Hey Church!

My holy month is October. October where the trees catch fire and neighbors pass out candy and my blood type is pumpkin spice. I love it!

There’s a lot coming up for us. We have spent time around the table in our worship series Come to the Table. We will celebrate the fact that God has placed a table in the world and invited everyone to it on World communion Sunday on October 6. You can revisit past sermons or catch up if you missed a Sunday by heading to www.uccmedina.org/sermons

 

Our upcoming series is entitled Good Stewards. It’s based on Walter Brueggemann’s book Money and Possessions. Here are the Sunday themes and readings:

-October 13: Biblical Economics, 1 Timothy 6:10

-October 20: Thou Shalt Covet the Sabbath..?, Genesis 2:1-4, Exodus 18:14-23
-October 27: The Amnesia of Success, Deuteronomy 8:11-20

-November 3: Walking Away from a Love Story, Mark 10:17-31

-November 10: Stewardship Sunday, Acts 2

For Medina First Friday’s on October 4, I’ll be out on the corner blessing pets! From 5-7 outside the church on the square! Any pet that is safe to bring is welcome. And if your pet doesn’t do well on the Square (Rufus buys too many cheeseburgers at PJ Marley’s so he’s banned), blessings work from far away and we can say a prayer together. Please invite your friends and neighbors! Free bandannas while supplies last and a children’s craft! Let’s celebrate God’s compassion and concern for all creatures and for the love they bring to us. I’m so thankful for the experiment of the First Fridays and all who came out to cheer on and listen to our musicians. A special thanks to Ian Morgan and the Churchills, Adian Rubino, Ron Greinke, Jessika and Bennett Petersen.

To further clarify what I wrote last month about my email routine, while I won’t necessarily check emails over the weekend, I am available by phone or text in case of emergency or any pressing questions. I will be away for OU’s homecoming on October 13. Pastoral coverage will be provided by the Rev Laura Fitt-Baird from First Christian and we’ll have a great line up that will be preaching that Sunday.

Two words that you’ll get sick of hearing: Safety and Structure. The Moderators are hard at work on assembling a Safety Team to look at a comprehensive emergency plan. I have asked each committee to look at their bylaws and what they are following and what needs to be added or taken away to our almost 10-year-old structure. It is the work of each committee and council to determine how we shall live together. This process will be slow and deliberate to make sure our covenant together is clear and able to be lived into. The idea is that our structure works for us, instead of us working for the structure.

Karen Brocco-Kish has felt God’s call to explore more pastoral counselling and visitation. Karen, the association’s Lay School, and I are hard at work on the learning covenant for this internship with our church. It is my hope that all will be in place so that Karen can start a 9-month internship focusing on visitation of our church members and help with the Circle of Caring in November. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for Karen and her new adventure with us!

Yours in Christ,

-Luke