Dear Congregational Church of Salisbury Friends and Neighbors,
When we received the joyful recommendation from our Designated Term Search Committee that they were recommending that we call The Rev. Dr. John A. Nelson to be our 17th settled pastor, we were so excited that we looked for the first opportunity to have the congregation vote on the recommendation. That would have been August 1.
As we have moved closer to that date, it has become clear that there will be many people out of town and/or otherwise unavailable to even connect by Zoom to call that vote. We are eager for as full a gathering as we can possibly muster for this kind of an important event. Therefore, we have decided to postpone the vote and hold it on Sunday, September 12, 2021.
You will well remember that this is the time when we have traditionally gathered after a summer of coming and going, traveling to see family, heading up to Mt. Riga, or just slowing down during the warmer days. It has also been the start-up of the Sunday School year, and Barbara Collins is eager to welcome the children! So September 12 will be an extremely appropriate time for our congregation to gather to celebrate a joyful homecoming, made even more precious because of the long spell of distance worship in the last year, and to reconnect as we look ahead to the future of our church. We will also have an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of our long-standing tradition of calling a pastor in a congregational meeting immediately following the worship service.
In the meantime, our main worship service will still start up in person in the Meeting House at 10:00 on Sunday, August 1. We will use the month of August to ease our way forward and reacclimate to the ways that we can stay together and stay safe in our worship.
We hope to see as many of you as can possibly join us in the Meeting House on September 12, 2021. And stay tuned for more information about other festivities that will be happening that day.
With gratitude for your patience, understanding, and continued enthusiasm for the church community,
Betsy