Dear Prairie Flower Baptist Church,

As we continue to navigate the difficult waters of another covid season, and considering our Governor’s most recent proclamation, we have decided to enact the following procedures for the next two Sundays (11/22 and 11/29). Please know that, as a Leadership Team, we are implementing these procedures out of a desire to submit to our governing authorities, and to keep people reasonably safe, all the while trusting our sovereign God in all things.

So, with those thoughts in mind, here is our plan: 1) Face Masks – We strongly encourage the use of face masks for all individuals who attend Sunday School and our Morning Worship Service. These masks should be worn by all individuals who are 5 years of age and older. It is recommended that these masks be worn as you enter our building and as you traffic throughout our building, but these masks do not have to be worn once you are seated and participating in our worship services. And 2) Social Distancing – We will ensure that all congregants are reasonably socially distanced during our worship services. To ensure this, we will take out every other row of chairs in our downstairs fellowship hall and ask that only family units sit together during the service. Obviously, we will have fewer seats available for the next two Sundays. So, if you are uncomfortable participating in our live worship services, you are encouraged to stay at home and watch our service over Facebook Live. 

Lord willing, all of these measures are temporary, and we should be able to get back to a sense of normalcy starting in December. Indeed, if all goes as planned, we envision having our first service in our newly renovated sanctuary on Sunday, December 6. How wonderful it will be to meet in our new worship space and to begin our celebration of Christmas out here on the prairie!

We look forward to seeing many of you over these next two weeks. Again, the above measures are designed out of our desire to submit to our governing authorities, and to keep people reasonably safe, all the while trusting our sovereign God. For some of you, this is not easy and perhaps frustrating. We get that. But we thank you for your understanding and patience as we continue to weave our way through this incredibly wonky year. 

David Cotner on behalf of the PFBC Leadership Team

With a new season of covid upon us, we have had to readjust our ministries and schedules once again. Thank you all for your understanding and patience as we walk through this frustrating time together. We will get through this!

One of the biggest adjustments to our schedule has been the timing of the Annual Election of Officers. As a reminder, all church members, who are 14 years of age or older, are kindly invited to prayerfully nominate and then vote for individuals in the following categories: Deacon (3 Open Positions), Clerk (Mike York Desires To Be Replaced), Financial Secretary (Steve Donnolly Most Recently Served In This Position), Treasurer (Duane Davis Desires To Be Replaced), and Sunday School Superintendent (Brian Wilson Most Recently Served In This Position). Below is the new timeline of events for this important process out here on the prairie…

Sunday, November 22 – Nomination Process For Our Annual Election Of Officers Closes…Our Nomination and Election Committee (1 Pastor & 2 Deacons) will meet on this Sunday to contemplate the official ballot…

Monday, November 23 – Wednesday, December 2 – The Nomination and Election Committee will contact eligible nominees to see if they’re interested in serving…These individuals must reply by the close of business (5 PM) on Wednesday, December 2…

Sunday, December 6 – We will announce and post the official ballot of our 2021 Officer Nominees…Posting of nominees will be done via email, the blog, etc…

Sunday, December 20 – Annual Election Of Officers…Election will be held by secret ballot…

All elected officers will take office on January 1, 2021. Please be in prayer concerning who you would have serve and if God is leading you to serve at Prairie Flower Baptist Church!

This next week, on Tuesday, November 10, I will celebrate my seventh year as the Lead Pastor of Prairie Flower Baptist Church. In a lot of ways, the years have flown by. In fact, I took this ministry while wrapping up my studies at Faith Baptist Bible College, when I was just 26 years old, with a wife and one child. I’m now facing age 34 in a couple of months with a wife and three kids (plus a puppy dog) in tow…Man alive, the years have truly flown by.

As I reflect on seven years of pastoral ministry, many of my feelings remain the same. That is to say, I still find pastoral ministry to be one of the most adrenaline-inducing privileges of my life. As I often say, pastoral ministry may be many things, but it’s certainly not boring! I also still feel overwhelming gratitude to my wife, Heather, who has stuck by my side through thick and thin. At times, it’s not easy being a pastor’s wife, but Heather exudes a quiet strength that has gotten me through some of the darkest nights of soul. I also still find myself feeling extremely thankful for the incredible folks out here on the prairie. I know that might seem trite, or just a nice thing to say, but I mean it…My heart continues to be knit with the folks of Prairie Flower and I find it a privilege to be one of their pastors who prays for them, preaches to them, and serves alongside them.

But as you can imagine, the year 2020 has brought into my pastoral ministry a whole new slew of lessons that have been “fun” to learn…Here are three of the top lessons I’ve learned during my seventh year of pastoral ministry…

1. Plans often change. But goals (for the most part) do not change. If 2020 has taught me anything it’s simply this – hold your plans with an open palm. Indeed, planning with hard and fast deadlines isn’t wrong, but just remember that God is sovereign and will often adjust our plans for our good and His glory. We must be willing to be humble and flexible with our planners and calendars. Yes, plans in the ministry often change, but the goals of ministry do not change…Even in a global pandemic, people need to be prayed for, fed the Word, and led with love. Finding creative ways to continue to do these things has been a growing, stretching experience.

2. Preaching is important. But meeting (as a church in-person) is essential. In no way, shape, or form am I devaluing the importance of preaching. God has chosen this one method of communication to be hugely transformative in the lives of His people. But when the lockdowns happened, every preacher and their brother took to the internet. Indeed, we preachers became tele-evangelists overnight! My point is this, you can literally stream a sermon online from anywhere in the world and be fed God’s Word. But meeting together (as a church in person) is so much more than hearing a sermon…Meeting together is about spiritual connection, true fellowship, and the ability to serve one another. These things can’t be replaced with online church and an online sermon.

3. People need leadership. But leadership (by and large) is hard. I don’t know if this is necessarily a new lesson, but this lesson has definitely been amplified during the mess of 2020. I remember at the height of the Coronavirus hysteria, my Associate Pastor and I were daily watching the Governor’s press conferences. Oh. My. Goodness. The comments people were writing on social media as the Governor was making her remarks were rude and repulsive. People can be so mean! Seeing those nasty comments gave me some PTSD to some of the worst moments of my pastoral ministry, where I tried to lead, but people didn’t want to follow, and made it verbally known! Yes, people need leadership, but leadership is often very hard. I wish citizens of a state, and saints in the church, would understand this one concept, namely, there are many good paths to walk down, but you can only go down one path at a time…That’s why leadership matters.

Well Prairie Flower, as I said seven years ago (but mean more today), “I love you, and I will lead you.” And in the end, it will be all from His grace and for His glory…