January 11, 2021
Dear UCCTV Family,
I. As noted above, we now have the breaking news the Pastoral Search Team has been working hard and diligently on for several months now -- the top candidate they've been in discussions with has accepted the Call! As Glenn stated in the statement, be on the alert for a future communication announcing the introduction of the candidate and procedures for registering your vote of approval once the introduction is completed. That's exciting news and you should (as I am!) be proud of the effort of the whole Team! Halleluiah!
II. You're invited to join me tomorrow, Tuesday, at 6:30 PM, for an online PRAYER SERVICE FOR UNITY IN OUR COUNTRY sponsored by our community Interfaith Peace Partners. The link is https://zoom.us/j/93289230108?pwd=cCttTlZMWWRPOTZGYXVSV0VPOXVSUT09 and if you join by telephone the Meeting ID is 932-8923-0108# and the Passcode is 597039#). I'll be joining the gathering and I'd love to see several of the UCCTV family join me in the event.
III. I need your help spreading the word of Christ's hope and YOU -- the amazing people that make up the United Church of Christ in The Villages! And the best way we can do that is by sharing our YouTube online worship service. Our hard-working volunteers, staff, and I who help make it happen every week highly encourage you to help us share the weekly YouTube link of our online worship service -- https://youtu.be/oELFKdD2_UY -- with your family, friends and neighbors. The wonderful thing is that we usually have as much as 100 folks who actually view the service between Saturday at 9 PM and Sunday morning by 12 Noon. The rest of the viewers trickle in during the rest of the week. Our weekly viewership goal is 150 YouTube individual views per week. Please help us reach that goal -- it's easy and we can do it. Have you viewed and been blessed with the service yet?
IV. 1. I'D LOVE YOU TO OPT BACK IN! As you're all aware, I use text messaging once or twice a week to keep everyone informed of important member-only church activities. These are NOT marketing text messages but church-related messages. Once in awhile, when I text church members, I invariably have some folks inadvertently respond to me by typing "CANCEL." When that happens, your pastor and church lose the ability to reach out to you with very urgent church-related announcements. To opt back in your cell phone number and allow your church to keep you informed of important information please text the following word "Optin" (Optin - skip the quotation marks) to the following telephone number: 1-234-218-8000. Thank you so much!
V. Our next OUTDOOR WORSHIP SERVICE -- weather permitting -- is scheduled for Communion Sunday, February 7th, at 10:00 AM. Although more information will follow, right now I can confirm that, just as we did for the Christmas Eve services, pre-registration will be required. Again, stay tuned as the Diaconate and I plan for the worship service for those who are able and willing to attend.
VI. Another major event we'll also be celebrating this month is our ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING scheduled for Sunday, January 31st. This will be a "virtual" version of the annual meeting. Please stand by for all the details to be provided by our Moderators in the next few days.
VII. If you were blessed (I know you were!) by the online worship service this past Sunday on YouTube, you can thank the fantastic work of amazing volunteers and staff. A great big "GRACIAS" goes out to Fred W., Patti W., Mike W., Denny L., and Penny T.
VIII. As I noted last week, please understand that we at UCCTV will continue with our present model of pre-recorded worship services until otherwise indicated. I don't think I need to belabor the rationale why the GB and I believe we're not yet ready for in-sanctuary, in-person worship based on a 13.9% coronavirus positivity rate in Sumter County for the last week. This is based on the State of Florida data available as of 1:00 PM today for the period of 1/3/21 to 1/9/21. Again, no one should feel inspired by these data. We will consider in-person, in-sanctuary when we meet the 5% threshold based on the CDC and World Health Organization recommendations.
And, finally, thank you for your faithful support during these challenging times to your church family's mission to each other, our community, and the world.
Rev. Luis A. Perez, M.Div.
Intentional Interim Pastor
United Church of Christ at The Villages
Church: 352-748-9199
Cell: 407-868-3166
Email: luis@myinterimpastor.com
Church Website: www.villagesucc.org
My GoToMeeting Link: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/912518045. You can also join by phone by calling 872-240-3212 (if asked, the Access Code is 912-518-045).
PS: Come back to my ministry website often. I update it at least once a week.
