Prineville Presbyterian Church

Being kind of a word-smith, when I heard the word “plethora” it set me back for a couple of moments. Plethora is defined as a large or excessive amount of something. The word came as people were setting up for Autumnfest. Glenda Janssen walked into the office carrying our crock pot and explained that she was returning it because there was a plethora of crock pots.

In its own way, that plethora-moment has come to symbolize what continues to happen here at PPC. A quick count over the past year shows that we’ve welcomed 10 more people onto our church membership rolls, and another couple plans to join by the end of the year. This is in addition to the six members who were brought onto our rolls last year.

While I am deeply delighted to see this happen, I’m even more excited to see it take place in a balanced fashion. By that I mean this growth is coming as people are baptized into the Christian faith, and, as people new to our denomination yet with lots of church experience are making PPC their church home, and, as people with lots of denomination experience are relocating here and making PPC their church home too.

We’re also seeing this reflected as our elders’ and deacons’ positions are being filled with folks who re-enlisting as well first-timers.

I believe this will all continue leading to a terrific blend of us staying true to our traditions while perhaps tuning some of them up with fresh perspectives. This in turn will lead us to bettering and broadening our ministry as disciples of Jesus Christ.

And while we do celebrate this new vitality, please do not ever think for a moment that there is no room for your energy or ideas.

Regardless of whether or not you are on the ‘official’ rolls, regardless of whether you are an elder or deacon; regardless of whether you have a long history here or next Sunday might be your 1st Sunday with us; we value you simply because you are you - and you are God's beloved.

As we look ahead to 2017, if you have a thought or an idea, I hope that you’re comfortable in sharing it because we will all be that much better for it.

Together We Serve,
Pastor Mike