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Dear Friends... For short period of time when our kids were young, Dave and I talked about moving, not out of Meadville but to a bigger house. When I asked our son Dan, about ten at the time, what he thought about a move, his response was emphatic. “We can't move, Mom!”. When asked why he said, “Because this is where we live!”. Such simple circular reasoning!

As it turned out, we didn't move but rather added on to the house we were already living in. This story came to mind as I've considered all the changes made at the church over these past few months. For those of us who have been at Stone church for a long time (I include myself in this group as I first became a lay member here almost forty years ago) it is tempting to say, “The church can't change because this church is “The Church” just as it is!”

What has happened over these past five months is that while we haven't moved, at least not physically, we have definitely added on!

  • We have added on to our online presence through our website and Facebook page.
  • We have a new church management platform (Tithe.ly) that allows us to have a church app on our phones and a new way to financially give.
  • We have a new staff position, Director of Online Ministries.
  • We have called on those who can't be with us in person and we have a plan to reach out to young families this fall.
  • We are “adding on” to make room for new people!

God's call on the community of faith known as Stone Church is big and bold; to be a conduit of God's love and saving grace, meeting people where they are, connecting them to Christ and one another, helping them grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. This work will take faith, energy, ideas, compassion, courage and love. Each of us will need to both ask for and offer help, ask for and offer forgiveness.

I am encouraged by your faith and look forward to all the ways that together we can be the church Christ calls us to be. In the name of “the One who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly more than all we can ask for or imagine”...

~Pastor Sarah