Dear Family of Faith at The Neighborhood Church,

We’re off and running, and I am so excited to be among you! While settling into a new home, moving family, our little dog Joe, and a few belongings out to California during these mid-summer days, I also begin my work alongside all of you. There is much to be excited about at NCPVE—good signs of life and evidence of the Spirit’s work here.

These first few months I will spend simply fitting in—getting into the rhythms and flow of this place, being alongside staff and the leaders here, and getting to know many of you. We have a beautiful campus, talented staff, and gifted and enthusiastic leadership. I look forward to these summer days of beginnings, new relationships and even friendships, as well as our worship and community life.

And I am looking forward to getting my wife, Kristen, who will be serving First Congregational UCC Church in Riverside starting August 1. Our youngest daughter, Lucy, will be with us as well, until she begins the swim season and school this Fall at UC Santa Cruz.  Together, we can finally begin to enjoy the best of what Southern California offers, as well as our new congregational settings.

The Psalmist concludes his “hymnal” of sorts with this admonition: “Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”  This is the context in which we will work through a very intentional process during the next 15 months or so, exploring the past, looking honestly at current realities, and finally developing hopes, dreams, and imagination together for what God’s marvelous future may be for The Neighborhood Church.  All of this will feed into the search for your next settled pastor, whom you will discover perhaps by the Fall of next year.

You have been blessed here in so many ways, through some ups and downs which are like what happens in the life cycle of all congregations, and you are now entering a time of exploring and preparing in order to move forward into what God has in store. There is much to “Praise God!” for, and many more blessings yet to come. I can promise you that I am highly committed to helping to make this a positive, fun, and enlightening time of transition, and enjoying my time among you.

What a privilege it is to be gathered as God’s people in this place and time! What joy there is in our coming together AND in our going out as God’s people to love and invest in a world that Christ died to save!

Join me, will you, in celebrating with us as often as you can and in being a participant and supporter of our life together moving forward? There are things to think about, bathe in prayer, to work on, prepare for, and enjoy. I invite you to be with us on this journey, will you?

In Christ,

Pastor RIck