September Message From Pastor Gary “The Flame of the Spirit”

I can’t believe how fast this summer is flying by; it seemed like I just got the marigolds in the ground and found a pair of shorts that actually fit. I’ll soon need to go look for some mums and try to remember where I put my sweatshirts. For many of us, individually and as a church, not only this … Read More

July Message From Ruth Johnson “Different Doings? Or the Same Old Thing?”

Yes, I know we don’t usually have a newsletter in August. But, between the pandemic and working to transition through this interim period, there just seems to be too much going on to leave August blank.At the risk of having you say, “I’ve heard all this before,” I want to remind us of our Relational Covenant, that passage in Colossians … Read More

June Message From Mary Butkevich “Creating a Culture of Generosity”

Several years ago, I was part of a denominational Generosity Cohort. The objective of the cohort was to dive deep into the relationship between faith and giving and to understand the meaning of a “culture of generosity.” Naturally, the first place we looked was to scripture. But does the Bible really have all that much to say about money? Simply … Read More

June Message From Pastor Gary “Serving Him Together”

Dear members and friends of the Covenant Church of Thomaston: I have enjoyed serving as your interim pastor and have appreciated the affirmation and acceptance which I have received from many of you as I seek to do my best to serve our Lord Jesus in this capacity.I have served as a pastor in this church for 12 years. I … Read More

May Message From Pastor Gary “It’s Friday – but Sunday’s A-comin’!”

don’t know about you, but I felt our church worshiped, exalted, praised, and celebrated, to the best of our abilities this Easter Season. United, we stepped up and worshiped each week as we inched closer to Holy Week. It was wonderful meeting together with so many of you each Wednesday night; one week I counted 32 people! On Maundy Thursday, … Read More

April Message From Pastor Gary “What Comes Next?”

I was recently asked, “What comes next?” What a wonderful question! Wonderful, because it means we are visualizing change happening around us. “What comes next?” means that, not only do we see and feel change, but we are also excited and curious about our next steps. When I took the position of “Interim to the Interim,” I let it be … Read More

March Message From Ruth Johnson Looking for a “New Normal”

February was Women Ministries month and, almost at the last minute, Pastor Gary asked if I would like to write a woman’s article for the February newsletter. Oops! It was really short notice, and, providentially, Pastor Gary was prepared to step in, because I just couldn’t do it! Looking back on almost two years of the pandemic, which had profound … Read More

February Message From Pastor Gary: Restore

Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us,that we may be saved. (Psalm 80:7) I ’m wrong; I’ve failed; my mistake, my fault, I’m not perfect. . . . I’m a sinner. We’ve been wrong; we’ve made mistakes; we are all not perfect, and we are all sinners. Are there many sentences more difficult to say? We may … Read More

December Message From Ruth Johnson “Getting On When Times Are Tough”

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:2-4, NLT) More than once in my life … Read More

In Contemplation of a Spindly Maple (From Ruth Johnson)

(Because the pandemic caused so many East Coast Conference Women Ministries gatherings to be canceled, the group sent out an appeal to the member churches for devotionals that could be shared with all the East Coast Conference Women Ministries groups. The first one issued comes from our church.) As maples went, it wasn’t much of a tree. Its spindly trunk … Read More