June 4, 2021
Dear Prairie Avenue Family,
We joined in sorrow and celebration of the life of Kathleen Hubbell today. The memorial service marked a first in our history, a live stream broadcast from the sanctuary. But it also saw the familiar: the family meal gathered in the fellowship hall. Many of our congregation made this time meaningful and caring to a family dealing with loss. We were able to once again comfort and having meaningful service in the usual way.
Other signs of normal are returning. A group of ladies who faithfully played the Hand and Foot card game gathered once again around a table in fellowship hall, not quite remembering the rules clearly, but enjoying fellowship and fun after 16 months absence.
We have scheduled the church garage sale for Friday June 25 & Saturday June 26, and sorting will soon begin on donations that arrived in the garage for sale prior to COVID-19 disrupting our lives.
The "Go" and "Stop" signs on the pews, setting off the required distance between persons, have been removed. A Worship Leader will make his first appearance in 16 months (Thanks Les! 9:30 am), and an Elder will return to offer prayer at the Lord's Table (Thanks Sondra! 9:30 am).
Masks are still recommended for those unvaccinated, but are not for the vaccinated.
The Board will be gathering to celebrate our endurance through these difficult times, and will be seeking your input and insights as we begin to develop a strategic plan for the next three years (2022-2024, our centennial year!)
As we begin to work, I ask you to enter a season of prayer, asking God to help you and our faith community to discern his calling. What is God calling us to do in this time and place, with the gifts already provided? What will you provide to see God's calling fulfilled through the life and ministry of Prairie Avenue Christian Church?
Our special month offering in June is to assist Faith Comes by Hearing Vision 2033 effort to developing and distributing audio recordings in 160 new languages and creating 360 Gospel films.
I have been invited to join the Leaders Lab Cohort through the Lupton Center as one of ten individuals to learn, lead, and innovate traditional charity methods and responses beginning later this month. Our efforts towards neighborhood outreach and revitalization have meritted this consideration. The twelve month online coursework and personalized coaching will help me (and by proxy, us as a church) to examine our efforts, cast vision for a more effective approach, and create a roadmap for leading the change process.
Worship This Weekend:
More Than Meets The Eye: Seeing Beyond Suffering
Do your joints go out more often than you do? I have discovered that age brings maturity, and part of my body decided to fall asleep before I am ready to go to bed!
That we age is never in question. How we age is all important. Growing older need not mean growing less vital, enthusiastic, and engage. Indeed, some of the youngest spirits I have encountered in life reside in some of the oldest bodies.
Paul reminds us of the obvious: our bodies gradually fail, like a well worn tent. What makes the difference between vitality and lifelessness is perspective. The more we focus on the deficits, the limited functionalities of life, the less we give thanks and appreciate the things we still have and still can do. This is essentially the tension that Paul identifies when we see only with worldly eyes rather than eyes of faith.
Older can sometimes mean stuck, tired, or even irrelevant, but the opportunity for renewal , reinvention, and revival always exists. Our past can function in one of two fundamental ways: as an anchor that holds us in place, or as a foundation upon which we can build.
As we draw closer to the time when the tent of our mortality has holes, patches, leakages and broken pieces, we also draw from what cannot be seen, what faith reveals for us. And what is revealed? Fruit of a life drawn from the Holy Spirit. Fruit that is love and joy, kindness and peace, patience and gentleness, generosity and faithfulness and self-control. We3 become true witnesses to the goodness and greatness of God.
JUNE SPECIAL OFFERING:
FAITH COMES FROM HEARING VISION 2033
During the month of June, we will be collecting change to help with the Vision 2033 project through Faith comes from Hearing. This project will help distribute translations of scripture in 160 new languages in parts of the world where literacy is limited or non-existant. As part of this special project, our contributions will be matched dollar for dollar! Please consider bringing your change jar (or jars) to assist in this needed ministry!
Invite friends to join you for worship
this weekend, in person, online
In-person on Saturday at 5 pm, Sunday mornings at 8 am or 9:30 am (masks and social distancing required for unvaccinated).
See you this weekend online or in person,
Blessings to you all,
