05/13/2026
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
Two very important things that I need your attention about:
First, the Red Cross blood drive scheduled for Monday 5/18 from 2-6 PM in Grace Hall desperately needs more donors! Sign up here (redcrossblood.org/give.html/donation-time?zipSponsor=21157&driveType=all) and contact LeeAnn Biggs with questions.
Second, SPEAKING OF BEING CONTACTED: I occasionally send out a reminder about Pastor Scams, which is a thing that happens when a scammer finds YOUR email or phone number in one of our church communications, knows MY name as the pastor of our church, and sends YOU a message PRETENDING to be from ME, asking for “help,” which usually ends up being “I need you to buy me gift cards!” (often Apple gift cards, for whatever reason). Hear me: I will NEVER ask you for something like this. My email and phone numbers, church office and numbers, are listed everywhere. If it’s not a message from one of those, it’s not me or us.
This second thing is MORE of an issue than usual this week because someone in our Grace family probably got scammed in another way: this week’s scammer has access to a church directory. If you are a person in our Grace family who has access to a PDF church directory, please please PLEASE: do NOT send the directory out via email, no matter WHO seems to be asking you for it (even if it claims to be “Pastor Matt” or “Pastor Cody” or “Deacon Don”). Church staff will NEVER ask you for a church directory, and if anyone else asks you for one, tell them to contact the office (we are quite used to this scam). I love you, but it creates quite a MESS when you fall for this. As I write this, we are hearing from the "Js", and there is a long way to go.
The world that we live in requires what they used to call at the seminary back in my day a “hermeneutic of suspicion”: you have to approach every written communication with skepticism that it is what it purports to be. If something sounds off, it is. Please don’t fall for these scams, friends, PLEASE double-check if you’re asked for something that seems unusual, and please BLOCK (and/or report as spam) the email address or phone number that is sending you this request.
I am so sorry if you’ve been contacted like this. Ignore it always; don’t buy any emailer any gift cards. Please let me know if you have any questions.
God’s peace,
Pastor Matt
