To My Dearest Fairfield Grace Family and Friends, 

Hallelujah!  May the grace and peace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you and your family.

As announced on Sunday, March 21, Bishop Thomas Bickerton has appointed me to serve in Forestville, part of Bristol, Connecticut, beginning in July as a pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church.  It is a surprise call.  It will take some time to fully accept this new beginning that God has opened for me and FGUMC.  But I trust God will take care of you and FGUMC, making us “lie down in green pastures” and leading us “beside still waters” (Psalm 23:2). 

How blessed I have been by your faithful journey and partnership in ministry for the last 13 years since July, 2008.  My thanksgiving for FGUMC knows no bounds.     

This Sunday is Easter Sunday.  “I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”  (John 11:25-26) What a powerful and awakening statement it is!  Do you notice that Jesus did not say, “I will be the resurrection, and I will be the life”? He said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”  It is in the present tense.  Yes, Easter isn’t just an historical event that took place more than two thousand years ago.  Easter is a “here and now” reality, God’s life-giving power that empowers and renews the world day by day. 

Because of Easter, no situation is beyond God’s redeeming power and love.  Because of Easter, we can journey through whatever situations we face in this world.  Easter enables us to face tomorrow with confidence and boldness.  Yes, Easter fills us with a sense of hope to welcome with a wide-open heart a new but uncertainty-filled beginning ahead of us.  Hallelujah!

Let us come together, praising God, Easter God, who has made and is still making all things new.   

Thankfully and Joyfully,

Kun Sam, Pastor