Pastoral Report
Bible Enrichment Sessions
Candles for Intercessory Prayer
Pastoral Guest Lecturing
Web Site and Internet Presence and Technology
Technology
St. Benedict of Nursia Memorial Library
Elmira Building Report
Vocational Ministry Training Program
Pastoral Search Committee
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING A PROBLEM WITH OUR WEB SITE
We are having one very significant problem with our web site publication. Somewhere in the process of converting documents to HTML documents, or somewhere in the File Transfer Protocol action, some, not all, punctuation marks are not being recognized. The default action seems to be replacing the unrecognized symbols with diamonds that have a question mark inside the diamond. This is irritating for the most part. One action this has caused is the intentional avoidance of quotation marks in our documents being published on the web site. This avoidance of certain punctuation marks can be confusing to readers as it takes away one of the obvious markers that some material is borrowed from other sources. In the absence of quotation marks we are being particularly careful to notate when material is the intellectual property of others. Hopefully this technological problem will be resolved in 2017.
Pastoral Report for the year 2016.
We give God thanks and praise for a year of steady spiritual growth in 2016. The church, being the very Body Of Christ present on Earth is the greatest gift to our human experience. Experiencing the very real and truly present Christ with us and in us transforms our understanding of every aspect of our lives. We find ourselves ever growing in gratitude and praise as we become more aware of the moving, healing, transforming, forgiving, sustaining, creating, and strengthening living presence of God with Christ and through the powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit. The special freedom we enjoy at Ray Of Hope Church is a gift we often speak about and openly celebrate during the year. We are free to draw from the full spectrum of work the Holy Spirit has done in every age, every location, and with every population of people where the church has gathered and shared in the living real presence of Christ. We openly enjoy all the gifts that denominations often formalize and call their own to the exclusion of other gifts. Here at Ray Of Hope we get to move freely among all denominational expressions of the church. This is a source of great joy and yet it is also frustrating because we want to find time for all of the gifts the Holy Spirit has led the People of God through.
On the Worship page on our web site we have published the following statement: Worship is our primary activity as a church. There is an old standard in the church, lex orandi, lex credenda which means that “the law of prayer is the law of faith” or “that which we pray is that which we believe.” Our prayer, our worship is the key to understanding what God has revealed for us to accept as true. Our congregation offers the leadership, organization, presentation of worship experiences, the media broadcast through the Internet, and the physical building space for worship and education in spirituality as our primary service to the general public. All are welcome to avail themselves to our services of worship.
I have made the point numerous times throughout the year that we are a service organization in society. We understand what services various businesses and organizations offer. We certainly know the difference between the services we expect to receive at a dentist’s office and at a muffler shop. Our civil structure is the organization of service outlets where the citizens know how to move about from place to place to find those specific needs addressed. It is our responsibility to the general society to be that place dedicated to all matters of Christian worship and spirituality. This is the unique service we offer. This is the place where one learns to move in relationship with the ever present God of all creation. This is the place where the sacred revelation, the Holy Bible, is taught and understood. This is the place where worship events are held in a public setting so that any member of the society may learn how to worship God, but then be able to actually worship God with other people. This is the place where the record of salvation from beginning to end is taught using all matter of educational materials and methods available for this task. It is our calling to help the human person learn to align their entire life so that all things begin, are sustained, and completed with God, in Christ, and by the powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit. This is why Ray Of Hope Church Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. exists, to provide these services to anyone interested.
Once a person realizes their unique relationship to creation and to the creating Divine it is only natural that one would need to and want to respond to this understanding. As we say in the Eucharistic Prayer, “it is right to give God thanks and praise…. always and everywhere.” Finally, this revelation of God and our response to the Living God with our whole being will lead us to action, transformative action in the society in which we live. While we are not “of the world” but are in fact reborn “of God” we are “in the world” and therefore we are called to take God’s revelation of God’s self out into this world. We are messengers of God’s wonderful plans.. One of the most important areas of personal growth for me this year has been to deeply think about this work as a messenger, and looking at my part in this effort as a promoter. Yes, in reality that is what I do, the work of a professional promoter – parallel to promoters in other areas such as in sports, education, travel agencies, etc.. This is comforting for me to think about because it confirms one of my deepest concerns – to never “own” any aspect of this work. There is nothing about this work that is “mine” meaning it is never “my” ministry, or “my” career, or “my” accomplishments. Those of you who know me closely realize this is one of my greatest concerns with modern day clergy and “ministries” which is a term that is very alarming in itself in my opinion. The church is here to promote God and God’s work, and especially the grace of God revealed in the birth of Jesus, and now under the inspiration of the powerful ministry of the Holy Spirit. So, I have come to realize in 2016 that I can best summarize the last 20 years in ordained ministry along side of all of you as a promoter of God. It is never about me, or about us, or what “this ministry” has “done.” The church of Jesus Christ is all about God and what the Divine is doing all throughout space and time.
