Weekly News from Zion and our Ministries Under the Cross: Evergreen Academy & Nina's Place

March 22, 2023

First Friday Fast on Good Friday

As our monthly First Friday dinner gathering falls on Good Friday this year, we are suggesting a three-part alternate activity.

First, as you are able, you may choose to fast for any or all of this day as a spiritual discipline.

Second, plan to gather for worship at Zion at 7:00 p.m. in our Katie Luther Chapel. We will be joined by our siblings from Good Shepherd as we mark the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Finally, we invite you to contribute the amount you would have spent on dinner (or more, if you wish) to our newest dream project.

If you have been attending worship, you have noticed that we are welcoming more and more young children and have purposefully included a children's message each week. At Zion, as Jesus did, we welcome children of all ages as integral members of the body of Christ, and we welcome the sounds and activity that accompany them! As we look to a sanctuary restored, we are also planning to create a space designed for children to experience and participate in worship.

Congregations that have done this commonly call this area a "pray-ground," and include seating for children with picture books and quiet manipulatives. Stay tuned for more information, a specific online giving fund, and a Facebook giving campaign to help us make this project a reality!

Above: Examples of "pray-grounds" from other congregations.

Celebrate Holy Week & Easter with Us

We are the Church together for the sake of the world.

Good Shepherd: 6301 SW 18th Street, Boca Raton, FL 33433

St. Stephen: 2500 NE 14th St. Causeway, Pompano Beach, FL 33062

Don't forget about tonight's conversation on "Anxiety, Depression, and Mental Health" with Dr. Sandra Cumper Boynton from NAMI Broward. If you're unable to join us in person, the conversation will be livestreamed and archived to the Deerfield Beach Community Cares website.

If you're planning to attend in person, please follow the link below to register for each week. Following the Q&A, our evening will end with Prayer at the End of the Day in person and on Facebook Live at 7:30 p.m.

Confirmation Classes

All are welcome to attend and participate!

Sunday, April 23rd – 12:30-2:30 p.m.

Sunday, April 30th – 12:30-2:30 p.m.

Friday, May 12th – 7-9 p.m.

Friday, May 19th – 7-9 p.m.

Free Exercise Classes

Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:30 a.m. to Noon in Katie Luther Chapel

Those who wish to participate should wear comfortable clothes and sneakers and bring a bottle of water.

Opportunities to Serve Joyfully & Give Selflessly

Nina's Place: Community Partnerships

We are looking for volunteers during the week who would be able to contact (by phone and/or email) and visit potential business partners in the community. If this sounds like something you can help with, let us know!

This Sunday: Fifth Sunday in Lent

Note: We are meeting for worship & all events in Katie Luther Chapel.

In today’s gospel Jesus reveals his power over death by raising Lazarus from the dead. The prophet Ezekiel prophesies God breathing new life into dry bones. To those in exile or living in the shadows of death, these stories proclaim God’s promise of resurrection. In baptism we die with Christ that we might also be raised with him to new life. At the Easter Vigil we will welcome the newly baptized as we remember God’s unfailing promise in our baptism. 

The Rev's Thoughts & Recs

This Sunday, we will reflect on Jesus bringing his friend, Lazarus, back to life. A miracle like that is hard to comprehend with a worldly mindset. I encourage you to read Bob Goff's book, Everybody Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People, which details his serving God with near miraculous results. The book left me wanting to expand my perception of God "who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20).

Zion is a Reconciling in Christ (RIC) community, and extends God's radical welcome to all people, because we're all created in God's image.