Church changes time, but not the message
Published 12:55 am Saturday, May 9, 2015
A change of time for Sunday worship at The Lutheran Church of the Messiah will not affect the message preached.
“You will still be hearing the gospel,” the Rev. J. Richard Sawyer said.
Sawyer, who is the pastor at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School in Flowood will be serving as interim pastor at the local church following the resignation of the Rev. Gary Osburn.
“The time change is to accommodated my scheduled,” Sawyer said. “I have a congregation here in Brandon. I will take a little break after the service and then it will take me an hour to drive to Vicksburg.”
Sawyer said he thought the time change could be beneficial for the local congregation.
“They could stay after for bible study, have potluck dinners and invite the public. This could be a real positive,” he said.
Sawyer grew up in Florida he said, and received his Masters of Divinity from Concordia Lutheran Seminary, in St. Louis.
In the future, Sawyer said he is hoping to offer classes at the church, which will focus on the history of the Lutheran church and other denominations since the time of the reformation.
“While the church is going through this adjustment phase the congregation is still planning on reaching out to the community,” Sawyer said.
The Lutheran Church of the Messiah holds an annual GermanFest each year in the fall. Last year, was the church’s 26th annual event. Bratwursts from Milwaukee are served along with and a whole host of German fair including specialty desserts.
For more information about Lutheran Church of the Messiah, call 601-636-1894.