Muskogee First United Methodist Church

The last year has been for many of us one of the most challenging years in our personal histories.  The COVID 19 pandemic has forced all of us to make dramatic changes in our lives.  New phrases and habits have come out of this experience that will forever affect the way in which we live our lives, phrases like “Social Distancing” and the wearing of masks. These phrases and habits may never completely disappear from American culture.  And yet the toll of this pandemic has had a far greater impact on our nation than just cultural changes and expansion of our lexicon. Monday, March 1^st marked the tragic anniversary of the first US death from the CORONA virus and since February 29, 2020 we have sadly now lost over 500,000 of our fellow Americans and more than 2,500,000 of our brothers and sisters worldwide.  Isolation and social anxiety have increased, and people often feel alone, without hope and without community.

However, in the midst of darkness, we have seen hope arise as people have also grown closer to one another in new ways.  We have seen strangers develop into neighbors; we have seen communities come together to face challenges in new ways.  Churches developing programs to feed school children, when the schools were forced to shut down.  We have seen private grant foundations step up with funds to help families who needed funds for rent and utilities when one or both parents had lost jobs due to the economic shut down. Churches like Muskogee First suddenly and quickly developed ways to reach out and worship with people on-line and in so doing shared the word of God and the love of Christ to a whole new community. 

Each Sunday we gather for worship, we also bring people into our worship services from places as near as Muskogee, to as far away as New Jersey, from Waco, Texas to San Diego, California.  And we are excited to let you know that we are having every Sunday nearly 125 who are joining us on-line and as vaccines continue, as COVID numbers decline, and as the world moves slowly to recovery, we will continue to worship on-line for all who wish to continue worshipping on-line. 

But we are excited to announce that on Sunday, March 28^th (Palm Sunday) we are launching at Muskogee First UMC our “Welcome Back Sunday”.  That Sunday, we will officially start up all our Sunday School Classes for in-person Sunday School.  We want to encourage everyone to attend our Palm Sunday Worship service at 9:00 and then stay for Sunday School at 10:00.  All Adult Sunday School Classes, Confirmation Class, Youth and Children’s classes will be available.  Many of our classes will still be available through Zoom but if you are ready to join in community, we want to invite you to come.  If you are still not sure, we understand, but please rest assured we will continue the wearing of masks and social distancing as we meet for in-person activities.  If you are still a little nervous and unsure or if you have a pre-existing condition we want to invite you to continue to join us on-line.  We look forward to seeing you on the 28^th! 

Patrick