The Fountain Newsletter: Jun 13 2019

The Fountain

The newsletter of the First Presbyterian Church of Hartsville.

A Note from Our Interim Pastor

What a joy it has been to serve alongside First Presbyterian Church Hartsville the past few weeks. From the incredible reception to your kind words, notes, gifts, Facebook messages and texts, my family has felt very loved and welcomed into this community. After two weeks in the office, I can attest that FPC Hartsville is a dynamic church filled with members that care well for one another and for the community around the church. I am excited to join you all in the good work you are doing.

Part of the interim process is visioning and dreaming about the future, as well as how to speak the language of the church in this time and place. As we read in Acts 2 this past Sunday, when God’s spirit came and filled the upper room, those present were given the language of the church. Yes, it was different dialects, as we experienced in worship on Sunday, but all were rooted in the gracious, loving nature of God. It is this rootedness in God that enabled those in the upper room to dream and to prophesy, to be a part of the breaking free of God’s spirit. God’s spirit is alive and active here in Hartsville, so as we dream let’s continue to ask how we perceive God wants us to move. Let’s listen for where the spirit is leading us, and in all things, let’s be rooted in God’s grace and love.

As I quoted on Sunday, theologian Rachel Held Evans reminds us that, “Jesus invites us into a story that is bigger than ourselves, bigger than our culture, bigger than our imaginations, and yet we get to tell that story with scandalous particularity of our particular moment and place in time.” (Inspired, 164). Friends, I am grateful that I am walking with you during this particular time and in this particular place. I believe we have the blessed task of continuing to share the good news of the gospel in our community in the universal language of the church - God’s love. So, let’s start dreaming, let’s start visioning, and let’s continue to be the light shining in this community. I am honored to be your interim pastor.

Blessings,

Rev. Ashley L. Cheek