The need to feed the hungry in our communities could be greatest this year because of COVID-19 and the effect it has had on our society. This letter is sent to all the Pastors of the Churches in the Presbytery of the Redwoods or specifically to those have volunteered to help with this year's Campaign. Over the last six years, P4P has collected nearly a quarter million dollars to combat hunger in our Presbytery. The response from the participating churches has been AMAZING!

WE “CAN” DO IT, but we need your help!

When people are at a loss on how to be encouraged, this is a wonderful way to focus on how we can be creative and share our faith at the same time.

“Why should we all use our creative power...? Because there is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money.” --Brenda Ueland

You say there isn’t a creative bone in your body. Your mind goes blank and your mouth gets dry. You want to find the nearest exit.... Instead, explore the connection between creativity, health and faith. Share what Inspires, Strengthens and Affirms our Life Journey.

Healing Through the Arts Workshop Series

Healing Through the Arts is a nine-week workshop series that introduces creativity as an enjoyable path toward illuminating faith in our life journey.

2020 has been anything but normal. The new year has brought new uncertainty, new pain, and a new virus that has thrown the world into a cyclone of fear and chaos.

Stock markets around the world have lost trillions of dollars in value and entire cities are being quarantined. The coronavirus (COVID-19) originated in Wuhan, China and has now rapidly spread to over 100+ countries in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East. Uncertainty, fear, and worry are also going viral.

As Christian men and women of faith, let’s look to our history for the Christian response. The Christian response to plagues begins with some of Jesus’s most famous teachings: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you;” “Love your neighbor as yourself;” “Greater love has no one than this, that he should lay down his life for his friends.” Put plainly, the Christian ethic, in a time of plague, considers that our own life must always be regarded as less important than that of our neighbor.

In order to comply with the CDC guidelines and Governor Gavin Newsom’s orders to shelter-in-place and to cancel or postpone gatherings, Rockville Presbyterian Fellowship will not hold worship services or on-site meetings through the end of April at least.

Because the office phone messages cannot be retrieved remotely, phone messages may not be received or calls returned on a daily basis, but email is being checked regularly. Please send an email to rockpres@aol.com, or contact Pastor Joanne or a deacon if you have questions or need support at this time.

We will update this post with various resources as they become available.

The only topic on the news is “corona virus” this and “Covid 19” that. This and That. Life on this planet has slowed to a crawl for most of us, as we sit at home, either working long distance at our various jobs, or homeschooling children, or just finding creative ways to keep ourselves from dwelling upon the negatives of confinement.

But, reading today’s emails as I just did, I found the letter to churches from the church headquarters in Louisville stating that many from the mission field have been called to come back to the United States. Like the virus itself, the repercussions of the virus, discounting the medical implications for all of us, are farther-reaching than we could have imagined and probably, like an ice berg, not able to be entirely seen or anticipated.

While we’re all self-isolating and doing our best to stay healthy, we can still enjoy some extraordinary virtual gifts from our RPF family.

Here's a little music to brighten your day from Robert Barnes, our former Rockville Presbyterian church pianist. Robert is currently stationed in Germany with the Air Force band, but he gave us a wonderful concert this afternoon via Facebook! He is sooo talented. He even played at the White House a couple of times. Click on the link below to view the video. Enjoy!

Robert Barnes Facebook Live Concert

Lent is upon us as we have begun the 40 day journey towards Easter. It also feels as if the earth is slowly getting ready for Easter with its fresh smell of damp soil, and all the buds, and the birds, and the flowers lending a kind of emotional power to the mystery of new life that we proclaim. According to the ancient plan of the church, Lent begins in the cold and dark, then journeys slowly toward warmth and light.

As we start a brand-new year, 2020, let me share this old piece of religious humor that I read the other day.

Do you think that Moses led the Israelites through the desert for forty years because God was testing him, or because he wanted them to really appreciate the promised land when they finally got there, or because Moses refused to ask anybody for directions?

Actually, if you know your Bible, you know the correct answer is none of the above. But think with me for a moment about that last option in the question. We don’t really know if Moses refused to ask for directions. We certainly have to admit though, that we all have a problem, at times, asking for directions.

Comfort ye, Comfort ye My people! Says your God
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her
That her warfare is ended, and her iniquity is pardoned. Isaiah 40:1-2

Beloved of God and amazing church friends,

Daylight is precious these days, and growing more so. By early morning on December 1 the sun will go over the horizon, and each morning on its low arc through the sky, it rises later as it moves relentlessly toward the winter solstice – the northern hemisphere’s shortest day and longest night.