I understand the Scriptures direct me to teach you everything I know and experience regarding all things sacred, and to introduce you to the tools you can use to go beyond my personal limitations as you grow in your own faith journey. I am of the opinion there should be no “professional secrets” kept from those who are not clergy. To this end you find me looking for resources from any and every source to share with you and introduce you to, so your faith has every opportunity to be nurtured. Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote a definition of Systematic Theology that indicates we are to gather information from anywhere in the Universe in our quest to understand and live in relationship with God.
Chafer wrote: Systematic Theology is the collecting, scientifically arranging, comparing, exhibiting, and defending of all facts from any and every source concerning God and His works…(see page x of Volume 1 Chafer Systematic Theology © 1947, 1975, assigned to Dallas Theological Seminary, 1980).
In the area of worship we added many new songs this year, in part due to the hymnals that were brought to us on permanent loan from Holy Trinity/Bethany Lutheran church. As Holy Trinity closed we were given and we also purchased many very helpful items to be used in facilitating worship. The red hymnal provides us access to many popular songs that are not under license in the Glory and Praise hymnal we have. We also learned a few new songs in the Glory and Praise hymnal. I spent a great deal of time looking for new composers, downloading and purchasing many digital recordings, writing for sample songbooks and sample hymnals, purchasing sheet music in the quest to keep our music fresh. New music has been sung in every tradition from Black Gospel to Gregorian Chant in 2016 in our worship events. The area that brought us a lot of joy is the addition of music videos, first on the projector and then on the 55 inch TV screen/monitor. In 2015 a lap top computer was donated by April for use at the pastor’s discretion. This computer is used every week for the music videos primarily and for other music secondarily. See below for more about the monitor in the Technology report.
Ash Wednesday, 2016 brought us a wonderful opportunity to reach out to area congregations through the Elmira Clergy group, where I remain a very active participant. A concerted effort was made in the Spring of 2016 to invite and involve some of the African American clergy in Elmira. After a number of contacts were made through email, text messages, and phone calls, two pastors attended one of our meetings. We agreed to work together for Ash Wednesday and it was agreed upon that I would lead the combined choir in Black Gospel music. I met with choir directors of traditionally “black” and “white” congregations and worked to bring everyone together. I had to arrange some music and even composed a Lord Have Mercy based upon Oh How I Love Jesus. With O Happy Day as the headliner song at Fr. Bill Lutz’s request, it was the most joyful Ash Wednesday of any I remember. We sang hardcore Black Gospel inside the very traditional Episcopal Trinity Church and centuries of the Church came together in one place. Unfortunately, once it became obvious to the pastors of the “black” churches that there were “gay people” involved, and even leading various aspects the program and participating churches, they withdrew from any further interaction with us immediately effective as soon as the Ash Wednesday worship service ended. We are grateful that for three short weeks and one worship event we were able to cross the harsh racial divide of the “downtown” churches in Elmira. The issue is not race, primarily, it is understanding God’s plan for a vast spectrum of sexual orientation and gender expression in God’s creation, human and otherwise.
Holy Week in 2016 was unique and special.
Again this year, we celebrated Palm Sunday and did not confuse it with “Passion Sunday.” We kept the events that concluded the prophecy in the Book of Daniel that pointed to the exact day, month, and year that Messiah would be revealed in Jerusalem in the event we have come to call Palm Sunday as a unique and special celebration. Then on Holy Thursday we gathered to celebrate the Institution of the Blessed Sacrament. We did have a holy hour with the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance, and the evening concluded with a Benediction service.
Good Friday was celebrated with the Stations of the Cross. Rev. Leanne Zeck, pastor of New Beginnings United Methodist Church attended the Stations of the Cross simply as a visitor who happened to be in attendance. She had recently returned from a visit to Jerusalem and was able to share with us some of her experience during the evening. A beautiful set of music videos were broadcast on the wall of the chapel that focused on the experience of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as she walked through the events of the Crucifixion. Spontaneously, we prayed the Hail Mary prayer at the conclusion of this part of the evening.
