Page 5 - Final Annual Report 2020

Senior Pastor’s 2020 Annual Report
Pastor John F. Hudson

“A friend loves at all times, and brothers and sisters are born to [share] adversity. --
Proverbs 17:7

Thirty-one years of ministry. Sixty years of life. Growing up in times of war, and
times of protest and times of natural disasters and times of political turmoil. I
thought I’d seen it all. Experienced it all, by the time I got to this point in life, especially vocationally and
then…there was 2020. With a once in one-hundred-year pandemic that, as I write this, has taken the lives of almost
400,000 Americans and two million people worldwide, and caused unprecedented social upheaval. The killing of a
Black man in Minneapolis that evoked protests across our nation about racial injustice. An election that was nasty
and brutal, and then a record voter turnout. Then just days ago, a violent and deadly attack upon our United States
Capitol by insurrectionists.

WHEW!

But throughout it all, I am thankful to be able to report that our church, our faith beloved community, the three
hundred or so souls who claim Pilgrim Church as their own and as their spiritual home…we are okay. We are much
better than okay as a Christian community. We are doing God’s work still, in spite of, and to push back against, the
struggles of last year.

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Consider: from Sunday, March 15 , when we transitioned, essentially overnight, to “virtual” ministry and work, we
haven’t missed a beat. We have now streamed our worship services live, on Facebook, for almost a year and done so
with nary a hitch. Specials thanks goes to our tech whiz Doug Ambos, for embracing this ministry with so much
talent, faith, and commitment. We re-opened the office in the spring but closed back up in late December, as COVID
cases increased at a frightening pace. But we carry on. Staff for the most part working from home. Creative and fun
Christian Education programs like church school and confirmation and junior and senior youth groups. Three adult
classes meeting weekly. Adult. A powerful social justice program around racism this fall. In November, our Miracle
on Main Street food packing event drew more than 90 volunteers who put together 38,000 meals, our most ever.
Church and leadership and committees have faithfully et month by month and done the work that supports God’s
work. Our increased social media presence and a revamped website position us well for 2021 and beyond.

We have got challenges, as does every other institution in our world. We received amazingly generous financial gifts
this year, but the number of pledge units continues drop year over and in 2022 we face a potential $60,000 deficit.
That means we must look at our staff structure and then work to create a new structure for the church. I truly believe
with all my heart that God is calling us to change, from a church built for a world that no longer exists, into a church
ready to serve with vigor and joy, a world that is being born right now. And we have no idea—no one knows—what
church life will look like when all the vaccine doses have been given and we return to “normalcy”, whatever that will
be.

But I am not fearing the days ahead and I hope you aren’t either. I pray we can remember these two simple truths.
God is always with us, no matter what. And we are called by our God of love to be with, and for, and by one another,
as people of Jesus Christ, and then share that love with the world. When we trust in these eternal truths, anything is
possible. I cannot think of a more wonderful and caring and faithful group of folks I would rather walk through this
life with, even in a year we won’t soon forget, but might also wish we would soon forget.

Thank you for the privilege of serving Pilgrim Church as Senior Pastor. God bless us all and God bless the church
and God bless our world.

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