One of the curious things about Presbyterians and stewardship is that those who have the least tend to give the most. Percentage-wise more people with incomes of less than $25,000 tithe (give 10 percent) than those with a greater income. The same is true of the way they give their time and talents to the church.

Perhaps it is because they have learned one of the great theological and Biblical truths that Malachi taught the Hebrew people about the reward of the faithful: “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, ..see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing” (3:10).

October is a wonderful month, fall is beginning, programs are starting and Pedal for Protein riders are raising money for the homeless. There is much happening at the church and I encourage you to attend the up and coming events:

After the abundant rain and blazing sun, plants started to grow in my yard. Lots of plants, but not necessarily the ones I wanted nor the ones I planted. Yes, there are foxtails, milk thistle, dandelions and oxalis where I want flowers to grow.

May will be an amazing month. First of all, if you have not met the co-moderator of the General Assembly, please come to church on Sunday, May 19. Cindy Kohlmann will be bringing us the Sermon and we will be sharing in the worship service together. It is not every day that churches get to hear the co-moderator of the General Assembly preach in their congregation.

What a gift it will be to hear what news she brings us from the larger denomination and the vision, mission and hope she will share with us. The newsletter as well as the internet has wonderful articles about her and the denomination and all the wonderful work they are doing. Let’s support her by being present on May 19.

Our lives are full of both joy and crises. A loved one dies. A flower blooms. A friend betrays a trust. We watch a child smile. We fail. We soar.

We have all had a crisis of faith where we feel like our doubts make us unworthy of being a part of church or close to God. We have a crisis of vocation when we aren’t sure what we are supposed to do with our lives. We have had a crisis of heartbreak when people we cherished didn’t reciprocate. In these crisis moments, it seems like God is so far away. What happened to the blessings, the joy and the hope we were promised? Are we being punished with suffering? Yet, now when we look back on our faith journey, we have come to recognize that the times we have felt the closest to God have come in the midst of a crisis. There was an inverted blessing in the darkness.

All fourteen rooms as well as three cabins are reserved for our 24th annual retreat. There will be 43 attendees this year! Of that number, 15 are children. Should you be interested, please contact the church office; we will check on remaining availability.

The family retreat is a quiet weekend where we are treated to one of the most beautiful settings God has provided us. We share meals in a dining hall at pre-scheduled times. There is a Sunday morning worship service and a Sunday sunset Communion service both held on the grounds. The focus of the weekend is fellowship--with family and with other attendees. Activities are your own personal choice!

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Wow, we are really speeding up with all that is going on with Rockville in February and March.

• We are completing a mission study and having congregation groups to discuss “Our Future Story;”

• We are calling a Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) together and they will begin meeting in February;

• We are baptizing a new baby Laila Kathleen Harris on February 3 at 10:00; ü We are celebrating five new members on February 3; …

A New Year In the Lord Brothers and Sisters in Christ, A blessed New Year to all of you! As we rip off the last page of our 2018 calendar and hang a fresh, crisp 2019 one, we hear many people encourage us to “ring in the New Year.” Others will ask us to make New Year’s resolutions to shed a few more pounds and run a few more miles.

As the people of God we enter the New Year “in the Lord.” After all, this is the truth that is conveyed in the acronym “AD.” It is the abbreviation of the Latin phrase Anno Domini, meaning “in the year of the Lord.” So while the world asks us to make the New Year memorable, relevant, and significant by our actions and resolutions, God asks us to greet the changing year by remaining in him.

A Christmas Story - “Recognizing Jesus”

One of my favorite Christmas stories is about the old shoe cobbler who dreamed one Christmas Eve that Jesus would come to visit him the next day. The dream was so real that he was convinced it would come true.

So the next morning he got up and went out and cut green boughs and decorated his little cobbler shop and got all ready for Jesus to come and visit. He was so sure that Jesus was going to come that he just sat down and waited for him. The hours passed and Jesus didn’t come. But an old man came. He came inside for a moment to get warm out of the winter cold.

Thank you so much for your contributions recently. We made three stops on Thanksgiving morning. The first was at Del Oro Animal Shelter where we donated paper towels, toilet paper, four 9x16 tarps, 48 wash cloths, as well as sheets, blankets and a rug. The next stop was at "tent city" in the Walmart parking lot where we handed out the 20 care bags from the church, flash lights and about $200 in gift cards.