Friend for Life,

This is the day that The Lord has made, rejoice in it and be glad with me. I am writing this letter for multiple purposes. The first is to express to you how wonderful you are as a people. My birthday celebration on September 13th of this year was beyond my imagination. I've watched many parades in my life and I've seen more within the last six months than I've probably taken the time to watch. Let me be the first to share that it means and looks totally different when it's in your honor. Friendship, you came out on Bennington and Lockwood and dressed your cars up, honked your horns, showed me your refreshing smile even though behind the mask, blessed me with cards, and monetary gifts, and other gifts. In the words of The 5th Pastor, you blew my mind! It was one of my best ones, so I say "THANK YOU!"

Children of God, you are a "Five Star Church!" Friendship's style is simply first class. I'm humbled daily by the opportunity to lead such a blessed and cooperative group of Christians. That's who we are, CHRISTians. We must work the work of Him that has sent us. For the past few weeks on Wednesday night's Prayer Call, we've learned more about how not to be fearful. It's been a blessing to me and I know that it has blessed you thoroughly.

The world calls it uncertain times, but with God we are certain that He knows His children. Be confident in that, and the fact that He will continue to lead us and guide us. He has lead me this far, and I continue to seek His guidance regarding His sheep. I learned a long time ago that you can't make everyone happy all of the time. There are certain times that leaders have to make tough decisions and make decisions based upon the whole body. We have met outside on our lot, or virtually in the sanctuary for the past six months. It's been amazing how the manifestation of The Holy Spirit continues to be exemplified in our worship experiences.

As we move forward in our lives, we must start doing things a little differently. In other words, part of the pause if you will, was to make us think differently. Washing our hands for at least 20 seconds, sanitizing our hands, wearing mask, physically distancing, etc. I believe that we will still need to do these things for now to remain considerate of all people. It's sad when this matter turns into a political issue, and some in office probably shouldn't be holding their seats, but that's another topic for another day.

 On the first Sunday of our Church's Anniversary in October, we will have a special 3pm Worship and we will administer The Lord's Supper. We will keep the numbers very low to transition back into the sanctuary. The service will be streamed live, because only The Official Staff, Administrative Staff, and Directors along with their husbands/wives will be able to attend this worship service, if they desire. All will be required to get their temperature checked at the door, sanitize their hands, and wear their mask during the duration of the worship. I will be individually serving The Lord's Supper, so it will be done a little different than the normal way. We will have one entrance and one separate exit. I'm asking that we make the rear hallway (closest to the railroad tracks) of the sanctuary a "one way" hallway.  The flow will be from east to west, therefore anyone in the rear men's and ladies restrooms should make a left and enter through the west door (near the drums) of the sanctuary. There will be hand sanitizing stations and assigned seating areas in the sanctuary. If you aren't feeling well on that day, I'm asking that you not participate in person and worship online. All Official Staff Members will receive a call soon along with all Directors of Ministry regarding if they will be present or not. Our seating capacity for the sanctuary is 500, but we will be well below 10% capacity for that service.

I'm asking The Body to pray, pray, then pray even more. I still know God can send a remedy. According to God's word, nothing is new under the sun. It is with great faith that we look to Him. We are also looking forward to other activities throughout the month of our anniversary! We will give thousands of pounds on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020. If you haven't giving your name and you would like to volunteer to help with the food distribution, please call 713.631.0329 and ask for Sis. Armstrong or Sis. Guy. They will share your name with me. We will also have a Virtual Game Night benefiting "The Star of Hope." It will be via Zoom on October 12th. The winners will be able to select items from the "Amazon wish list" from that organization, and we will donate them and Amazon will ship them directly to the "Star of Hope" for us. Door prizes will be given to participants (based on Zoom sign in). This will be in addition to the FMBC Bible Trivia "Anniversary Madness" via Kahoot. Starting with next Tuesday's Old Testament Trivia Challenge, members (using their real names) will compete for the opportunity to make the "Anniversary Bracket." Your Kahoot score will dictate your bracket standing. On Friday, we will release another Kahoot for members to compete for the opportunity to raise their scores and their standing so they will not be eliminated. This will continue until we announce the final winner on Oct.8th.  The Anniversary Committee will produce a bracket for publication. Everyone will be encouraged to play. All questions will be taken from previous Trivia Tuesday games, again prizes will be given!

On Wednesday, October 7th, 2020 from 12pm-2pm we will be partnering with Cook Elementary and giving away school supplies. We will have plenty, and we want to do our best to share with our children who are adjusting to the new form of instruction. All students at Kashmere and the Middle/Elementary School feeder pattern are welcomed to stop by and pickup what they would like free of charge.

On the Friday prior to the third Sunday, we will host the Quartet Anniversary for The Joyful Harmonizers at 7pm at Friendship MBC. It will be a virtual concert streamed on our Facebook Page and YouTube Channel. Please remember to share our YouTube Channel streams with others and do the same for our Facebook post along with starting Watch Parties.

We look forward to sharing with you soon. Until then, keep your chin up and remember that we are FRIENDS FOR LIFE!!!