I had been working on a Pastor’s Pondering for a number of days and on Monday afternoon, I became aware of an incident that happened in Pentwater on Sunday, July 27th, and felt that I should change my ponderings for this month of August.
As your Pastor, Administrative Council, and Trustees we hold the safety of our church congregation and our building at an extremely important level and have worked to put in place procedures that will keep all of our church family safe.
On Sunday morning, July 27th, a community member in Pentwater had what has been determined as a mental disruption in their life. This individual had been observed early on Sunday morning at a number of places in the community wearing a mask and yelling profanities while moving about the Pentwater Community.
On Sunday morning, for many years, the Centenary United Methodist Church has blessed the Pentwater Community with a worship service on the Village Green welcoming all visitors and those from the community to worship.
During that worship service on the Village Green, this individual started yelling about the devil and threatening the congregation. 911 was called. This individual following the threats had slowly removed himself from the worship service and had been spoken to by ushers informing him that the pastor would be available following the worship service to speak with him. He left the area. He was later found by the Oceana County Sheriff’s Department and was taken into custody for observation. Of concern and priority is that we pray for the individual, his state of mind, and physical condition.
As always, security is a top priority when we gather together in community. Over the past few years, on an annual basis, our Trustees have looked at our Emergency Procedures and updated them when necessary. Our Emergency Procedures Manual is located in the Fellowship Hall on the table to the left side as you exit our sanctuary.
There are three items that I would like to make you aware of as we continue to gather for worship and other activities as a community in our church building.
- On the bulletin board directly above the table where our Sunday Bulletins are placed, is the physical address location of our church (9197 56th Avenue Montague, Michigan) should we need to place a 911 call.
- A Safety Alert Monitor is located at the Audio-Visual Console in the rear of the church sanctuary. This safety device has a pull tab which is to be pulled to summon our county emergency responders should it be necessary. This device will alert our emergency providers that an incident has happened at the Claybanks United Methodist Church, and they will be dispatched immediately.
- In the entryway is our Automated Emergency Defibrillator to be used if someone were to have a heart related incident. Should it be necessary to use our defibrillator, 911 should be called immediately.
With these procedures and others in place, we are working to protect our church family during an emergency situation. Given even the more recent events in our country, safety is always of concern when we gather together in community, workspace, and even in our own homes. Should you have concerns about safety, please bring them to our Trustees, Administrative Council, or to me as your pastor and we will look at your concerns and address them as an utmost importance by acting and praying for safety of all.
Live in Life and Peace,
Pastor Gary
Claybanks United Methodist Church 