Welcome to MPC Connected! With our church family separated, we will be communicating with you throughout the week in a more intentional way, including emails from Max and Jeff, opportunities to serve others, and more. Enjoy!
Dear Church Family,
As we head into another week of quarantine, I want you to know just how much I am longing to see you again. I am so very grateful that the Lord has provided live streaming capabilities the past few weeks, and we have gotten positive responses from as far away as California. I am thankful that, despite our distance, and because of the hard work of Jeff, Donna, Carmen, Stu, and Erik, we have been able to maintain a level of connectedness on Sunday morning. However, my soul longs for the day we will all be physically gathered together again. What a day of celebration it will be!
I'm sure most, if not all of us, have never experienced something like this in our lifetimes. But something very similar happened during World War I, as churches were closed in Washington D.C. in 1918 due to the outbreak of the Spanish Flu. I wanted to share with you two things. The first is an article written by Caleb Morell detailing the outbreak and the responses by churches. The second is a message preached by the Reverend J. Francis Grimke on the first Sunday that the public gathering ban was lifted. It's not very long, but he says some very profound things. Pastor Grimke was an African-American living in a time of great racial discrimination, and you can see just how powerfully the racism infected the city as much as the flu. One of the most moving sections reminded me of our own situation.
Grimke writes, "Another thing has impressed me during this epidemic. It has brought out in a way that it highly gratifying, the high estimation in which the Christian church is held in the community - the large place which it really occupies in the thought of the people. The fact that for several weeks we have been shut out from the privileges of the sanctuary has brought home to us as never before what the church has really meant to us. We hadn’t thought, perhaps, very much of the privilege while it lasted, but the moment it was taken away we saw at once how much it meant to us. One of the gratifying things to me, during this scourge, has been the sincere regrets that I have heard expressed all over the city by numbers of people at the closing of the churches. The theater goers, of course, have regretted the closing of the theaters. I do not know whether the children or the teachers have regretted the closing of the schools or not; I have heard no regrets expressed, but I do know that large numbers of people have regretted the closing of the churches. I hope that now that they are opened again, that we will all show our appreciation of their value by attending regularly upon their services.”
I highly recommend that you take a few minutes today and read Grimke's entire message. It is very informative, thought-provoking, and encouraging. We miss you and love you.
In Christ,
Max
Though we are separated during this unique season, we want you to know we are available. We will be doing our best to stay in touch in many ways, but if you need prayer or just need someone to talk to, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. You can always send a prayer request to Donna (mpcadminteam@gmail.com). You can also email or call Max or Jeff or any of our elders. Max's email is mbenfer@meadowcroftchurch.org and his phone # is 484-886-7726. Jeff's email is jeff@meadowcroftchurch.org and his phone number is 540-818-6215.