My family and I have been blessed by God in the way His people have welcomed us. The partnership the Lord has begun is well underway. I eagerly look forward to getting to the work of the Lord among you every day. I hope that you have noticed the number of people that the Lord gathers into His house for worship each week. Among them are a number of people who have not been here for a while. There has also been a number of people who have contacted me about becoming members of the congregation This is a truly great time to be at Zion. It is a great time to be at Zion because of what the Lord is going to accomplish!

2004 carries for us an opportunity to celebrate this accomplishment of the Lord among us. As you may have heard in church, 2004 marks the centennial year of our church building. In reading the history of the congregation, I was struck by the faithfulness of the people, many of whom you are directly related to, as they conceived, planned and constructed the temple for the Lord in which we are gathered for worship each week. It took a year to pass the resolution, set the corner stone and finish the construction. The Lord did great things among our saints and forefathers.

This 2004, we plan to celebrate this faith. For their faith is now our faith. The Word that was proclaimed in this building is the same Word which creates and sustains faith in us today. The Sacrament that was celebrated in this building then is celebrated now. All of this has come to pass because of the grace of God. So this year we will celebrate. We will NOT celebrate our accomplishments. No, that would never do. We WILL celebrate what God has done among us in the building which is now 100 years old. We WILL also look to the future ministry that the Lord will do through each of us in the century to come!

To that end, we are going to put together a task force to direct the celebration. Each board, society and committee is asked to provide a member for this task force.. We also would like to invite others to be a part as well. Please get your names into the office ASAP. We need to get this task force formed so that we can mark the resolution that was passed in February 1904.

In additon, this task force will look to the future of this building. They will create a "wish list" of things that our house of worship needs to be able to continue the ministry the Lord has done among us through the century past. It is the plan to involve the entire congregation in the project. Watch for opportunities to express your faith and your opinions in this area!

The Lord is indeed Good. We know that from what we read in the Scriptures, hear from the pulpit, and is tought in our Bible Classes, Day School and Sunday School. In this year 2004, let us, by the grace of God, look back on the century of grace the Lord has granted us in this building. Let us also look to what He plans to do among us with the days and years and perhaps centuries that are to come! I pray that your are as excited about this as I am!