08/03/22
The following is a letter from Tim Conrad and Joe Shreve to St. Matthew Church.
As we near the end of the three months of pastoral leave for Jim Martin, and three months of us providing the pastoral care and worship leadership for the people of St. Matthew United Methodist Church, we would like to express several thoughts to you.
It has been a privilege to provide the pastoral care and worship leadership for the church for the past three months. We have both felt very supported by the people of the church and have enjoyed the opportunity to preach during this summer. We are both very ready now to turn these responsibilities back to our very capable pastor, Jim Martin.
Second, Betsy Martin is on the road to recovery. We know that this has been a difficult ordeal for her and for Jim, who has been her primary caregiver. We are glad that we have been able to provide them the time needed for this process.
Third, we would like to thank Rachel Smith for her work as secretary where she has coordinated many different aspects of the church’s life and work. She has been an immense help to us both.
Fourth, we would like to express our appreciation to some people who have helped us in the planning and conducting of worship at St. Matthew. We thank Tracy Alfred and Whitney Ballard for sharing their musical gifts and for making arrangements for others to also be able to enhance our worship through their musical talents. We thank the members of the praise team for sharing their musical talents as a way of helping us experience God’s presence and love in worship. We thank Kathy White for helping with liturgical leadership, as well as those who have helped with the technological aspects of worship, particularly Sadie Anderson, Justin Roy and Shaun Smith. Finally, we thank all of you for your participation in worship, for indeed worship is not a spectator sport, it is a time for all of us to participate in praising God and celebrating God’s love for us and our love and faith in God.
In Christ’s service,
Tim Conrad and Joe Shreve