I invited Pastor Zeck to come back Saturday night for the Easter Vigil and to join me in leading the worship and happily she said yes. During the Vigil, during the shared prayers, Pastor Zeck invited all of us to pray for the United Methodist Church denomination, and to pray for God’s will as they struggle intensely over the issues of inclusivity of LGBTQI persons. A quick search of the subject on the Internet will reveal the intense struggle that is underway in the denomination with conversations of even dissolving the whole organization and starting new organizations. Pastor Zech was moved to tears as she asked us to keep the United Methodist Church in our prayers. The whole evening was very memorable and very holy.
A special theme that I set up for Holy Week was pointing out the moving and transforming actions of the Holy Spirit known as Epiclesis. Each time during the worship an action of the Holy Spirit was called upon we made a point of it by identifying it as an epiclesis, a prayer asking the Holy Spirit to take action and movement during the worship. This was an object lesson to help people understand the actions the Holy Spirit makes during worship. The feedback was very positive and some people said their understanding of the Holy Spirit’s role in the church was increased.
During the six weeks of the Season of the Resurrection an emphasis was made to understand the work of the Holy Spirit and how to open one’s self to an improved participation in what the Holy Spirit is doing now. To facilitate this, an open invitation was made to everyone to participate in the Inquirer’s Class that started in January of 2016. On Pentecost Sunday, May 15, 2016 we received Cheryl Allen into full Membership. The whole point of Pentecost being the birth of the Church was clearly manifest in the instructions of Jesus to the Apostles and Disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Gift of God, the Power from on high, the Holy Spirit to be outpoured and then, and only then, were they to go forth and be His witnesses, and begin to build that spiritual house, His Body the Church. Our study series on the Holy Spirit appropriately reached a high point on Pentecost Sunday when Cheryl dedicated her witness for Christ in her life to be in concert with us in this Congregation working together for the glory of God by becoming a Member of Ray Of Hope. Everyone present on Pentecost Sunday rededicated their efforts of listening to the Holy Spirit and then putting into action what the Will of God is for us by renewing our personal commitment to the Holy Spirit in our lives. Many persons present renewed the journey that once began with Confirmation, or Second Blessing, or Laying On Of Hands that had been celebrated sometime earlier in life and in the context of another denomination.
One of the ways we have emphasized transformative action that all of us can take part in has been through prayer in 2016. The year started with a strong emphasis on the Colossians Canticle Chapter 1:15-20. I asked each person to post the canticle in obvious places in their home or at work or in bookmarks where they would be reminded to meditate on it and pray it line by line and very often. This canticle places all of creation in relation to Jesus and celebrates the eternal divinity of Jesus, the Christ of God, who alone is the Only Begotten Son of God. The second emphasis on prayer was two prayers that invite the Holy Spirit into our lives. One is a well-known traditional prayer: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful…… and the second one I composed and thought about from May 17 to May 19 following Pentecost: Lord Jesus Christ, we ask that your Holy Spirit continue to move in our congregation in way always new and refreshing……… Both prayers may be read in their entirety on the web site under the tab Prayers for You to Enjoy.
An entire page was added to the web site presenting prayers for personal spiritual growth. An invitation was made to everyone to submit prayers to be added to this section of the web site.
Through our participation in the Elmira Clergy group we were invited to participate in the downtown churches worship and picnic day at Grove Park. We enjoyed the fellowship with the other congregations. Lisa’s nephew James Gall was able to travel here from Baltimore, MD with a friend for the day. It was a real joy to share in prayer and picnic with him. Unfortunately it was also the day after the massacre at the Pulse night club in Orlando, Florida. This was a senseless terrorist attack against gay people. We were able to draw attention to the suffering family members during the worship time in Grove Park. During the week following the shooting, the Elmira Clergy group published a statement condemning religious based violence and reaching out to the families of all those who lost their lives in this event. We also wished a complete and speedy recovery to the injured. This statement was signed by the downtown clergy. It is still on our web site at the tab Pulse Nightclub Statement on the Ministry page.
