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Dear Rockport Family and Friends, 

Lent 2021
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the season of Lent. This year, we’ll be focusing on the theme of journey during the Lenten season.  Due to the ongoing pandemic, our Ash Wednesday service, like our other worship services will take place online only and will be available beginning at noon on 2/17 via Facebook, YouTube, and the Website. Make your own Ash kits for Ash Wednesday will be available for pick up at the Church Office between 9 and 1 on February 17. Kits contain pieces of palm branches that you can burn at home and instructions for how to make your own ashes and impose them when you join us for worship on Ash Wednesday.  Please make your ashes at least 2 hours before you intend to participate in worship (they will need time to cool before you can break up any bits that remain!) 

 Kira Holchin put together an amazing Lenten Calendar for us to share as we journey through Lent together. You can download this calendar from the Google Drive.  If you are in need of a printed copy, please contact Sara in the Church Office.

Additionally, Bishop Malone has invited clergy and laity in the East Ohio Annual Conference to join her in prayer and scripture with another Lenten Calendar.  That calendar is also available in the google drive and can be downloaded from the Annual Conference Website here. 

Dan Newman and Bill Eyman are hosting a Lenten Bible Study via Zoom on Adam Hamilton’s book: John: The Gospel of Light and Life. The study begins on February 23, and meets weekly for 6 weeks from 7:30-8:30pm. It's not too late to join!  Please contact the Church Office, Dan Newman, or Bill Eyman for more information.

Please don't forget that the Take What You Need Cabinet is always in need of donations. We have some wonderful community members who are regularly donating to us, and we need your continued partnership to meet the needs of our community and keep this project going. Check the list below for some ideas as you make your next shopping list!

2020 Giving Statements are now available upon request. If you would like an email or hard copy statement of your giving for the year 2020, please call or email the church office.  Please note that if you gave on the Tithe.ly platform you should have received an email inviting you to download your giving statement. If you have difficulty accessing these statements and would like to request an email or hard copy, please let the church office know by emailing office@rockportumc.org or connecting with Sara by phone. 

Google Drive Reminder
Rockport All Church Information and Financial Reports are accessible here.

Strategic Planning Update: 
We invite you to join us in daily prayer as we seek to discern God's direction for our future, setting a mission and vision that will help us live more fully into God's call.  Our 8:00 prayer appears below and we invite you to join us in daily prayer at 8am, 8pm, or both with our Rockport UMC 8:00 Discernment Prayer. More than that, we know that prayer is powerful, even more so when done in community.  Thanks to Lisa Kay, we will begin weekly prayer Mondays at Noon via Zoom, starting Monday, February 22.  Please contact the Church Office for Zoom information!

We can never have enough prayer, so we are also looking for additional weekly prayer group leaders, for both zoom and those who wish to gather outside in the parking lot (masked and socially distanced). If you are interested in leading a weekly prayer gathering, please reply to this email and let me know what your preferred method, time, and day of the week.  

Rockport continues to be in Level 3 (red) online only status until further notice, but that doesn't mean that the church is closed! Church sponsored activities are all meeting online or postponed until we can gather safely. We continue to lift our hearts in prayer as we invite you to worship with us at 10:00am on Sundays via Facebook, YouTube, or on our website.  We are worshipping, studying, and gathering online in order to care for one another and keep each other safe as well as to respect the hard and dedicated work of our essential workers and overwhelmed healthcare staff. Please join us for worship each week and invite someone else to join us by sending the links along. Your giving is also vital to the church community during this time - as we participate in the process of strategic planning and continue in the work and prayer to reimagine our ministry at Rockport, we invite you to join us daily in prayer and to support the church with your prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.  

As always, you continue to be in my prayers. If you are in need of prayer or conversation, don't hesitate to reach out to me via phone or email.  Please leave a voicemail if I'm not immediately available and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. 

Journeying with you, 



Rev. Lorrin Radzik