Dear Church Hill Faith Family,

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, the religious establishment of His day viewed Him as an unorthodox, renegade teacher. Jesus’ teaching regarding Sabbath observance was particularly contentious. The religious elites enforced a strict “no work” policy on the Sabbath. Anyone who performed any action which might be considered work was guilty of transgressing God’s command to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. Jesus, on the other hand, did not hesitate to do good on the Sabbath and miraculously healed persons who were suffering from various diseases. If it is God’s will for God’s people to be freed from oppression (as Scripture clearly testifies to), then surely God is honored when a woman is healed of an 18-year affliction on the Sabbath day (see Luke 13:10-17).

Freeing those who were oppressed in body, mind, or spirit was central to the mission of Jesus. As followers of Jesus, freedom for the oppressed must be central to our mission as well. Jesus rebelled against the status quo regarding Sabbath observance because the status quo was causing harm to those on the margins of society. The same Spirit Who empowered Jesus’ ministry empowers ours also. This same Spirit will empower us to center the needs of the oppressed in all that we do and to resist the status quo if it harms the least of these among us.

In Christ,

Pastor Nicholas

The diseased spruce tree between the parsonage and the Sanctuary has been removed by Hansen Tree and Landscaping. The cost of the removal was $900.00. The trustees thank Carole Reilly and Rena and Luke Lukoski for donating toward the cost of the removal. 

We also have 3 diseased ash trees that we are trying to save. Bartlett Tree will perform a systemic borer treatment for these trees at a cost of $955.00. It is hoped we can save these trees by our parking lot and the parsonage driveway. If anyone wants to contribute toward this unexpected cost, the trustees will be grateful.

Troop 192 Eagle Scout candidate, Christian Dyer, has begun work on his project to build a paver sidewalk between the other two sidewalks at the Fellowship Center. Christian and his team began work last Saturday and hope to complete the project in the next couple of weeks. Our church is blessed to have Troop 192 helping us throughout the year with church cleanups.

We are especially thankful that Christian has chosen to give us this new sidewalk for his Eagle project.