May 5, 2010

 To Members and Friends of Heritage Presbyterian Church   

 The month of May has been designated “A Season for Stewardship” here at Heritage Presbyterian Church, picking up on the planting, nourishing, and harvesting concept of how we use the resources God has given us.  Ron Stenzel, our stewardship chair, spoke during worship on our kick-off Sunday, May 2d and used the idea of Texas bluebonnets, moving from a single flower to a larger group of flowers to a huge field of flowers. The idea behind his images is that we re-build our church – its membership and its revenue base – one giving unit at a time.

 Last Sunday, my message conveyed the fact that we are “blessed to be a blessing.” Individually, we have each been blessed, and that blessing is not to be hoarded but rather to be used to be a blessing to others. In the coming weeks, our youth and our Director of Youth Ministries will be sharing their faith with the congregation, and we all need to re-affirm our commitment to nurture the spiritual growth of those who will be the future leaders within the Presbyterian Church (USA).

 Commitment Sunday is May 23d, which is also Pentecost Sunday, the time the church was essentially born in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. The session would like to see that same excitement and openness to the Spirit come upon you and your family as we all gather to celebrate that special day. There will be more information going out regarding Commitment Sunday soon, so watch for it on our website (www.heritagepresbyterian.org) and in your mail.

 I look forward to a wonderful celebration of Holy Spirit and of blessing your spiritual and material gifts on Pentecost Sunday, and I look forward to seeing you throughout this month in worship and in the other activities of our church.

 With blessings and grace,

 Dr. Jerry Hurst, Pastor