Presbyterian Visitor
December 26, 2025
We would like to give a big THANK YOU to the following who helped decorate our church for the Christmas season:
Ted Hawkins & Ed Jackson for setting up the poinsettia tree and the nativity.
Curt Cullison, Deb Cullison, and Susan Isenogle for the decorations in Fellowship Hall.
LuAnne Allen for setting up the Christmas Tree and decorating the sanctuary.
Also a big THANK YOU goes out to all our members for your help in providing Christmas presents and food for the Christmas Families and students of the Life Skills Class.
With you help we were able to provide Christmas dinner to four families and gifts for their kids. All the families were very grateful for our help.
Also, we provided small gifts for the six students of the Life Skills Class at Bloomfield School. As always the students were very excited to open their gifts and enjoyed their treats.
The Sunday School Christmas program took place on December 21st during worship service. The program was enjoyed by everyone. Thank you to LuAnne Allen for arranging this program. Following service a taco bar was enjoyed by all.
As most of you have noticed, the winter season is here and with it comes cold weather, snow, and ice. In the event of bad weather we may cancel church services on some Sundays. If this is the case, the Session members will be calling all our members to notify them of the cancelation.
It is the time of year for all committee chairs and officers to start working on their year end reports. Please turn your reports into the church office by
Wednesday, January 28th. The Annual Congregational Meeting will be held on Sunday, February 8th.
The January Women’s Birthday Gathering will be held on Thursday, January 8th starting at 9:30am at Rejavanated. All are welcome to attend.
The Women’s Association sign-up sheet are on the narthex podium. Volunteers are needed to host meetings, give devotions, to work on committees, and to chair Rotary luncheons.
The Women’s Association will now be hosting Rotary Luncheons on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month. The next luncheon will take place on January 13th with Karen Ruggles as the chair. The second luncheon will be held on January 27th with Phyllis Holt as the chair. Please watch for the sign-up sheets to be posted on the bulletin board.
The Trustees have arranged to have the interior of the church repainted. This painting will take place January 19th-24th. Please be advised the church will not be available for meetings or gatherings during this time.
We are continuing to take donations of canned soup for the Bloomfield Food Panty. Donations may be left on the table in the hallway. With your help we have been able to keep their shelves stock with a variety of soups.
The Trustees will be meeting on Monday, January 12th.
The Session will be meeting on Wednesday, January 21st at 5:30pm.
Our next blood drive will be taking place on Monday, January 26th. Please consider donating if you are able. One pint of blood has the ability to help save up to three lives. To register go to RedCrossBlood.org.
Pastor’s Message
Recently, while I was waiting in line to mail a package, I resisted the urge to pull out my phone and scroll. Instead, I began looking at the people waiting in line with me. I viewed them with curiosity, wondering if I could discern who or what they cared about based on their apparent age, their clothes, jewelry, tattoos, and the packages they carried. And then I prayed silently for each one, “May they know God’s love and peace.”
For me, it was an exercise in trying to view those around me through God’s eyes. What did God pay attention to in this individual? What did God love about and hope for this individual?
It takes a certain amount of intention to do this. It’s much easier to scroll through social media and news apps and let friends and strangers tell us what to think about other people. It’s much easier to group people into categories, kind of like we used to do in high school: jocks and nerds, band geeks and goths.
We may no longer be in high school, but we still sort people into categories and judge them based on their membership: Radical leftist. Trumper. Foreigner. Patriot.
This is nothing new. In the Bible, lots of people are referred to by their categories: Samaritan. Gentile. Tax collector. Pharisee.
When God became incarnate in Jesus, he didn’t fit neatly into any of the usual categories.
He was God, but also human.
He was poor, but also a king.
He was killed violently, but was also a peacemaker.
He was an Israelite, but belonged to all nations.
And throughout his ministry, Jesus treated the people he encountered as individuals who were defined primarily by belonging to the category of “children of God.”
As a new calendar year begins, may we resolve to try to look at all those we encounter with God’s eyes. May we resolve to develop a vision that sees beyond categories and calls everyone beloved.
May you know God’s love and peace,
Pastor Hana