A Message from Pastor Sherman J. Fort

December 15, 2021
 
TO:MY WORD CHURCH FAMILY AND FRIENDS
FR:PASTOR SHERMAN J. FORT
RE:YEAR-END NOTES AND NEW YEAR NEWS- MY MOST IMPORTANT LETTER TO DATE

 
Brothers and Sisters, I pray this letter finds you prospering and in good health, even as your souls prosper.  (3rd John, verse 2).
 
This letter comes to share important year-end notes and New Year news with you.  I am asking that each member and friend take the time to read this letter in full and to join me in prayer as we move forward.
 
I thank and praise our God for your witness and work in the Kingdom of God through these pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
 
Never before have so many people simultaneously looked for the answers to their agonies, the eraser for their errors, the faith needed for their future and the direction necessary to live every day for the glory of God and good of others than right now.
 
As we plan and prepare to move forward in ministry and sharing the message of Jesus Christ I am writing this letter to call us together for a season of prayer and fasting, planning and strategizing, a time of writing the vision and making it plain so that we as followers of Christ can work His plan for His people at The Word Church.  
 
Join me as I ask God to guide, lead and direct me as His servant leader with faith, boldness and clarity as guided by The Holy Spirit.
 
January 2022 will be our annual season of prayer and fasting intended to help us learn, love and live God’s Word in a fresh and refreshing way.  
 
This will be a time of refreshing, renewal, reimagining, reigniting and revival for me as Pastor, those who serve in leadership and our entire church family.
 
To this end all bible studies except those lead by Pastor Fort will cease for the month of January.  
 
The pandemic along with other cultural shifts have placed our world in a state of disorientation.  In January we will seek to reconnect, remember and re-boot if you will our relationship afresh with The LORD Jesus Christ.
 
This begins with a time of refreshing that involves pushing the “reset” button on our faith and focusing on connecting.    
 
It then moves to a time of renewal where we will reimagine our structure for the 2022 and beyond.  Specifically asking questions such as:  What are we doing right?  What are we doing wrong?  Where should we make changes?  What changes should those be?  What do we need to stop doing?  What do we need to start doing? Etc.  
 
Finally, we will move and adjust in every practical way that we can and should to reach the world for Christ.  We will do this with a particular focus on Senior Saints as well as Baby Boomers (1946 -1964), Generation X (1965-1980, Millennial’s (1981 – 1995), Generation Z (1996-2010 and Generation Alpha (2011-2025).  
 
January will be a time of teaching, training, planning, preparing, programming and a renewal of commitment for persons desiring to serve in 2022 and beyond.  Our meeting times will be announced.
 
A closing special request.  I shared two Sunday’s ago my vision to have our church and lobby painted between the week of December 26, 2021.  We will worship in the newly painted sanctuary for the first time at Watch Night 2021/2022.  The goal amount is $2,500.00.  I am asking 25 people to join me in making a one time sacrificial donation of $100.00 over and above your tithe to help cover the cost of material and labor for this project.  Please call the office and share your commitment.  My goal is to have all monies collected by the end of worship, Sunday, December 26, 2021.
 
Sincerely,
Pastor Sherman J. Fort
 
Update on construction on Stapley Drive in front of the church. The first layer of asphalt in front of the church was completed on December 13th. The project is scheduled for completion May-June, 2022 with the last months consisting primarily of landscape work.
 
Dates to remember:  
  • CHILDREN’S CHRISTmas Program:  Sunday, December 19th is the Children’s program at TWC.  The program will take place during the Sunday school hour.  Santa Claus will be present to take pictures with the children and families.  
  • CHRISTmas morning worship is canceled:  In light of the construction on Stapley Drive and the day after CHRISTmas being a Sunday, our annual CHRISTmas morning worship is canceled this year.  I am asking every one to have a time of worship and prayer to include the reading of the birth of Christ from your bible at home.
  • WATCH NIGHT WORSHIP:  Watch Night Worship is Friday, December 31, 2021 from 10:00pm to Midnight.  This will be a joint worship service with the following pastors and the churches they serve:  Pastors Fredrick L. Fairley Sr., Pastor Milton Pleasant, Pastor Thomas E. Wiggins, Pastor Larry Gooden and Rev. Roland Pierce.  
 
 
 
 
 

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