Matthew Henry is quoted as saying:

“Thanks-Giving is good, but Thanks-Living is better!” 

Here on this Thanksgiving weekend we are reminded of the need to give thanks to God. Gratitude is essential to our connection to God. In Luke’s Gospel, we read the Story of the 10 Lepers. It's a compelling story that gets to the root issue that lies in many of our hearts when it comes to being truly grateful. If we listen closely, we get a sense that the point is less about physical leprosy and more about spiritual lethargy. Without praise and thanksgiving, we lapse into apathetic spiritual consumers: people who take without giving; people who receive without thanks-giving.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except for this foreigner? Luke 17:17-19 

We have so much to be grateful for! Not just on this one day that we set aside in November each year, but in every moment of every day that breath fills our lungs.

It’s almost as if Jesus is saying:

“Were not all 365 days beautifully and wonderfully made? What about the other 364? Who will acknowledge and give praise to God for his protection, his blessings, and his provision for these as well?”

So yes, Thanks-Giving is good, but Thanks-Living is better! 

Lord, may you teach us an attitude of gratitude!

- Pastor Milo

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We have much to be thankful for. This will be brief, but I did want to put together an update for our congregation, so that you will know how to be in prayer for what is happening behind the scenes for our church plant in Clarence Hollow, called Fieldstone Church.

As many of you know, Fieldstone Church was birthed out of a remnant of believers from Harris Hill Baptist Church along with a few key families from our congregation, as well as additional families in the community. Many things have been in limbo over the last 6 months, but we have so much to be thankful for, and so many things to thanks God for.

Currently, we are walking through a bankruptcy procedure for the entity that was Harris Hill Baptist Church in order to absolve ourselves from any previous entanglements with other contracts, or individuals that would stand in the way of a sale of the old church building and property on Harris Hill Road. This building has been vacant for about 18 months now. Praise God, we have a current cash offer on the table for the property, and the details of the bankruptcy should be resolved in the next 30 days, resulting in closing a sale by the end of the year.

One of the prerequisites for this church plant was that we would have a church planting pastor at the helm who was fully assessed and approved for church planting through the North American Mission Board. After going through this thorough assessment process himself, the former pastor of Harris Hill resigned his position earlier this summer; and we have been looking for another candidate ever since. Praise God once again, we now have a potential candidate who has come through the assessment with a "Ready" recommendation earlier this month. We will be working diligently to complete the evaluation process from our own team locally in the coming weeks, certainly hoping to come to a conclusion on proposing next steps for Fieldstone by the end of the year as well.

Another story of praise, came to fruition this week in the most unlikely of places; a Chili's Resturant on Veterans Day. One of our leadership team members, a veteran, went to Chili's to cash in on a discounted meal for Veterans Day. In the table next to his own, he struck up a conversation with another veteran who happens to be the handyman for the Rock Oak Estates. Long story short, this man was a person of peace, and at least for the foreseeable future has provided access to the beautiful Rock Oak Community Center. 

This was an answer to prayer, because the enclosed pavilions in the Clarence Town Park which have been so wonderful for use for Fieldstone to gather together in good weather, are no longer available out of season. The Rock Oak Community Center will be a wonderful place to be an incubator for this church, and an accessible place of worship for many the residents who live there. In fact, they were so excited, that Fieldstone will even be able to begin meeting there as soon as this weekend. Praise be to God!

There is much to celebrate; there is much to be in prayer for. We don't know the future, but we know who hold the future! Please be mindful of the core families that make up the small but devoted nucleus of the work of the Gospel in Clarence Hollow called Fieldstone Church. God is doing some exciting things here. Let's be thankful!

-Pastor Milo 

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As we have shared with you previously, we want to make decisions that are both sensible and sensitive, responsible, and forward-moving in hope. We also want to ensure that we work to protect the unity of the body of Christ at all times.

While it may appear a long way off, we hope to make some adjustments in how we structure kids and youth programming at Randall starting January 2022, and wanted to share an update with you regarding this now, so we can communicate that plan well in advance. 

Since September, we have been requesting that while participating in our children and youth programs, everyone (both children and leaders) wear masks while indoors regardless of vaccination status. This includes Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings and Thursday nights.

As most of you are aware, earlier last week a Covid-19 vaccine became an option for those families who desire to immunize their children 5 years and older, where it had previously not been available.

