Sisters and Brothers,
I greet you in the name of our triune God.
What a varied time the month of November is! We start with the solemnity of All Saints, mark the Feast of Christ the King and end at the start of a new liturgical year – the Season of Advent. In between these festivals, we observe the third Sunday of November as MCCA Youth & Young Adults Lord’s Day.
This year, November is less crowded as we omit Harvest Celebrations and joint worship service with our hosts at Rotterdam. Nonetheless, there is still much that makes November a month of celebrating God’s presence among us.
What we do learn more intensely as we continue through the challenges brought on by COVID-19, is that the Lord’s abiding presence is our stabilising anchor. Let us all be part of the ecumenical prayer which believers are invited to start the month with – 1st to 7th November, God is indeed our Refuge and Strength, our very present help in trouble.
Let us also support our youth and young adults in their celebration, and indeed in their whole life. I invite all members worshipping online to post online the evidence of their support during the worship celebration on 15th November. Let the young people know that we value them. Resisting Spiritual Distancing: Unmasking The Struggle is their theme for this year.
These are very challenging times for our youth; but with the support of the wider church family, they can continue growing in grace, growing in self-acceptance, growing in the service of our Lord. As I write, I am reminded that there are quite a few high school teens who have not been enlisted in Church School Classes. I invite parents to share their contact details so we can invite them to a forum where they share with other teenagers learning together and sharing the love of God. Parents and other significant adults, I’m depending on you to do your part. Just give us the details and God will lead us in the best way to reach them and win them for the Lord. Never forget that God loves them more than we are capable of doing.
Let us continue to live out Operation Andrew then, not only with adults but with our children and youth, for the Kingdom of Heaven is indeed, promised to them too.
May the Lord’s richest blessings be ever yours.
Joan Delsol Meade
Pastor