Sunday, April 19, 2020

Saying Goodbye to Pastors Carol and Tony

On April 19, 2020 the congregation shared a video goodbye and thank you to bridge pastors Carol Ripley-Moffitt and Tony Hoshaw.  Carol and Tony served jointly during the period July 2019 through April 2020.

Pastor Carol Ripley-Moffitt - Final Sermon

Pastor Carol Ripley-Moffitt served as temporary pastor during two different periods 20 years apart. During 2000-2002 she served as "interim" pastor prior to the long term service of Pastor Steve Halsted who arrived in 2002. And then for almost a year during 2019-2020, Pastor Carol served with Tony Hoshaw as "bridge" pastor during yet another transitional period. Her final sermon was delivered on April 19, 2020 as part of a "virtual worship service" during the COVID-19 pandemic that hit in March 2020. Following is the text of that sermon ...

Link to printable copy of sermon

John 20:19-31



When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Judeans, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."