation not calling staff on Fridays unless there is an emergency.

We do not have a funeral or special event every week but we never know when someone will have a need. Thanks to our many volunteers and our great staff, we are able to make it all look smooth and coordinated. Our church once had a large staff but today, we rely on volunteers. This is biblical.

Sunday afternoon I attended a memorial service for the wife of a former staff member and had the opportunity to stop by to see Joyce Richardson. She looks wonderful and sends her love back to you. Thank you for your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness.

Grace and peace,

Beth