In June we also participated in Central New York’s Pride celebration. We opened our bookstore in the Festival. The day was very well attended and we spoke to many people who stopped by our booth for information and discussions on spirituality. We also took an advertisement in the annual Pride Guide. Ray Of Hope Church has participated in every Pride Festival that has been held in Syracuse.
Through our participation in the Elmira Clergy group we helped organize and lead the World Communion Sunday celebration which was hosted by New Beginnings United Methodist Church on Sunday, October 2. One of our contributions was to incorporate the celebration of the lives of St. Francis and St. Clare into the narrative of the worship time. This was my contribution to this event. I took some of the key transition moments of the liturgy and looked into the writings of St. Francis to see what he had written about them and then shared the narrative and used slides in a PowerPoint format to go along. The feedback from this was very positive. Our members and friends also participated in the choir and we facilitated one of the distribution stations for Holy Communion.
As noted elsewhere in this report, on Sunday June 19, Father’s Day, we were able to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Ordained ministry at Ray Of Hope Church and the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Southern Tier Extension. We certainly thanked God for sustaining us all these years.
Larry Kelly presented the congregation with three gifts he purchased from the Saint Marianne Cope Shrine and Museum - 601 North Townsend St. Syracuse, NY in the month of December, 2016. The first gift is an icon of St. Marianne Cope (January 23, 1838 – August 9, 1918). It is mounted next to the Icon of the Vladimir Mother of God over the credence table/altar in celebration of Mary Mother of the Eternal Word Incarnate. This is a print of the officially approved icon associated with Marianne Cope. Of special notice is on the surrounding margin the icon includes the words; Beloved Mother of Outcasts. The second and third gifts are a downscaled copy of the official bronze statue that is outside the shrine in Syracuse, and a copy of the book, “The Life and Legacy of Saint Marianne Cope, OSF by Sister Mary Francis Gangloff, OSF copyright ©2012, Sister Mary Francis Gangloff, OSF Tau Publishing. These donations happened at the same time particular prayers were being prayed for Barb Fudge, mother of Heidi Fudge-Wheeler who is a Friend of Ray Of Hope, who also donated one of the large Catholic Encyclopedia sets to our library as mentioned in the 2015 reports. Barb Fudge was living at the organ transplant ward in Rochester awaiting a heart for transplant. Within 24 hours of asking Mother Marianne to pray for Barb Fudge, a heart was found and successfully implanted and Barb was home with her family for Christmas. Larry was unaware that I was looking for an Icon and a possible statue of Mother Cope for our worship center. I was unaware that Mother Cope had been given the title of Beloved Mother of Outcasts. Michael looked up Mother Cope on Wikipedia and found that she additionally has been given the titles patron saint of Lepers, outcasts, those with HIV/AIDS, and Hawaii. Our congregation has had quite a common story with Mother Cope. More information will be forthcoming on our website. Thank you, Larry for these gifts.
One area of our faith put into action was the help we were able to extend to two of our Members who joyfully had transgender surgeries this year. We were able to assist in the organizing of requirements leading up to, and going through surgeries and especially in the follow-up and recovery periods. It is my opinion that one would be extremely hard pressed to find another local church that has taken such an active participatory role in the process of surgeries for transgender persons as Ray Of Hope Church has, going back to the mid-1990’s beginning with I. Keller. Once again, the Holy Spirit has called us into action while other church organizations seem to be struggling to even have the conversations.
Bible Enrichment Sessions
The Bible Enrichment Sessions met on most of the Tuesdays in 2016. Many subjects were addressed according to the questions presented by those in attendance. A great deal of time was spent on the Doctrine of the Divinity of Christ. This Doctrine was compared and contrasted to as many as twenty other religions and denominations stated views on who Jesus is. Christianity is the only Religion that is founded upon and dependent upon the fact and reality of the Divinity of Jesus. Equally important and concurrent with His divinity is His real and actual living presence with us, in us, and through us as we become members or parts of His Body in its omnipresence. One read no further to realize this alone is what makes us Christians, not what we do in social good works, but who we understand and proclaim Jesus to be. Our good works in society grow out of the experienced real presence of the living Christ and therefore these good deeds are made relevant as Christ acting in the world through us, His Body.
Following an extended study on the Divinity of Christ we took a few weeks to review the development and central role the theologies of Amillennialism, Postmillennialism, Premillennialism, and Spiritual Interpretation have had on Christianity and specific denominations especially with regard to positions on Eschatology.
