From the Interim Pastor

Change comes as surely as the earth tilts again on its axis toward the sun and daffodils push upward through the warming soil to bloom. The wonder of life and beauty again springs forth.

This spring also brings change for you and me. I am humbled and grateful for the session’s invitation to serve you as interim minister. For you, it means I will be here as your pastor for the next 12 months. For me, it means I will no longer be working with 50 congregations in the Presbytery of Elizabeth, but one: Church on the Green. I am returning to the form of ministry Christ first invited me into: pastor in the Bronx; associate pastor in Minneapolis; interim associate pastor in St. Paul, MN, before returning to my birth state of New Jersey as the presbytery executive in 1997. I look forward to meeting you, visiting you, and engaging ourselves as a community of faith that deepens its spiritual life while extending the love of Christ to our neighbors.

Easter is upon us. It is a reminder that the tomb in which Jesus was laid became but a window into the power of life in God’s hands. His suffering had a redemptive purpose to move us into the fullness of life God’s love makes possible. Such love exemplified widely changes us and those we live among.

Easter can become the opportunity for us to “tilt” the center of our lives toward God whose life and love are boundless. When the congregation collectively does so, it creates a warming soil where God can make new things spring forth. I sense a readiness to see what God can make possible among us.

Pray for me. Pray for one another. Pray that God’s Spirit may show us how to be a witness to what God can make possible. You will be part of that, so I welcome getting to know you and you getting to know me. Collectively, we can do more together. Join one another in worship, learning for adults and children, fellowship, and ministries to others. Spread the word; invite; welcome others. It began with Jesus and few disciples. It continues with Jesus and us.

The Reverend Robert (Bob) Foltz-Morrison