As one of the newest participants in the SIPC community of faith, I want to say thank you to everyone who was present to worship God and to help tell the story of the congregation’s beginnings on our 40th anniversary kickoff Sunday. My faith was strengthened hearing about the persistence of church members who invited neighbors to form a congregation, pursued a land purchase, and identified a first meeting place that brought out the best forms of service in everybody involved.I also appreciated Bill Foster reminding us that the period of the church’s founding, the 1960s-1970s, was a turbulent time. I am a child of the 1970s and have come to know through studying history that while I was playing happily at home and starting school, forces in society were unleashed that caused considerable chaos. And yet, in a time of changing mores, military action and war, racial unrest, and political unease, a group of people quietly formed a church in the bay of a local firehouse and they worshiped. Since then, every Sunday for 40 years, a group of people has continued to worship the Lord of all creation as followers of Jesus Christ. That’s 2,080 Sundays in a row!

We are in another turbulent time. Just as it was then, it is a time of changing mores, military action and war, racial unrest, and political unease. Inspired by the Spirit that has put courage into this congregation, I am going to take note of what those charter members did 40 years ago, and what every member has done in the 40 years hence, and just keep taking the next steps with you to keep securing ways to worship God in spirit and in truth and build a community in the name of Jesus Christ on Skidaway Island.

And while there are several churches on the island now, I am excited that we still are known as a church that enjoys ecumenical unity. All of the pastors of Skidaway churches meet monthly for lunch and we are looking forward to a community Thanksgiving service at The Skidaway Institute of Oceanography on Sunday, November 19 at 5 p.m. SIPC works in partnership with Messiah Lutheran Church on Stephen Ministry and the Longest Night Service, and thirteen different congregations on Skidaway Island and throughout Savannah are represented in our preschool families.

I am thankful that God holds the future of SIPC in His hands. Let’s enjoy watching and seeing what He grants us to enjoy today and every day to come!