Beware, the Update of the Ides of March! English major, had to. But there will be no stabbing during this weekly update, just things you should know.
Recently the church began a journey of discernment. Pastor Eric Anderson shared some thoughts and questions. You should have gotten those via email. If not, I have hard copies. They will be on the counter in the back of the church, at the east side of the building. Today, the ULS interns met in our Cluster Meeting. These are held about once a month, and have been via Zoom. As a guest today we had Pastor Richard Jorgensen, from the Synod office. A number of us wanted to discuss the life cycle of churches, and that was Pr. Jorgensen’s topic. He posed the following questions. These go along with those raised by Pr Anderson, but it’s good to hear them from multiple angles. Pr Jorgensen asked:
How are you listening for God?
What is God’s dream of desire?
Where do we see God already at work?
How are we called to participate in that work?
What could we do that would make God the most pleased?
Let me look at that last question as a stewardship question. If we are blessed by God with any of a number of things, how do we use those for God’s work? God’s glory? To me stewardship is more than fundraising, which is what I think of with Temple Talks and pledge cards. Stewardship is how do we use all of the gifts we have from God to give them back to God. The skill of sewing is a gift from God. Using that gift to create quilts which will help God’s children stay warm and remind them that they are loved is a great example of stewardship of those gifts. You can come up with more, I’m sure. Right now St Matthias has lots of questions. God will provide answers.
Synod Assembly is coming up! Each church is asked to provide two delegates; one who identifies as female, one who identifies as male. This event will be online, and is scheduled for June 3 and 4. There is also an education workshop day May 14. to participate you need to have a digital device to watch as well as one to vote. You also need reliable internet. Registration has been open since March 1. Right now is early bird pricing; prices go up on April 1. The church will cover fees. For more information, see Vicar.
Prayer List : We lift up those who serve in the military, including Christian. We pray for first responders. To God’s mercy we lift: Pam, Betty Lou, Mark, Pat, Seth, DJ, Margaret, George, Arleen, Greg, Ruth, Darryl, Billie, Dave, Tim and Lisa, Hannah, Mollie, Josie, and Alexis, As we head toward Spring we pray for all those who tend fields, orchards, and gardens. In this time of violence throughout the world, we ask for peace. May we bring peace to the world by bringing peace to our home and our neighborhoods. All these things and whatever else that is needed we lift before God, AMEN. Be well.