Welcome to a new year!  New calendars, new resolutions, new opportunities; a fresh start.

As the new year begins, Second Pres will experience some newness in our life together. We look forward this year to the installation of a new Pastor/Head of Staff. We look forward to not only improving and enhancing Grace Hall for future ministry, but also finishing the sanctuary sound system improvement in the parterre and choir loft. Starting next week, we can also look forward to a new website and church logo.

At the November, 2012 meeting, Session unanimously adopted a new logo for the church. You can see it at the top of this email. The new logo includes the familiar circle and cross pattern which is consistent in past logos and is visible throughout our facilities. The logo also includes the lines and shape of our baptismal font designed by the late Rev. Roane Deckert. The logo incorporates two significant theological markers to our visual identity: the cross of Christ and the waters of baptism. The dark blue color in the logo compliments our denomination's traditional color palate and will also compliment the color of the new choir robes being purchased in 2013 which have been made possible from several memorial gifts. The Second Pres staff feels the design is clean, attractive and eliminates inconsistencies that were present in our previous logo. This logo will be included on our stationery as our current supply is exhausted. Also look for an updated Pulse later this Spring.
This logo will also be a prominent feature on our new website that will be going live next week.

The new website is intentionally designed with visitors in mind. Hospitality begins long before someone new visits on a Sunday morning. It begins at the new front door of the church which in the 21st century is the internet. When you think that the average user views a webpage for less than 20 seconds and gains a first impression about an organization in less than 5 seconds, it is important to be hospitable to anyone who does an internet search for church - Bloomington - IL. Our website is where outreach begins. The new site seeks to be hospitable with a clean, modern and easy-to-navigate design giving the viewer a sense of who we are at Second Pres. 

In a world where people use these mediums more and more, I'm really excited about the improvements to our digital and visual communication. Many thanks to Youth Intern Derrick Rohl for his design work on the logo, and to Communication Director Terri Thede for her work on the website.  

Behold, I make all things new! Revelation 21:5

Happy New Year!  

Dean