Faith is an adventure. Sometimes God allows us times of stability, comfort, and safe routines. But more often than not God calls His people out of their
comfort zones and into times of adventure.

God called Abraham, when he was an old man, to leave the comfort and security of his home and to travel to a new land. God promised Abraham descendants too numerous to count and to give those descendants a wonderful land overflowing with milk and honey. Even though Abraham and his wife had no children and were well beyond child-bearing age, Abraham trusted God and left his home. Abraham had no idea where he was going, but he believed that God had a good plan for his future, and so he obeyed the call of God. And because Abraham had faith in
God, all humanity has been blessed.

I believe God is calling our church to a great new adventure of faith. And I believe God has been preparing us for this new adventure. For years now we have been praying and working toward the goal of new vitality for our congregation. Those years of praying have prepared us for some pretty radical answers to those prayers.

God has led us to a new Covenant Church that has been worshiping and ministering in Hartford. It is called, “The House of Praise and Worship.” They have been praying for a church home for seventeen years. All those years they have been worshiping in rented buildings or schools.

Pastor Harold and I met Pastor Joel Cruz and his wife, Maritza, at a monthly breakfast that Harold organized for Hartford-area Covenant pastors. As we got to know them and hear about their situation, the Holy Spirit led us to explore the possibility of their church worshiping in our church. Pastor Joel and Maritza were very excited about that possibility, and their leadership quickly became excited too. For the last four months we have been exploring the possibility of partnering with this congregation. We would remain two distinct congregations but share our church facility and also partner with them in fellowship, some combined worship, and ministry.

There are many ways that this feels right—that make us feel this is from the Lord. We are a very small congregation with a beautiful and functional
church. They are a large congregation (150 in worship) and long to worship in a beautiful church. We are both congregations founded by immigrants. We began our ministry in Hartford and so have they.
We moved out to West Hartford, and they would love to do so.

There are also many ways that we compliment each other. Our worship is traditional, and theirs is contemporary. We are an older congregation, and
their congregation is young with many children. We are mostly Anglo, while theirs is very diverse (Hispanic, Brazilian, Black, and Anglo). We worship in English, while they worship in Spanish and English. And the greatest sign that this is from God is that neither of our congregations sought the other one out—God brought us together.

I hope you will join us in this new adventure. There will be changes that we will need to adjust to. We can also expect some challenges and obstacles that we will need to overcome. But God always brings His blessings into the lives of His faithful people who travel with Him in new adventures of faith. The adventure of faith can be difficult, but it is always worth the journey.
Here are some dates to keep in mind:

Sunday June 9th
Combined Worship Service, 10:30 am
We will have the opportunity to worship God together combining ou different music, language, and worship styles.

Sunday, June 16th
Congregational Business Meeting, after church We will discuss and vote on partnering with “The House of Praise and Worship.”

Sunday, July 14th
If approved “The House of Praise and Worship” will join us! We will worship at 9 am and they will worship at 10:30 am.

Are you ready for the journey?
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Tom