Therefore, in order to give ample time for those families wishing to vaccinate, we are tentatively planning on lifting our children’s and youth ministry mask policy beginning in January 2022, as long as the conditions for our region are not climbing beyond substantial or high transmission.  We will re-confirm our decision at that point to be sure the proposed plan here can move forward as scheduled.  

We believe this is consistent to how we have applied church masking policies as a whole, as well as how we responded  when vaccines became available to adults. Throughout this pandemic, we have taken the position that we have a responsibility to love one another well and to look out for one another. 

We desire to be a tangible example of the love of Jesus, both for those who are already in our flock, as well as those who are still far from Christ. As Philippians 2:3 tells us, “in humility, value others above yourself, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others.”

So, thank you, again, for how well you have demonstrated being a caring and loving church during these times. This too shall pass. Praise be to God!

Pastor Milo

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Good afternoon everyone. Just wanted to take a couple of minutes to catch you up on some things that are happening behind the scenes here at Randall. Change is in the air! Perhaps, it is just like the changing of the leaves alerting us to something bigger happening beneath the surface for the changing of the seasons. If I'm transparent with you, I'm not sure that I was fully aware of it 6 months ago or so, but it would appear to be abundantly clear now that it truly is a time of transition for our church.  

First update: The Family Pastor search is underway. Over the next 2 weeks the Family Pastor Search Team is planning to interview 5 candidates over zoom calls. At this point, all the candidates in this round are from out of state, and will need to be a great fit to justify a move for their respective families. Please be in prayer that these meetings will be highly productive, and that God's prompting will be crystal clear. 

Second update: Jacki Minchen our Church Operations Secretary has given her 2 weeks notice to accept a job offer here from M&T Bank, here in Buffalo. While she and her husband Brian will continue to be active and serve at Randall, Jacki will be in the role of "congregation member," rather than "staff member" going forward. Please be in prayer as we shuffle some job responsibilities, and make decisions going forward for both the short term vacancies, and the long-term as well.  

For those keeping track at home, that means we are praying for a full-time Family Pastor, a part-time Children's Director, as well as some part-time ministry support staff here in the office. In our own strength… this is impossible. In God's strength… anything is possible. Please pray that God will show himself faithful! 

If you have any leads, or interest in pursuing the opportunities discussed above, please reach out to office@randallchurch.org or searchteam@randallchurch.org

Grace and Peace

- Pastor Milo 

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In the coming weeks, we will say goodbye to one of my good friends, and certainly one of our greatest resources as a church over the last five years. On July 18th, we will be saying goodbye to Pastor Mario, Denise, Carly, and Josh as Mario moves on to the next chapter in his life. Ok that sounds kinda morbid like he died… but actually he's just moving to Louisville, KY.

For many years, I've often been the person in meetings making presentations, or speaking up in open forums advocating for change. However, this time around I very much find myself longing for things to stay the same. And while selfishly, I've always wanted them to stick around, I know that their leaving is part of God's plan for their life.
God has always done the same thing; whether it's Abraham's obedience in leaving Ur, it's Paul's obedience in going to Asia… God is constantly calling many of us to go. This is not to say that staying somewhere is disobedience to God – in fact, staying somewhere is a calling itself and sometimes even more difficult to obey! But the truth is, staying or going are decisions mature men and women of faith need to deal with at periods of transition. By ignoring the tugging at our hearts or the wrestling we need to do with the Lord, we are simply putting our heads in the sand and not living out the full lives that Jesus died to give us, lives worthy of the calling we have received (Ephesians 4:1).

So, even as I say goodbye to my friend, my heart is filled with more joy and excitement than sadness. I have no claim on his life, on his future any more than I do on any of your lives. We all belong to the Lord and our tomorrows are His.

That said, I do want us to celebrate the last five years of ministry impact of Pastor Mario and Denise and send them out really, really well. Following the worship gathering on July 18th, we will have a reception to follow in the dining hall, where we have a few exciting things planned. If you have questions about how to get involved, please reach out to the office, or Helen Monegro who I have asked to keep momentum moving forward in the planning of this celebration.

Also, we do want all of you to plan for this one thing in advance. We will have a "giving tree" set up as part of the reception. Mario and Denise are downsizing into an apartment, so they do not have the space to accommodate a large number gifts and mementos. But what they will always have room for is gift cards and cash :-)

Please be very generous in sending our friends off on their way well!

- Pastor Milo
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