If you recall, starting last year we were building excitement for 2020. We were looking forward to celebrating 150 years as a church. Then the pandemic hit and kind of took
the wind out of our sails. Both the church retreat scheduled for March and the concert at the Fayetteville Fireman’s Carnival did not happen. Then, the Homecoming Weekend scheduled for October was postponed until 2021. However, on November 22nd we will have a celebration service. A time to give thanks for God’s faithfulness over the past 150 years.
Our theme for this anniversary year is “Enduring Faith.” A theme that seems to be very appropriate for the challenging times we find ourselves in right now. Our verse to go with that is Hebrews 12:1.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us
throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let
us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1)
Our challenges: the pandemic, social unrest and political polarization appear to be huge obstacles for our nation. We must remember that our nation and churches have faced plenty of huge challenges in the past. Think about this – people have been gathering as a part of New Guilford for over 150 years. Yes, the original New Guilford church was built in 1870, but people who were a part of New Guilford were meeting in homes for forty-five years before that.1 That’s a heritage of close to 200 years. In those 200 years church members would have experienced a few challenges such as a Civil War, the Spanish Flu, two World Wars and the Great Depression, just to name a few. Through it all believers who call New Guilford their home have continued to worship together, to grow together and to serve together.
While the challenges have changed over the years, our approach should not. It’s our faith in an Almighty God who never changes that is going to see us through. Let’s continue to come together around that faith and run with perseverance the race marked out for us!
