July 4, 2021
July, the seventh month, begins the second half of the year. We have completed 185 days including today, July 4th. We have 180 days left to fulfill our plans for 2021.
Sunday July 4, 2021 is Independence Day Observed as the birth of our nation.
The nation was born out of a commitment to create a country based on the creed that "all people are created equal and entitled to certain inalienable rights among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," is the way the declaration of independence says it. "The challenges which occasioned the birth of America still require the determination and resolve to continue "to form a more perfect union," realizing that we are a work in progress.
This democratic experiment as it has been called by some is still a work in progress as you can see from the gridlock in the Congress of the United States. Practicing principles is always challenging for life is ever-changing and evolving requiring reassessment and re-evaluation.
Given the new laws that a variety of states have passed to suppress the vote, limiting the number of days for voting and voting places, changing who can certify the vote, coupled with the supreme court invalidating the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, freeing nine states, mostly in the South to change their voting laws, together with the most recent supreme court’s decision dealt a new blow to voting rights upholding Arizona restrictions.
Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said: "We are fighting against the most concerted state-based effort to undermine Black voting strength since the Civil Rights Movement. And in that context, the Supreme Court has again, & with abandon, shredded a core provision of the Voting Rights Act.
Sunday July 11, 2021 at noon our mid-year church meeting has been scheduled. A link will be provided for church members in the weekly news at the beginning of the next week. Agenda, prayer, verification of quorum, minutes from the annual meeting in January 2021 by church clerk, Pastor’s reflections, Diaconate reflections, Trustees reflections (including a report on the structural damage and the investment committee), presentation of the six-month budget July – December 2021 by budget and finance commission, nominating committee report, calendar for the remaining portion of the year, announcements, closing and benediction.
Sunday, July 25, 2021 is being observed as Men's Day. You will be kept abreast of this observance as plans are still being finalized.
Thank you for your continued commitment to this fellowship of faith.
With every good wish, I am,
Yours in Celebration of God's Love,
Pastor
