It has been awhile since I have written a pastor’s corner. Now we finally have events on the calendar! It’s a good feeling.

I submitted my proposal for my doctoral project. The idea is to adjust how council meets so we’re looking toward the future and not reporting on the past. I will take a measurement of the council in how connected they feel to one another and our church, then run the idea, and in May take a second measurement and compare the results. If council feels more connected, then we have a new model to try out! If council feels less connected, then we can return to how we’ve been doing things for years. Either way, I get my doctorate! So I am happy to be moving on that front. If you’d like to know more, you shouldn’t because I will speak for hours about the theology, theory, and project itself… But if you’re up for it, you have been warned. 😊

Here are other upcoming events for September!

 REWRITE SERIES

With so much coming at us in these unprecedented times, the Worship Team and I thought it might be a good time for something precedented. Something we have seen and heard before.

Sometimes in scripture, we’ll read a passage we’ve read a hundred times before and find something new in it. This series is entitled REWRITE and it is about that experience of revisiting and hearing something new. Old liturgies will reappear alongside our favorite songs. I’ll rewrite my sermons and see how I would update them for our current context. As the preaching master Fred Craddock says, “If it’s worth preaching once, it’s worth preaching again. IF it’s only worth preaching once, then it shouldn’t have been preached at all.”

 

Drive By Blessing of the Backpacks and Mobile Devices
In real time at the church, Sunday, 9/6/2020 from noon to 1 p.m.

 

Following our 10:30 a.m. service and livestream, Pastor Luke and Miss Stacie will be in the parking lot to hand out and bless your backpacks and mobile devices! Drive to the new entrance in the back and have your masks on and your windows down! We are excited to see you and bless your new school year! Doesn’t matter what level of school, preschool through college.

The Cross and the Lynching Tree

On Zoom, starting Wednesday, 9/9/2020 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

A connection so obvious, we missed it. A past so painful, some deny it. Let’s explore together as we read and discuss James Cone’s seminal work “The Cross and the Lynching Tree.” The discussion groups will be held ONLINE VIA ZOOM Wednesday nights at 7:00 p.m. starting on September 9th then every 2nd and 4th Wednesday following for a total of 5 weeks. Please have the first chapter read by our first meeting! Go to https://forms.gle/WW7zUavYjn8ttjmm6 to sign up.

Ryan Collins will lead this discussion. I was assigned this book for two of my doctoral classes. The first time, I fought with it. The second time, I accepted and learned from it. It’s a academic book that is very readable, but heavy. The theology is amazing and I am looking forward to our journey together.

 

September 11th Prayer Vigil

In real time at the church, Friday, 9/11/2020 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

We will continue the tradition of praying on 9/11 that was started by Dave Edinger and continued on in his memory and the memory of that fateful day by Dorothie, Linde, and Jon Edinger. Our prayers start at 8:30 a.m. in the front entrance of the church. We will take turns ringing the bell at the time of each of the events, ending at 10:30 when the last tower fell. We will pray for the healing of our nation, the care of our first responders, and in remembrance of the victims and their families. Educational videos will be shown to help our younger members learn about the events of the day. Masks and distancing are required. I hope you will make time to observe this day with us.