St. Paul's United Church of Christ

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

We are now in the season of Easter, a time when we celebrate with hope the possibilities of new life and God’s overflowing love for all creation.  The events of Good Friday, although a memory, are still very present.  Our Gospel reading for the day bears witness to the trauma of that day, as Thomas has trouble accepting the news that Jesus has been raised from the dead.  And who can blame him?  Like Thomas, most of us are “seeing is believing” type people.  Jesus is not offended or deterred by Thomas’ uncertainty, but invites him to see, touch, and believe.

Jesus also invites us into the unfolding miracle of the resurrection.  We won’t be putting our fingers in Jesus’ scarred palms or side but will have the opportunity to observe new life as we handle the wounds of others.  We will witness the struggles that our neighbors face because of sickness and other health challenges, poverty, depression, and oppression.  We will touch their wounds and our own and learn the same thing that Thomas learned:  that God too is wounded, healed, and resurrected.  We are not alone in our suffering but are joined by God and resurrected with Christ.  Easter’s great lesson is that God’s will for us is abundant life.  

Let us live into this divine vision together as we witness Christ at work in our wounded world.  May God bless you on this journey of resurrection!    

Blessings,

Pastor Matt

St. Paul’s vital ministries would not be possible without your support. Whether we are providing regular religious services, spiritual and emotional care to meet the needs of community members, food and housing assistance, musical opportunities for children, youth, and adults, or offering our building and congregation as a community resource, none of these ministries exist without the support of members and friends of St. Paul’s.

Please consider supporting our community work by giving in person or online.

Online monetary gifts may be given through tithe.ly.  You can make a gift by accessing our website (see the “Give” button on the homepage or the button below), www.stpaulsuccsomerset.org.  You may also download the free tithe.ly app to your smartphone or tablet and customize it to meet your needs.  Although the service is free to the church, credit card and transaction fees are assessed to each gift, so when making an online contribution through tithe.ly, please consider using the bank funds transfer feature, which has the lowest fee of one percent per transaction.  For your convenience, you may also select the reoccurring gift option if you would like to make regular gifts to the church.  If you have any questions or need assistance using this service, please do not hesitate to contact Cindy, our financial secretary.  And as always, we still accept and appreciate your mail-in contributions!

We value your support as we partner to do Christ’s life-giving work! 

Blessings,

Pastor Matt