When I was a small boy, I learned a poem with accompanying hand movements that went something like this; 'Here's the church and here's the steeple. Open the doors and there's the people.' This simple, little childhood ditty taught me a powerful lesson, that I, once in a while, need to be reminded of. That lesson for me was that the inner heart of every congregation is found in the depths of its people, not the building.

May our combined hearts strengthen and nurture each other as well as those whom God brings to us in the future. May our hearts reach out into the world with the grace, peace, and love of Jesus Christ.