August 5, 2022

This week has flown by. Many, many students and families started back to school this week. Helping shepherd the Abasy family through those first days makes me very aware of the household stresses this creates and how anxious a time is for students to enter into unknown territories with new teachers, classrooms, schedules, and classmates. Watching parents and guardians leave their crying children at school reminds me that parents can be stressed and heavy-hearted as well. Even college-bound students and parents are feeling the grief and uncertainty of separation. If you have the opportunity to be extra kind to families and school employees this week, DO IT! And let’s continue to lift them up in prayer during this transition time.

Speaking of transitions, I encourage you to attend the upcoming grief seminar sponsored by Stephen Ministry and led by our own Rev. Holland Morgan. You do not have to be actively grieving to attend, but many among us are. Grief is traditionally thought of as the pang of loss after a loved one dies, but people grieve the death of a pet, the loss of a job, a move of households, health losses, the loss of relationship with a person or a community. This will be a wonderful opportunity to learn about the process of grief from an expert, whether you are grieving now or wanting to learn how to support others in a time of grief. This seminar will be in Holliday Hall on Saturday, August 13 from 10 am-12 noon.

Blood banks are facing serious shortages this summer. If you are eligible to donate blood, please do so this Thursday, August 11 by making an appointment at redcross.org and enter “Asbury” under the find a blood drive search engine. There are times available between 2 and 7 pm and our goal is to have full appointments and a standby list. Contact me if you would be interested in greeting our donors and signing them in.

COVID-19 numbers are still rising in Chatham County, including many first-time COVID-sufferers, so take precautions. Monkeypox is also in Georgia, mostly in larger cities and the Chatham County Department of Health has vaccines available. Also, please remember that this extreme heat is very isolating for many people, especially our elders. Reach out to those you have not seen in a while.

Last but not least, I am happy to have Bob give the message and help lead the sacrament of Holy Communion this week. Please have your Communion elements at the ready if you are worshiping online. You will recognize Bob as a regular worship leader, but we do not often hear a sermon from him. Bob is a native New Yorker of Czech descent who moved to Savannah with his husband, Ross Bolton in 2014 and has been attending Asbury Memorial for eight years. Bob is a retired minister from the Presbyterian USA denomination and served for many years as a hospice chaplain and bereavement counselor around the country. I am excited to hear what he has to say to us on Sunday. We will also have some special musical guests to round out worship.

I hope that you are having a good week! This congregation continues to be a joy and a blessing to me.

Love,
Claire