10/22/2021
IMPORTANT, AT-A-GLANCE INFO
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- Please sign Up for the meal train for the Rawlings family here: https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/2vy2wm
- A memorial service for Pastor Todd will be held next Saturday afternoon (10/30). Jeff Hoover will be officiating and speaking. More details will follow as soon as possible.
- In lieu of flowers, financial gifts in Todd's memory to the Rawlings family are encouraged. You can give at the church website and designate the gift accordingly by choosing "Other" under "Please put my gift toward" on the giving form and typing in "Rawlings Family": https://www.newlifevirginiabeach.org/giving/
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Hello, Loved Ones,
This is Pastor Rob.
It's hard to know where to begin with a communiqué like this. For those reading this who might still be unaware, Pastor Todd passed away suddenly yesterday due to complications from COVID. Obviously, we're all still reeling and grieving Pastor Todd's passing.
I spoke briefly with Rena last night, and she was quick to point out that Todd's homecoming is something to celebrate. She's right -- it really is better to depart and be with the Lord. But we all know how much Todd loved people, and when changes in circumstances took members of our flock to new venues, it was almost an agony for him to have to say goodbye. St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians that his affection for them was akin to a nursing mother caring for her children. Todd was certainly a father in the faith, but I think that what Paul expressed was something akin to Todd's heart for all of us -- and it's one of the big reasons why his absence is felt so keenly.
That brings me to our plans for the immediate future. The goal is to keep things consistent and as close to "normal" as we can under the circumstances. The Church is meant to be a place where both our deepest griefs and and our highest joys are shared, because we all have a common bond in Christ through the Holy Spirit. For that reason, we're going to have Sunday services as we normally would, even this weekend. At the same time, we recognize that everyone processes grief differently, and there are times where we need to closet ourselves for a bit to process what we're feeling with God. If you need to lay low this week, please feel free to do that. For my own part, I encourage you to come if you can -- we need each other in this time, and I long to see your faces so that we can bear one another's burdens and strengthen one another as we remember our pastor and friend.
As for the path forward, we'll think and pray through that together soon enough. There is a time for everything under heaven. Right now, it's time for us to weep, to mourn, and to heal. Lord willing, in due season, it will also be time to laugh and to dance, to build and to plant.
"May the God of peace be with you all. Amen." (Romans 15:33, ESV)
Love and blessings to you,
Rob
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