March 8, 2021
Dear Kirk family,
On Sunday, as I reflected on the end of Samson’s life.
I share about how, at the end, he only had the hand of a Philistine attendant to count on, I asked …
“How many people can you count on?
How long is that list for you? Of those you can count on...
Who is on it?
Are you adding people to the list - or are people falling off?”
I am grateful for how our church can be counted on.
Last week I was counting on all of you to complete an e-survey to help with our discernment toward an Anniversary Campaign, and you responded! Thanks to all who participated already! If you still need to fill it out, just be aware that we only sent one per household and that the survey closes on March 12. If you have trouble finding the survey, reach out to Bob Libcke at
and he will be happy to help.
So many people have counted on the Kirk for their spiritual nourishment over the course of the last year. We will continue to offer online and radio options! We are also grateful to see a growing number of you returning to the sanctuary for worship on Sundays. The Covid response team is happy to announce that we will be moving from 25% capacity in the sanctuary to 33% capacity. We will continue to wear masks and pre-register for the service. Click here (insert link) to attend at 8 am in Cedarholm chapel or 10 am in the sanctuary this Sunday!
Don’t forget, children’s church is new every week and can be found here - https://kirkinthehills.org/ministries/children/
Beginning today, March 8th, you will be able to register for the following services in the sanctuary or refectory.
March 21, 8 and 10 a.m., Youth Sunday
March 28, 8 and 10 a.m., Palm Sunday
April 4, 8 a.m., 10 a.m., and noon, Easter Sunday
You will also be able to sign up for the 11 a.m. Easter Egg Hunt to be held on Easter Sunday
As we look forward to Palm Sunday and Easter, families with children should know that we’re looking for children (PreK-5th grade) to lead the processional on Palm Sunday at 10. Please sign up here to participate in the processional. We’ll have Sunday school for children and special family craft event immediately following the service.
We also hope children will enjoy the petting zoo and Easter egg hunt at 11 a.m. on Easter Sunday!
Don’t forget that we also have a Lenten midweek service every Wednesday noon! This week Pastor Keith will lead the prayer services and I continue to invite you to “fast and pray” on Wednesdays during Lent. We also have a musical moment every Sunday night at 7 p.m. This Sunday’s Musical Moment is a being presented by the Kirk Boys’ and Girls’ Choirs in anticipation of Youth Sunday. They will be singing a number of their favorite anthems and hymns.
As we start to see more people on the Kirk campus for worship, we are also seeing more interest for hosting in-person meetings and small groups. If that is of interest to you, please keep in mind -
- Room reservations are mandatory. Contact Erica, our Director of Operations, at to reserve your space.
- Entry is through the welcome center doors.
- All visitors are to use the Covid waiver at the welcome desk.
- Please wear masks and respect social distancing measures.
Thank you and see you soon!
It is not only our own worshipping community that counts on the Kirk, our surrounding community does too.
Kirk volunteers helped clean and move furniture in two of the residences of Hope Against Trafficking last Saturday. Thank you so much to everyone who helped to serve our partner in ministry!
And we continue with our canned food drive to help stock local food pantries. Our goal is to fill 40 boxes in these 40 days of Lent and we're nearly half way there! So please keep dropping stuff off at the Welcome Center or bringing it up to church Sunday in the narthex!
This month, Accent Pontiac is hosting a virtual Winter Showcase on Friday, March 19 at 7:00 p.m. The concert will be streamed on Accent Pontiac's Facebook page and at accentpontiac.org. If you missed Accent Pontiac's 2019 - 2020 Annual Report click here. I invite you to view it here, where you will see the impact Accent Pontiac has had on the lives of over 250 students and learn about the programming adjustments made to continue to support students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pastor Kelsey has done such a great job in helping our church to be counted on by our youth. This week, twenty of our youth and adults rented out a movie theater to take in the new Disney movie - and some popcorn and soda. They are also working on an online Easter “pageant” and plans continue for summer mission outings.
This Sunday will be another meaningful one at our church.
You can count on it!
My sermon will offer reflections on the conversion of Saul, Stephen Ministers will be commissioned, children’s church will be presented online, we will welcome artist Garth Glazier as we continue the Faith and Art series at 12:15, and the youth will present the musical moment at 7 p.m. We look forward to the Faith and Art series culminating in an art exhibit on Palm Sunday!
As I offered the benediction on Sunday,
"The season of Lent is a time for self reflection.
Today I wonder if you would reflect with me about the last few weeks, the last few months, the last year, asking,
‘Have I been who I want to be? Have I really been who I want to be?’
As we try to step into who being the person who we want to be, a first step might be to consider who we are allowing to influence our lives … who we are counting on ...
Do they have good hands?
Are they the type of people that are relentless in their crawl to touch Jesus?
Because I believe if we allow those kind of people to influence who we are, we will live into being the kind of people that we want to be, and God wants us to be."
Stay warm,
Pastor Nate
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