First Presbyterian Church of Wildwood Florida

Dear Beloved Church Family,

This is the day the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

As I write this, much needed rain is pouring upon my lawn, and my kitties are snuggled on the couch enjoying the darkness of a gloomy, yet beautiful morning. For even as God replenishes the earth with rain so too does God replenish us with peace.

I have many announcements and prayer concerns to share with you today. First the announcements:

• Sharon Kelly has offered to make face masks for anyone who needs them Please call or text her at (240)626-4820. Thank you, Sharon!
• There is a new email scam targeting clergy, similar to the one a few months ago where it looked like pastors were asking their congregations for gift cards (I know this one unfortunately caught a few of you). The new one looks like it comes from me and asks for a favor. It then asks you to click on a link to see what the favor is. PLEASE DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK! It will install malware on your computer! I have not been targeted yet by this scam, but several of my clergy friends have, so I wanted to give you a heads up. Please let me know if you receive an email of this sort, so I can report it.
• Thank you for your continued financial support of the church. We appreciate all who are mailing in their contributions or have their bank account set up to automatically send in their contribution. The stewardship team is also looking at online giving as an option, where you will be able to go to our website to give, but that is a little ways off at this point.
• Several of you have asked about ways and/or places to donate part or all of your government stimulus checks, and asked me to list some of the places we as a church support as well as how to give something extra to the church. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
• If you would like to contribute to the church, any checks that are not earmarked in the memo line for something specific support our operating budget, which is always appreciated. Or if you would like to contribute to the capital reserve fund, which is our fund for surprise emergency items like air-conditioner repair, roof leaks, etc, simply put "capital reserve" in the memo line.
• A few of you have spoken to me about contributing part or all of your stimulus check to anonymously help either those in our church family or in the community that might need help right now and in the future. If you desire to help in this way, please write "pastor discretion" in the memo line and know that I will faithfully distribute as needs arise (and there are already several needs I know about).
• Below are listed several of the missions we support. In each of these cases, you may donate directly to them or through the church (make checks out to the church and put where you want it to go in the memo line)
  • Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is already on the ground helping communities impacted by Covid-19 throughout the country. Go to pcusa.org and search for PDA to read about their efforts.
  • Wildwood Soup Kitchen
  • Love, Inc.
  • Haven House
  • House of Hope

Your generosity during a time such as this is overwhelming. Thank you!

In closing, I want to thank all of you for continuing to reach out to others in our congregation, checking in with one another through calls and emails and cards, participating in online worship, and letting me, your deacons and your elders know of your needs. This continues to be a "different" time in all our lives, and I for one am grateful for the love and strong web of friendship woven into the fabric of our little church in the Wildwood. Enjoy todays music selection!

Blessings to you,

Pastor Susan