The Hopeful Times
(Sept. 20 Jumbo Edition)
In a little over a month we'll hold our first service in the
state-of-art John & Nancy Hughes Theater @ the Gorton Community Center. To help keep our services healthy and safe, we're starting a HOST program. If you are interested
in finding out more, please email Pam. Thank you!
This Sunday @ the Gazebo!!!
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Who: You & Pals
What: Sunday Worship
When: Sunday @ 10:00 a.m.
Where: Gazebo / Village Green
Why: Everything from Louie Zagora's music to Tom's "There's Something Happening Here" message to Rev. Sean Miller & more! Join us & bring some friends!
P.S.: walk up music by "Buffalo Springfield"
MSG & HSG "W.W.B.A." Gatherings
This Sunday After Church @ Gazebo!
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This Sunday after church Matt Dewar will be holding WWBA (What Would Be Awesome?) gatherings with middle and high school students. MSG will meet @ 11:00 am @ the Gazebo, followed by HSG @ noon @ the Gazebo. The agenda? For Matt to get to know your child and vice versa, and to get some insight into "where they are" to help him create specific plans for the year ahead. Ultimately, our goals in the challenging year ahead will be to provide your child with resources and tools to ensure their spiritual and personal growth and well being. Questions? Email MATT.
(P.S. - yes, your kids are welcome to bring friends -
please remind them to wear a mask - thank you!!
Sean Miller Leads Zoom Study on Holy Envy by Barbara Brown Taylor
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Join Sean Miller for a four-week ZOOM conversation about Barbara Brown Taylor’s fabulous new book Holy Envy. In Holy Envy, the renowned and beloved New York Times bestselling author of An Altar in the World and Learning to Walk in the Dark recounts her moving discoveries of finding the sacred in unexpected places while teaching the world’s religions to undergraduates in rural Georgia, revealing how God delights in confounding our expectations.
 
Barbara Brown Taylor is one of Sean’s all-time favorite preachers and writers and he can’t wait to introduce you to her latest book! Classes will meet on Tuesday evenings 7 to 8 p.m. on ZOOM
               September 29
               October 6
               October 13
               October 20
 
Copies of Holy Envy can be obtained through the Lake Forest Bookstore (847 234 4420) or other sources. Please read the Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2 prior to our first class. Check out this video featuring Barbara Brown Taylor, with a talk she gave in 2019, shortly after Holy Envy was published. 
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(You know what Tom, Sean and Matt look like, so I decided
to throw these in just for kicks. Here's what matters - just around
the corner is something very new and very exciting!)
"A Spirited Take" Set to
Soar This Autumn
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"A Spirited Take" is a twice-monthly show presented on YouTube, Facebook and as a podcast by the Community Church and our Center for Innovative Ministry. Tom, Sean and Matt will address a wide range of topics “for all curious about spiritual life & practice.”
Our first show, tentatively titled "Does Bob Hope?" will tackle the concept of hope - is it more than just wishful thinking? What is the basis for our hope? Does having a spiritual / faith foundation impact our hope? What can we realistically hope for? The show will also give insight into the spiritual lives / faith backgrounds of the panelists, and include a segment on spiritual practice.
The bottom line? We can't wait to send you a link for our first show, scheduled to be out in a month (or so!). In the meantime, follow "A Spirited Take" on twitter - @ASpiritedTake - for nuggets from Sean, Tom, Matt & the Community Church.
"We Got to Pray Just to Make it Today"
• MC Hammer

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My wife Jean shared this map of Colorado with me the other night. Freezing temperatures. Wet, early season snow, Raging, out-of-control fires. My first thought was daughter Kate who makes her home in Colorado. Then I thought of daughter Annie who lives in Portland - a community blanketed by smoke and ash and having experienced 100 straight days of protests. I felt concern, sadness - a number of emotions.
Those feelings, coupled with wondering about the months ahead and social unrest, the election & post - election response, Covid - 19, the economy - and how all these things impact my family and our church - well, I felt overwhelmed. All I could do was pray.
You know, our prayers might not impact circumstances - but they often do change us. All that stuff brewing inside you? Take two minutes, or however much time you need, and share it with God. Hang in there... Tom

P.S. - remember M.C. Hammer and his big hit? It follows...
THE ALL-NEW
MONDAY WALK!!!
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EVERYONE Is invited to meet at the church office @ 10:00 a.m. each Monday - STARTING THIS MONDAY, SEPT. 14 - for some “walking & talking!” Tom and / or Sean will lead a one to two-mile trek through Lake Bluff. Our only agenda is fresh air, a bit of exercise, and to enjoy being together. Just show up by 10:00 a.m. Begins Monday, Sept. 14.
The Church Directory Supplement
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The Community Church & Friends Pictorial Directory has been published. Those of you who participated in the Directory by giving us contact info and (in most cases) a picture should have received your hard copy by now. If not, email Pam.
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Now, because (1) we have a bunch of new folks in the church, (2) some who wanted to be in the Directory but never got around to it, and (3) and a couple additions we'd like to make, we are going to publish a mini-supplement! If you'd like to participate - and we are doing this all between now and October 15 at which time we will take what we have, print the supplement and distribute - contact Pam.