If you are reading this letter it is quite possible that you have not been to New Hanover Presbyterian Church before. Maybe you have never been to any church and are wondering what this church thing is all about and if it is worth your time and effort to check it out.
It is.
We believe we are called as a church to love and serve God. We live out that calling to service by loving one another. The church is a training ground for doing just that – learning more about what God is calling us to do in service to the world. Whether it is the person sitting next to us in the pew (who may not think or live like us), living in the next town or in a place we may not even be able to find on a map. It doesn’t matter: God knows and loves each person no matter who or what they are.
This training to love others is not easy. It doesn’t happen immediately. This is the whole point of the Gospel of Jesus though! When asked to identify the two greatest things God asks us to do, Jesus did not hesitate in his answer:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and soul and mind.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second commandment to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” (Eugene Peterson’s The Message translation of Matthew 22:37-40)
At New Hanover Presbyterian Church, that is who we want to be – people who place love for God and love for others at the very center of our life together. If you want to learn how to love others better and explore the God who made us all, we invite you to join us. We think you will be glad you did.
Best,
Robert Johnson, Pastor
New Hanover Presbyterian Church