Stewardship 2020
October 2020
Hi Beloved Church!
What a year 2020 has been (so far...). We began the with a brand new roof keeping out the snow, some budding conversations with a preschool looking for space, and new clarity that our building is part of our calling of hospitality. We had a wonderful Staycation in February, baking bread and making soup together, and spending a day at play. We started an adult confirmation class, and were spending a year in questions, living with different biblical people, and had the play "David" performed for us in worship, shared a beautiful Ash Wednesday service ushering us into Lent, and hid the Alleluias around the sanctuary.
Suddenly mid-March we found ourselves uprooted and tossed about by a confusing and frightening pandemic. We moved our gatherings online, thinking it would be a few weeks and we'd be back to our regular routines. Then, in the midst of quarantine, our city, and our nation, exploded in sadness and anger over the deep sin of racism that bubbled once again to the surface. Our neighborhoods were rocked by instability and loss. Throughout all this, we've tried to stay connected and help where we can, and pledged to deepen our awareness and engagement so that we might be part of God's healing and our communities' moving into a new way of belonging. All the while, we're dodging a disease, distancing physically from each other and those we love, combating isolation and loneliness, fear and worry, frustration and fatigue. It's an exhausting and tumultuous time to be human and to be an American. And we are trying to help each other navigate these waters.
So, for seven months we've been seeking ways to be faithful right now. Our congregation has been worshiping weekly on Zoom, we celebrated Good Friday with a moving Tenebrae service, rejoiced on Easter, and remembered what it is to be Church on Pentecost. (see the Easter and Pentecost videos here). We commemorated our partnership with St. Joe's and celebrated Chaplain Amy's ministry there with an in-person, outdoor service. We've shared bonfires and books, yard signs and postcards, show & tell, waffle worship and weekly coffee hours. We’ve held a zoom funeral and a zoom wedding, welcomed three new members and confirmed one. And in this 99th year of LNPC's life, we just signed a lease and a loan to create a preschool space in our basement, opening a new chapter of ministry and community connection. (Watch for the exciting capital campaign being cooked up to help us invest in these changes!)
Right now is the time we are given to live in, right now is the only place God can meet us. Right now we are seeking to be faithful and trusting that God is faithful. We launched our theme FAITHFUL NOW to help us live intentionally right now, to acknowledge that always, but especially in this season when things are up in the air and changing so rapidly, God's promise and our calling is to be faithful now. As we're striving to stay connected, praying for each other and the world, and navigating the ups and downs of these strange and unpredictable times, we are staying faithful now by asking, Who is this God and what is God doing right now? What is a good life and how do we live it right now? Right now our vulnerability and our belonging is front and center - we are supporting each other through covid and cancer, bringing meals, giving gifts, meeting (over zoom) for prayer. We know God is leading us, and we know we belong to God and each other, and are called to live out that belonging in the world.
FAITHFUL NOW
We know God is leading us forward and has plans and a future for us, and at the same time we seek to live faithfully right now our calling and connection. It’s the time of year we plan ahead financially and budget for next year. The amount we need to raise for the budget from giving and building use is $173,600. Would you be willing to pledge to next year’s ministry?
On a personal note, I am pledging as a way to help myself to live in trust, to stay connected to generosity and abundance, and to feel a sense of participation in God's purposes. Pledging helps me keep a sense of the long-term - that my life is part of God's bigger picture. It helps me remember I am investing in God's plans for us. It makes me hopeful for what will be.
Reminder: We can always give more than we pledge, or adjust our pledge if our financial circumstances change.
Thanks for being Church together! You are a blessing to the rest of us, and to the world!
Kara
Hi Beloved Church!
What a year 2020 has been (so far...). We began the with a brand new roof keeping out the snow, some budding conversations with a preschool looking for space, and new clarity that our building is part of our calling of hospitality. We had a wonderful Staycation in February, baking bread and making soup together, and spending a day at play. We started an adult confirmation class, and were spending a year in questions, living with different biblical people, and had the play "David" performed for us in worship, shared a beautiful Ash Wednesday service ushering us into Lent, and hid the Alleluias around the sanctuary.
Suddenly mid-March we found ourselves uprooted and tossed about by a confusing and frightening pandemic. We moved our gatherings online, thinking it would be a few weeks and we'd be back to our regular routines. Then, in the midst of quarantine, our city, and our nation, exploded in sadness and anger over the deep sin of racism that bubbled once again to the surface. Our neighborhoods were rocked by instability and loss. Throughout all this, we've tried to stay connected and help where we can, and pledged to deepen our awareness and engagement so that we might be part of God's healing and our communities' moving into a new way of belonging. All the while, we're dodging a disease, distancing physically from each other and those we love, combating isolation and loneliness, fear and worry, frustration and fatigue. It's an exhausting and tumultuous time to be human and to be an American. And we are trying to help each other navigate these waters.
So, for seven months we've been seeking ways to be faithful right now. Our congregation has been worshiping weekly on Zoom, we celebrated Good Friday with a moving Tenebrae service, rejoiced on Easter, and remembered what it is to be Church on Pentecost. (see the Easter and Pentecost videos here). We commemorated our partnership with St. Joe's and celebrated Chaplain Amy's ministry there with an in-person, outdoor service. We've shared bonfires and books, yard signs and postcards, show & tell, waffle worship and weekly coffee hours. We’ve held a zoom funeral and a zoom wedding, welcomed three new members and confirmed one. And in this 99th year of LNPC's life, we just signed a lease and a loan to create a preschool space in our basement, opening a new chapter of ministry and community connection. (Watch for the exciting capital campaign being cooked up to help us invest in these changes!)
Right now is the time we are given to live in, right now is the only place God can meet us. Right now we are seeking to be faithful and trusting that God is faithful. We launched our theme FAITHFUL NOW to help us live intentionally right now, to acknowledge that always, but especially in this season when things are up in the air and changing so rapidly, God's promise and our calling is to be faithful now. As we're striving to stay connected, praying for each other and the world, and navigating the ups and downs of these strange and unpredictable times, we are staying faithful now by asking, Who is this God and what is God doing right now? What is a good life and how do we live it right now? Right now our vulnerability and our belonging is front and center - we are supporting each other through covid and cancer, bringing meals, giving gifts, meeting (over zoom) for prayer. We know God is leading us, and we know we belong to God and each other, and are called to live out that belonging in the world.
FAITHFUL NOW
We know God is leading us forward and has plans and a future for us, and at the same time we seek to live faithfully right now our calling and connection. It’s the time of year we plan ahead financially and budget for next year. The amount we need to raise for the budget from giving and building use is $173,600. Would you be willing to pledge to next year’s ministry?
On a personal note, I am pledging as a way to help myself to live in trust, to stay connected to generosity and abundance, and to feel a sense of participation in God's purposes. Pledging helps me keep a sense of the long-term - that my life is part of God's bigger picture. It helps me remember I am investing in God's plans for us. It makes me hopeful for what will be.
Reminder: We can always give more than we pledge, or adjust our pledge if our financial circumstances change.
Thanks for being Church together! You are a blessing to the rest of us, and to the world!
Kara
