Welcome to the Yorkshire Church Blog

5 March 2021

Good day and Blessings to each of you!

Another great, crazy busy week at Yorkshire as we enter March and our third week of Lent.  This Sunday, I am excited to share in Girl Scout Sunday with our Troop 20402 Daisies who meet at our Church on Wednesday evenings.  This will take place during our 9AM worship hour.  They are truly a wonderful group of young ladies and it has been blessing to be able to have them at Yorkshire!

Last week, Education Chair Rick Focht, Jim Valentine and I met to discuss the education programs at our church, and how we can begin to move forward to expand our offerings.  This will include at least one additional adult class (in addition to the Sanctuary class), and a full complement of children and youth classes, Pre-K through High School.  A goal is to have this in place in the June timeframe, but it will be largely dependent on the level of support that Rick is able to assemble in the form of teachers and helpers.  I know that he is working very hard on this, so, if you are feeling the pull to this type of ministry, let us know!  You can email me, Rick, or simply let Alison know in the church office.  If you don’t have experience- that is just fine, our curriculum and planned classroom materials will provide you with all the information that you will need to be successful!  The first step, though, is to let us know of your interest.  It is my opinion that the value of Christian Education such as Sunday School and Small Group study is one of the most critical aspects of a healthy, growing church.  And I am not speaking of growing in the aspect of numbers, or volume, but in our Christian walk of faith and our relationship with God.  When the church grows in fellowship of the body through prayer, communion, and the teaching of the Word, then everything else will fall into place.  I thank Rick for his time and efforts in moving this program forward!  

I would also like to welcome to our Yorkshire staff our newest team member, Brittany Mowrer.  Brittany will be at Yorkshire each day ensuring that our facilities are clean, bright, and beautiful!  She has jumped right in and made herself a part of our staff family.  The last few evenings that I have left the church, I did so with the essence of “clean” in the air.  This week’s message, “Devotion,” speaks about how certain smells (such as the charcoal fire in John 21:9) can bring back memories.  Well, the fragrance of “Clorox” representing cleanliness has reminded me of how our house would often smell when I was growing up as my mother would take care of our home.  If you happen to be at the church and cross paths with Brittany, please help us in making her feel welcome- as only Yorkshirians can do!  A special thanks to David Lloyd and Steve Spangler for their time and effort in the interview and selection process.  It is truly appreciated!

In the next week or so, you will notice a continuation of the process of removing many of the shrubs around the church facility with the emphasis on the bushes around the Sanctuary entrance.  This is for a couple of purposes.  First and foremost is security.  We want to provide the highest level of security and safety for those that are coming and going from the church.  New general facility guidelines state that there should be little or no shrubbery or concealing ground cover within 16 feet of the building.  We are working to meet these recommendations.  The second reason is that many of these shrubs cannot be effectively pruned and groomed.  Removing them not only addresses this issue, but also continues to help us make the management of our grounds and facility more efficient, while also presenting a clean and bright façade for our members and new guests.  Team Trustees will be leading this effort, so, if you would like to help them out with a rake, or a broom, let Steve Spangler or David Lloyd know and they will let you know of the time schedule, which may be impacted by weather.  (I have heard of big mid-March snowstorms here in the past…hmmm.)

I have been overwhelmed by the fellowship response to both our Women’s Bible Study on Monday nights, “Elijah,” and our “Rough Cut Men’s” fellowship, “Who’s Got Your Six,” on Wednesday mornings.  The study materials have turned out to be very good, but the fellowship of those who gather has been incredible as well.  We will continue to seek ways to provide such content to the church, as well as find ways to do so using technology for on-line interaction.  All of our groups that meet in person maximize safe disciplines for the participants.  If you have any ideas for either content or format, please let me know.  Your input is of tremendous value to me!

In closing, I just want to say how much I appreciate all of the things that folks at Yorkshire are doing – most of which are “behind the scenes.”  This week I gained appreciation of the efforts of Debra Why as I witnessed her dedication and devotion to supporting our children’s Sunday School programs.  Our children do not only enjoy the incredible support from teachers Barb Snare and Rachel Fry, but they have fun and creative crafts and projects to compliment their lessons!  All of the work of Debra, Barb, and Rachel occurs behind the scenes and many of us have no idea what is happening!  But for our children and their parents, their endeavors are not unnoticed!  “Devotion” is an element of our teachings this week, and each of your devotion to our children and the families of Yorkshire is great appreciated- and recognized!  For you, we say “Thank you God!”

And thank you to all of you who make our great church fellowship what it is.  From your prayers, your gifts, your work, and your input, all of these great things that are happening are doing so because of you.

And for that, I am thankful!  

Have a great and blessed day.

– pastor dave.

dkominsky@susumc.org