Poquonnock Bridge Baptist Church

To My Beloved PBBC Community

I find it hard to believe that it was over a month ago when we gathered in the sanctuary for our Ash Wednesday service. It was the last time I saw many of you, and it was the last time I spoke to some of you, saying “Your past is behind you; God’s future is before you; walk the road to Jerusalem with Christ.”

We had no way of knowing what that road would look like this year…that we would meet for only two Bread and Broth suppers, that we would only just begin our Lenten study series, that our “words” for Lent would speak to us in isolation from one another, that our hands would not wave palm branches, that our bodies would not eat this bread or drink this cup, that our eyes would not see the cross taken down and lifted to the balcony.

As I prepare services for next week, I think of the words of a colleague who said that as she thinks about Holy Week she feels like those first century disciples must have felt…holed up in their own homes, locking the doors in fear of the growing darkness, trying to walk with Christ and keep the faith, seeking to live in love and wait for Easter’s light.

It may not be the road we imagined, but we are walking it together, and God still holds the future before us. In the words of one of my favorite hymns, “Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, blessings all mine with ten thousand beside.”

As we prepare for the worst and pray for the best, may your past be behind you and may you know peace, comfort, and even joy in the days ahead. Thank you for your blessings and your prayers, for your gifts and your offerings, for your faith and your friendship.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness, and great is my love for you,

Pastor Claudine