Dear Saints of God:
The Season of Epiphany extends from January 6th to March 2nd. It is a time when we explore Jesus’ early ministry. We read the familiar stories about Jesus’ baptism, his first miracle at the Wedding in Canna, the start of his ministry when he went back home to Nazareth to proclaim the Good News and was nearly thrown off a cliff, the calling of the first disciples, the Beatitudes, Jesus’ command to love even our enemies, and Jesus’ admonition to avoid judging others lest we be judged. Throughout the Season of Epiphany, we will relate these themes to our revitalization efforts.
Along those lines, this will be an exciting season of new beginnings. We will be re-introducing Bible Study on Wednesdays from 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM. Our readings in Bible study will be the readings for the following Sunday. Each meeting will be made available via Zoom, recorded for future viewing, and a written summary will be available. Part of our Bible Study will also include YouTube videos from the “Bible Project”, a wonderful resource that provides context to the historical and literary themes to the readings.
We are also introducing a program called “The Theology of Marvels Cinematic Universe” starting in February. It will be a multi-dimensional program that combines movie nights, discussion boards, and group discussions. The program is still under development, so stay tuned.
We are introducing a new section called “Deepen Your Faith” into our weekly bulletins. We invite you to take the section home with you to ponder the “Questions for Reflection” throughout the week. There you will also find prayers for the start and end of your day that we invite you to include in your spiritual practice.
We are very excited about the simplicity and power of “Realm”, our new church ministry app. A small group has been testing it out and see it has great potential to help us communicate, manage our various committee activities and offerings, and expand our outreach. Over the next few months, we will expand its use. We will do this incrementally in phases. We start with a pilot program where selected members of each committee will receive basic training, test the features, provide feedback, and work together to develop the ways to use it to meet our needs. We will then take baby steps, releasing it to a limited number of new users until we have worked out the bugs and have developed enough expertise to help those who may need help in our final general release. Our goal is to have everyone feeling comfortable, confident, and enjoying its many benefits at some point in time. We understand that with change comes challenges, but with God (and a well-planned phased approach) all things are possible. Again, stay tuned.
And so, I encourage you, come to worship and join us as we enter our new ministry led by Jesus as he enters his, join in our new spiritual offerings to deepen your understanding and faith, and get ready to enter the 21st century as we adopt new technology to bring the Good News to God’s beloved.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Russ
