December 9, 2020

Dear Friends of Rockwood,

What  a difference a year can make!  This year which started with so much energy and potential soon became a journey into controversy and chaos.  The unknowns become the breeding grounds for fear and paranoia.

The experts demonstrate their expertise is closer to guesswork than precision.

I am reminded of the words of an old Gospel hymn saying “God knows all about tomorrow, He can see beyond today” reminding believers in the end “We need never fear the future; On His promises we stand, God knows all about tomorrow for He holds it in His hand!” 

Let us live life our lives to the fullest since each day is a gift from the hand of Our Heavenly Father.  Let us love and serve one another with renewed appreciation as we are seeing more clearly the value of family, friends, and fellowship.  We are truly blest; this year has given us a reset and I hope we are able to take full advantage.  May God help us to “B” growing in grace by: Being Respectful, Being Humble, Being Considerate, Being Generous, etc!

2020 started with a bang at Rockwood.  We started our first real renovation of our facility in decades.  The Sanctuary has been modernized and upgraded with new paint, flooring and seating which ironically has not been seen by a good number of you in person because it was not completed until well into the present era of the pandemic. 

On the first Sunday of shut down we went live on Facebook and this has been received well and viewed by many of our friends and past members who have not been a part of the church family in years. 

Wednesday nights have become great evenings for fellowship and prayer through Zoom Meetings set up by Mike Thebeau.  I am so appreciative of these gatherings because of the inclusive and unified sharing across the church body.  It has been a blessing to see the expansion of our prayer ministry and much of this is due to the good participation in these meetings.  If you are not connecting with us in these meetings I encourage your to ask Mike for the link and join us even if you are not able to stay for our whole meeting.

Well, this is the Christmas Season and many have wondered if we were going to try and have our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service this year.  The answer is yes!  We will be open at the church building for this year’s service and also doing our best to cover it on Facebook live.  For those of you who are planning to join us at the church we will be promoting the wearing of masks, practicing physical distancing (Not Social!), and limiting attendance; asking you to pre-register with either Mike or Pastor Pete. 

I would like to share a few things we are anticipating in the future.  We are planning a Communion Service December 27^th in our Worship Service.  We have pre-package elements available if you would like to try and join us.  We are also looking to start some projects as the new year begins including upgrading our computer system, basement renovations, and more targeted on campus and online ministry.

God Bless You All Real Good

Pastor Pete  

Pastor Charles “Pete” Patton    2425 Glencoe Rd, Wildwood, MO 63038