4th Sunday after Epiphany

7 The ill man answered him, “Sir,[a] I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am making my way someone else steps down ahead of me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

John 5:7-9

Blessed God, I yearn to see your vision of justice, love and peace made real for me this day. Open my eyes to the way of love that I may see your brilliant light shining into the hidden places of my heart and darkened corners of the world. Amen

We have an exciting music planned this Sunday. During each service, the Children and Youth Ensembles in collaboration with the Adult Choir will sing Uyai Mose. This will happen at the end of the 9:00 service, and at the beginning of the 10:30 service. You won't want to miss this high energy, exciting call of praise. Titled, Uyai Mose, it is a traditional song from South Africa, and the lyrics translate to "Come all you people, come praise your Maker". The song will open with percussion and you will hear the youth on the djembe, shakers, claves, guiro, congas and the foot tambourine. The youth percussion ensemble is led by Rae'tta Bond, who will be playing with them, along with Diane Yates. The children and youth are learning invaluable lessons about making music together and it has been such a joy to all work together with the Children's Choir, the Youth Percussion Ensemble, and the Adult Choir to make this piece happen.  

The Offertory this week is a stunning piece sung by one of our newest attendees, Milena Lee. You can read all about Milena below. We are so fortunate to have her immense talent in our midst. The song that she will sing is called You Know Me by Steffany Gretzinger. This song was released in 2018 and is a declaration of trust in God, and the lyrics express the idea that despite our struggles and doubts, God still knows us. Milena will be accompanied by Brittany Wellington, cello; Karen Dodson, synth; and myself on the piano. 

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, friends!

With love,

Rebecca

Director of Music

rechols@arkanddove.org



Musician Spotlight

Milena Lee is a 24-year-old woman from California. She grew up going to music schools and studied classical voice performance at Azusa Pacific University in Southern California. After joining the military, she attained a degree in Linguistics and now works at NSA Maryland as a translator. After moving across the country, she searched for a new church in the community and has been enjoying attending services at Ark and Dove for over two months now!

The youth are hosting the Souper Bowl of kindness. You can donate cans of soup by putting them by the signs in the sanctuary. The teams are middle school vs. high school, so make sure you put your soup by the sign for the team that you want to win!

We will also be hosting an informational meeting about youth summer conferences immediately after the 10:30 service on Sunday, February 5th. Please contact me if you have any questions. 

Kind regards,

Whitney Grimm

Interim Director of Youth Ministry

whitney.grimm@arkanddove.org



Dear Members and Friends of Ark and Dove,

The 2022 Renewed Stewardship Team would like to sincerely thank everyone who has already submitted a pledge card for 2023. We are excited to share that 71 of 160 households have pledged so far and many have increased their pledges to help meet the needs of our church and community! If you have not submitted your pledge card to the church yet, either via USPS, in the offering plate, or giving@arkanddove.org, there is still time to do so! We are so grateful for your generous giving to support our mission and ministries at Ark and Dove.

Separately, we are all individuals. But together, we are connected in renewed and supportive community, and we flourish as one body of faith in Christ. With each gift we give, we multiply Christ's work in our world through our mission and ministry efforts. Every pledge counts, no matter how big or small, and every gift is sacred. If you are a regular giver through EFT or PayPal, we would like to invite you to fill out a pledge card this year. Our pledges are important because they help us plan how much of the vision put forth by our Elders and Deacons we can fulfill in the new year. As we embark on this journey of a new year, we ask that you pray for each other, our church, and all the good that we do together to bring hope and healing to each other and to those most vulnerable. Thank you!

-Tricia Gray from The 2023 Renewed in God Stewardship Team

The meeting will take place on Sunday, February 12th around noonish after worship. Fellowship time after 10:30 worship will be a smorgasbord of finger foods. You are invited and encouraged to attend the meeting and the smorgasbord. To sign up to bring an item for the smorgasbord, please click HERE. Contact Elder Katie Nilson-Johnson at knilsenjohnson@arkanddove.org to RSVP---Healthy options encouraged, sweets not forbidden. And we need people to clean up too.

During this Lenten season we will be offering a variety of ways to study during the Lenten season. Please see the descriptions of each below. 

There are a variety of dates and times to choose from. Please indicate your interest in joining a group by filling out this form. Books will be purchased (for studies that require them) for anyone who indicates interest in joining by March 19th. Books may also be purchased by clicking on the link in the description. 

Group A*: Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent, Richard Rohr 

Paperback $11, Kindle $7, Audiobook too

We will be reading Richard Rohr's Wondrous Encounters, Scriptures for Lent. Father Rohr wrote this devotional during a Lenten time of silent and solitary retreat, (hermitage).  Rohr often writes about the paradoxes in and the mysteries of faith. With these short readings, one for every day of Lent, he invites us to examine our assumptions about the life of faith. Given his blessing of 12 step groups, I am not sure Rohr would appreciate that these words come from the song Closing Time:  "Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" but they fit. We will meet in-person on Tuesday evenings at the home of Tim and Kelly Stern. The first gathering on 2/23 will be soup and salad at 6:30PM thereafter 7:00 PM. For more information, contact Pastor Tim at Tstern@arkanddove.org.

Group B: Inward Work for Outward Living-Daily devotionals

Participants will receive a daily devotion in their email each morning that invites them to explore the connection between internal contemplation and outward action. Although these meditations will focus on the Prayer of Examen, we will meet in-person Saturday mornings at the church at 9am to check in with one another, to discuss the readings, and to practice examen and other forms of contemplative prayer together as a small group. For more information, contact Kim Champagne at kim.champagne@arkanddove.org.  

Group C*: A Way Other Than Our Own: Devotions for Lent, Walter Brueggemann

Paperback $13, Kindle $8

We will be reading from Walter Breugemann's daily Lenten reflections in A Way Other Than Our Own. Lent recalls times of wilderness and wandering, from newly freed Hebrew slaves in exile to Jesus' temptation in the desert. God has always called people out of their safe, walled cities into uncomfortable places, revealing paths they would never have chosen. We too are called to walk an alternative path--one of humility, justice, and peace. We will meet in-person after church on Sunday at 12:00. For more information, contact Richard Greydanus at richard.greydanus@arkanddove.org.

Group D: The Poetry of Lent-online study

Walk through Lent with a short weekly devotional that includes Bible passages, the poetry of Mary Oliver, meditations, and practices. An online discussion group led by Achsah Callahan will meet Wednesdays at 7:30pm on Zoom. For more information, contact Achsah Callahan at achsah.callahan@arkanddove.org.

We will be hosting an informational meeting about youth summer conferences immediately after the 10:30 service on Sunday, February 5th. Please contact Whitney Grimm if you have any questions.

9:00 AM

Childcare

Middle School Chimes and Percussion Ensembles (9:00 to 9:45)

9:45 AM

Children’s Choir (9:45 to:00 to 10:15)

10:30 AM

Childcare  

Godly Play Sunday School Pre-K through grade 4

Middle School Sunday School grade 5 through 8

In anticipation of our church’s upcoming Antiracism session “The Race Card and other ‘microaggressions’ that get in the way of real conversations about race” on January 27th, I am pleased to share a book you might also find helpful. In “Silencing White Noise: Six Practices to Overcome Our Inaction on Race” author and pastor Willie Dwayne Francois III calls us to engage in six “rhythms of reparative intercession” to silence white noise and to develop lifelong Christian anti-racist practices. 

Please view our online catalog at for more details about these books, as well as other great books in our church’s library. For more information about the library, contact Kim Champagne (kim.champagne@arkanddove.org).