Back in February, our annual potluck led to our annual meeting where we had a robust discussion about a number of topics. One issue was whether our congregation should seek to purchase the ‘other’ house across Irvin Street. In 2011, we took advantage of an opportunity to purchase the house at 203 4th Ave South which has become a great location for small groups as well as providing space for the First Teen Clothes Closet that serves as our greatest outreach arm into the community. When 416 Irvin was listed for sale, many staff, leaders and neighbors wondered whether we were interested. As important as the result of our discussion was the process we followed in order to come to a decision.

While visits to the First Teen Clothes Closet were down in the first few weeks of the year, by the end of January, our requests were back to normal, with 4 guests in the last week of January and 20 guests during the month of February.

pring is one of my favorite times of the year. I love seeing people getting outside to walk, run and bike. I love being outside as the weather turns warm. I enjoy giving my attention to the growing plants—cleaning up around them, transplanting overgrown ones or trimming them back, knowing they will flourish better once the work is done. I know that as I put the work into my garden, it’s worth the effort and time, as I see the plants growing and blooming.

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Download here…

• Announcements as PDF
• Announcements via Issuu
• Insert: Sharing God's Story at Home

To view the PDF files you may need the free Adobe Reader or some other PDF viewer. Want to view all this on your iPad or Kindle? Check out these tutorials…

Download here…

• Announcements as PDF
• Announcements via Issuu
• Insert: Sharing God's Story at Home

To view the PDF files you may need the free Adobe Reader or some other PDF viewer. Want to view all this on your iPad or Kindle? Check out these tutorials…

ince September, we have been considering, as a congregation, what it means that God welcomes us to “the table.” Our Lenten theme is centered upon this truth as well. We come to the table to be fed, for fellowship, to be known, to be included, to remember Sabbath, to celebrate… and there’s so much more. But these things, obviously don’t just happen at the church’s Altar Table. They also happen in our homes, at our dinner tables. God shows up in our feasts and our weeknights, over meatloaf and prime rib. These are the first two points we want to make about the table: that God shows up both at church and in your home.

“Good morning, Bob. How are you?”

“I’m busy.”

That was the exchange I overheard early one morning and it has shifted something in me profoundly. It isn’t like I haven’t contemplated “busy” quite a lot the last year and the impact on me, the people I serve and the larger world, but that moment brought those things that had been brewing together. Like a really good cup of tea. Since that fateful day I have had several people talk to me and say, “but I know you are busy, pastor.” Or “I just don’t have time because I am too busy.” and I have to wonder when we as a people became obsessed with “busy”. It has, I think, become a social acceptable and desirable way to either numb our emotions or to make sure we are worthy of life. If we are busy enough we don’t have to listen to the voice in our heart that wants to work out the pain or we can say we are worthy of love. Here is the problem with this: when we don’t take the time to listen to our heart or allow ourselves to be loved simply because we are, we also decrease the amount of joy and peace and other light emotions we may have the chance to experience. Not only that, but we can’t hear God. We can’t hear what God would have us do or be, we can’t hear the words of love and promise that God is always trying to get us to know. Instead, we keep moving, keep filling our days with other things (even though they are probably good things) and we slowly die inside.

“I had a pastor who distributed communion with such focus and the way he said. ‘This is the blood of Christ,’ I had no doubt it was the blood of Christ.” 

“I grew up Catholic and how I thought about communion was never something I felt could even be discussed.” 

These are just a few samples of stories I’ve heard told from people participating in small groups. Lenten small groups are in full swing, and there is great conversation happening; no small group telling the same story or hearing the same experience. That’s the joy of small group, hearing each other’s story, hearing about doubt, hearing about great faith and realizing other people have questions and struggles, too.