All of this was leading up to our Study on the Book of Revelation. By the end of 2016 we had completed 36 sessions on the Book of Revelation. That would have taken us just a way into Chapter two. Another quotation from Lewis Sperry Chafer is most appropriate to explain the intensity and scope of this study. On page 60 in volume I of his Systematic Theology (see citation above) He writes the following.
Each book of the Bible avails itself of the accumulated truth that has gone before, and the last book is like a vast union station into which all the great highways of revelation and prediction converge and terminate. No complete understanding of revealed truth can be gained apart from its consummation in that book, and that book, in turn, cannot be understood apart from the apprehension of all that has gone before. The last book of the Bible is the Revelation supreme. (Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, page 60. © 1947, 1975, assigned to Dallas Theological Seminary, 1980)
It is my fervent hope that many more people will attend these amazing sessions where we open the Word Of God, the Holy Scriptures and open our minds to learn and experience what the Spirit is saying to the churches. (Rev. 2:7, 11,17, 29, 3:6, 13, 22).
Candles for Intercessory Prayer
In 2015 we started offering the opportunity for people to donate the four weekly seven day candles at their cost, which is $2.50 each. In 2016 this ministry has continued. As the pastor I usually contact the donor and assist them to write the dedications or prayers of intercession, thanksgiving, or other intentions which are then published in the bulletin and printed at the kneelers so everyone may participate in the intentions. We also continued to provide the opportunity to donate the votive candles at $5.00 per week. This program continues to be quite popular and has benefited the spiritual growth of the congregation as we are more aware of others prayers and concerns. Additionally, this program continues to help the budget afford the liturgical supplies we enjoy. Many thanks to all who have participated in this program throughout 2016.
Pastoral Guest Lecturing
In 2016 I was fortunate to have the opportunity to present my workshop on sexuality and the Bible in four undergraduate seminars and two graduate level seminars. Again this year I was invited back by the Education and Psychology departments in area colleges. The seminar continues to be widely received and enjoyed by many people.
Web Site and Internet Presence and Technology
In 2015 the annual report included the following sentence. Logan Wenzel is assisting us according to a plan set up at the December 2015 Council meeting. During 2016 look for a completely rebuilt web site in a new format with new information. Hopefully we will be adding content to our YouTube page with more videos as well.
In this annual report that covers the year 2016 I am thrilled to report that all the goals set for the web site have been met. In the space of one year we regained control of our website, updated all of the content, were able to learn how to manage the web site builder we are using, and are able to update content in a matter of minutes. Logan Wenzel was certainly the correct person for the task.
New areas of content have been developed that go beyond the usefulness of the former web site.
By the end of 2017 it is very likely that we will be a paperless organization with all meetings using digital platforms for agendas, minutes, reports, budgets, etc. being published on our web site in the Council Information Portal. Once this area of the web site is up and running we should be able to stop much of the constant publication of paper format meeting materials. One other area I would like to see us test is to stop printing paper bulletins. Instead, the content of each week’s bulletin would be on the web site. People would be able to view it on any computer platform including smart phones. This would save a tremendous amount of paper and ink. There are piles of past bulletins in the chapel that are going to end in the trash. This is a total waste. Perhaps two copies could be printed a week in case there are guests at worship.
While the possibilities of closely connecting our YouTube page with our web site have been tested, there simply has not been enough time to formally hook them together. This will be a goal in 2017. Another goal for 2017 will be the filling out the Council section of the web site with biographies of our Council members and a section where they can blog and write messages too.
We are having one very significant problem with our web site publication. Somewhere in the process of converting documents to HTML documents, or somewhere in the File Transfer Protocol action, some, not all, punctuation marks are not being recognized. The default action seems to be replacing the unrecognized symbols with diamonds that have a question mark inside the diamond. This is irritating for the most part. One action this has caused is the intentional avoidance of quotation marks in our documents being published on the web site. This avoidance of certain punctuation marks can be confusing to readers as it takes away one of the obvious markers that some material is borrowed from other sources. In the absence of quotation marks we are being particularly careful to notate when material is the intellectual property of others. Hopefully this technological problem will be resolved in 2017.
Our web site is a constant presence and ministry tool available to anyone, anywhere as a tool of evangelization.
