Pastor G.R. Patterson
The year 2020 has been a year like no other. None of us could have imagined on New Year’s Eve 2019 that in the months to come almost 35,000,00,000 people worldwide would be stricken with the Covid -19 coronavirus and that 1,000,000 people would be dead, more than 200,000 right here in the United States.
More predictable but equally as unsettling has been the continuing instances of the killing of black people in this country by police officers – and the killing of black people by other black people. The sign we recently erected over the doors of our congregation facility at 55th and South Hoover Streets in Los Angeles serves as a desperate cry to both heaven and earth, black, brown, and yellow, “THE KILLING MUST STOP!”.
In the midst of it all, however, the people of God remain hopeful or as I put in in a recent YouTube presentation, we must “Hold Our Hope!” And, we recognize that our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ who “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we may ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. ” (Ephesians 3:20)
This leads me to our 2020 Church Anniversary.
Our being unable to meet in person for Sunday worship and other meetings has posed certain challenges for our 112th Church Anniversary. However, to their credit, Sister Beverly Nelson and the other members of the Committee have soldered on valiantly in the Name of the Lord. I commend them for their effort and it is our prayer that future anniversary celebrations will allow for us to celebrate in the more conventional fashion.
We praise the Lord for 112 years and by praying hard, working together, and trusting God we have many, many, many more!