May 2021 | Vol 409

Letter from the church council

I grew up in a small town in Ireland in the 1960s, where every day at 6 a.m., 12 noon and 6 p.m. the bells of the church would ring for “the Angelus.” Everyone, no matter what they were doing, would stop, and pray the set of prayers that comprised the Angelus, a Roman Catholic devotion commemorating the incarnation of Jesus; God made man. The whole town would come to a standstill; everyone stopped what they were doing, stood still, and prayed. We were the only Christian family living in the village that was not Roman Catholic. But we too would stop and stand still, not quite knowing all the words to the Angelus, but recognizing the importance of this ritual in the lives of the community we lived in.

With the tolling of the bells, a community was being reminded and encouraged to pray on a daily and regular basis. Not just when they remembered to pray, or felt the need to or had the cause to pray; just a routine of prayer when the bells rang out. It has been more than a year now that world became aware of and affected by a pandemic, which has since reached into every far corner of the earth.

At Council meetings, we often look at our worship service attendance numbers. Pre-covid, ACC averaged around 250 people at each Sunday worship service. Since October 2020, we have averaged around 85 people. Apart from the recent Easter Sunday service, we have never had all the chairs filled, even though the chairs are limited to 100 because we are following health protocols of distancing and also masking.

We have “lost” about 60% of our congregation. We do know that some continue to be in fellowship with us through Zoom Sunday services. We do know that some are waiting until they feel less at risk. We do know that some started attending other churches when ACC shut its physical doors for 6 months. These all are to be expected. What ACC Council does not know, is where the other large section of our congregation has gone to. We do not know under what conditions people might return, or if at all. Our monthly income is also related to our worship attendance. As can be seen by the graphs below, we are meeting our basic mandatory payments. We can function as a church, but are not able to finance our external ministries of evangelism or reaching out to the poorest of the poor. It is a challenge for us to know how to do these things in ways that do not need financial support.

The last Sunday of April, Vance Bicknell Miller preached on Psalm 23, and more specifically on the words “the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”, emphasizing that, in Christ (if we can but realize it) all our needs are met. How are these three threads of thought connected? Perhaps not, except in my own head. Yet, somehow, if I think of one, the others come to mind.

In this time of uncertainty, in our disconnectedness as a church, it is important to remember that “the Lord is our Shepherd, ACC shall not want”. The needs of ACC are being met in Christ, as we strive to follow in his footsteps, and seek to find alternate ways of fulfilling the mandates of all our core committees. And the ringing of the bells for the Angelus? That is just a story that reminds us of the importance of living in prayer and in relationship to the triune God. And a reminder that it is up to each one of us to minister to each other and the Body of Christ.

– Susan Simonson

Volunteer Appreciation Sunday

As a lay-led church, ACC is dependent on volunteers for just about every aspect of our church life. We minister to each other and often it is difficult to realize how many people actually are involved in the running of the church; or know how to recognize and thank them.

Worship Committee is planning a Volunteer Appreciation Sunday for 23rd May, Pentecost Sunday. Join us in person or on zoom as we give thanks to the many who give of their time to ACC and in service to Christ and the community.

TITHES AND OFFERINGS AT ACC:

Thank you to the many who continue to give your tithes and offerings to ACC. Please know that these offerings are needed, appreciated and are used to help many within the community.

ACC BANK DETAILS:
For anyone who wishes or needs to transfer funds via bank deposit to ACC please find the following details here:
EXIM BANK
TSH: ACCOUNT NUMBER 00 300 23 252
USD: ACCOUNT NUMBER 578 067 0116

ACC MOBILE MONEY ACCOUNT DETAILS:
For anyone who wishes or needs to transfer funds via mobile money to ACC please find the following details here:
M-PESA DEPOSIT NUMBER: +255755992394
NAME: NASIEKU MOLLEL (Church Administrator)