Technology
We thank Cheryl for designing and rebuilding our audio equipment center and preparing the area for the expansion of multiple computers required for our newly added 55 inch monitor screen we are using during worship. Ever since the chapel opened in 2003 we have discussed the need to rebuild the shelving and move the equipment down into the shelving area that was otherwise not being put to efficient use. We also thank Cheryl for designing the mounting system for the new monitor system and for working with me to build the modifications necessary to support the monitor on the wall. With these additions we moved the computer and Skype setup to the opposite side of the chapel, away from the windows so that the camera can be turned to broadcast what is being shown on the large monitor. We also discovered we are able to control much of the static and feedback that has been going out on the chapel Internet signal by manually turning down the microphone when music is playing in the worship events. We have received reports of some improvement to the music broadcast using this technique.
During 2016 Michael donated all of the necessary equipment for the Syracuse Extension to be able to broadcast and receive the live Skype broadcast for our events. Thank you Michael for these generous donations.
We have set aside money in the 2017 budget to invest in solving the broadcast issues around sending our music through the Skype conferences. We will attempt to move forward in this area as this year progresses.
St. Benedict of Nursia Memorial Library
Many books were donated to the Library in 2016. The Library budget was used to purchase pamphlets and materials we are using in our Bible Enrichment Sessions. We took advantage of the free day for not-for-profit organizations at the Library Book Sale. It was a banner day for books that are of interest to us including a marvelous five volume encyclopedia entitled Reference Library of Black America, edited by Jessie Carney Smith and Joseph M. Palmisano, copyright ©2000 Gale Croup, Inc. Farmington Hills, MI. I was left wondering why this amazing collection of American his/herstory was withdrawn from the Tompkins County Public Library system and tossed away. We certainly will treasure this collection of information.
The library is outgrowing the monastery. At the celebration of Christmas this year the library was thinned out by gifting many of the books to the congregation participants. The books gifted were largely purchased with my personal funds over the years or were from the free materials we rescued from the Library Book Sale. The books were ones that we will be using as we continue our study in the Book of Revelation. Some of the books were very specific gifts to participants in our worship community that would compliment a particular interest or talent they have. I decided rather than sending books to the landfill or returning them to the Library Book Sale it made sense to use these as gifts in our effort to build up the knowledge base of those who are active in the congregation at this time.
Elmira Building Report
2016 was yet another great year for our building. The short version is we were able to install a $5,000.00 electricity update that eliminated the use of extension cords all throughout the building. There were upwards of 30 extension cord devices in use and in some cases these were the only source of electricity in entire rooms in our building. We also exchanged all of the lighting to LED lamps and fixtures.
On October 1, 2016 the chapel was broken into by an intruder who kicked in the front door. He continued across the room and destroyed the new monitor screen and was beginning to dismantle the chapel when I personally confronted him. The investigation into this vandalism is ongoing so not much will go into the record at this time.
We were able to use our insurance policy to replace the destroyed belongings. Damage was estimated to be about $4,000.00. During the year 2017 we will replace the destroyed front door with a double door set going back to the full size of the original door frame.
One result of this event was a thorough review of our building insurance policy. This review is ongoing and decisions are yet to be made if there will be any modifications to our insurance.
We also received a donation of a beautiful glass top electric stove from Bonnie Milliman. Thank you, Bonnie.
Vocational Ministry Training Program
There were no applications to the Vocational Ministry Training Program in 2016.
Pastoral Search Committee
As I said in the 2015 report we continue to be open to others with pastoral gifts to join us in this good work. As I have said many times before, I am longing for the day when we have a team of pastors so I can step back and be of direct assistance to them. Please continue to look for pastors who are looking for a church to work with. The introductory paragraph on our Ministry page on our web site states the fact that we have an all call out for those who may want to make this journey with us. We will visit with any interested persons and see if Ray Of Hope Church Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. might be where they are called to serve.
Conclusion
The dangers of writing a report like this are many. It is possible that some of the information presented may be viewed differently by every person who may have been involved in the incidents reported herein. Then of course is the very high likelihood that some events that should be in this report and some people who most certainly should have been in this report will have been left out accidentally. If you or your contribution was omitted please believe me when I say it was accidental. This report was constructed of events of the year that I was able to remember. We all know my memory has many “skips in my disc” as I like to say often.
If there are other items that should be included in this report please do not hesitate to bring them to my attention so the report can be corrected and amended.
Thank you again for the privilege of serving this community as it’s’ pastor.
Respectively Submitted,
Rev. Br. Shawn F. Benedict, pastor.
