PINE STREET POST
February 24, 2023
A Weekly Newsletter from Pine Street Church in Boulder, CO
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A Word from Andrew... Lenten Season Begins with "Seeking: Honest Questions for Deeper Faith"...
Dear Pine Street Church Members and Friends,
The late great Christian contemplative prayer shaman, Thomas Keating, writes: "Easter, with its grace of interior resurrection, is the radical healing of the human condition. Lent, which prepares us for this grace, is about what needs to be healed (forgiven and celebrated)."
This weekend, we embark on a quest that gives spiritual pause to ask, "What am I seeking? What is the Spirit seeking? Who am I listening to? What actions or practices am I inspired to commit to?"
No sooner had Jesus come up out of the baptismal waters hearing the divine voice, "You are my son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased," when he heard the Tempter taunting him in the haunting wilderness, "If you are the Son of God..." (Matthew 4:1-11).
Voices tempt and taunt our psyches and spirits with messages meant to devour and deceive us. A penetrating question to ask ourselves as we seek the wisdom of Spirit is, "Who am I listening to?"
We begin with Jesus' wondering and wandering in the wilderness. Along our journey toward resurrection, we will have the space for grace to discern in our lives what needs to be healed, forgiven, and celebrated.
This Sunday, we will offer the imposition of ashes to mark the beginning of this season. Contemplative prayer is also aby walking the labyrinth that will be available over the next two weeks in the art gallery (see the image below).
Join your fellow Pine-heads on this sacred journey of "seeking," and be sure to welcome others to take part. Be sure to pick up on Sunday a copy of our Lenten meditation guide, "Seeking: Honest Questions for Deeper Faith."
Stay connected with all our church's events and happenings:
You can subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter HERE
With heart,
Andrew
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Lent 2023, Beginning this Sunday |
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This Lenten season we are grateful to announce that we will once again be offering a special themed message and worship series created by the talented and inspiring folks with A Sanctified Art.
About this special series:
"The lectionary for Year A offers us many stories of Jesus encountering people who are seeking: Nicodemus comes to him in the veil of night, he approaches a Samaritan woman at a well, he heals a man born without sight. In these stories, each person is seeking a new beginning, a different life, a deeper faith. What unfolds is an exchange filled with questions and exploration. Often, an unveiling occurs—assumptions are disrupted, a new perspective is revealed, mystery grows.
And so, we’ve crafted a Lenten series founded on questions. Many of our weekly questions feel restorative (“Can these bones live?”). Some feel like a charge or challenge (“Who will you listen to?”). Some questions are hopeful and curious (“How do we begin again?”). Our questions won't necessarily lead to answers, but they can help us find clarity and a new perspective. Ultimately, we pray they lead to a new beginning, a restoration, a wider grace.
Like the characters in our Lenten scriptures, we are also seeking many things: clarity, connection, wonder, justice, balance. We are seeking our calling, the sacred, and how to live as a disciple. Throughout the turbulence of the past few years, many of us are asking big questions about our lives and our faith. We hope this series will help us unpack some of those big questions in ways that are honest and faithful. Throughout this season, we hope you will continually ask yourself: what am I seeking? What is God seeking?
This Lent, we invite you to engage in the spiritual practice of seeking. We encourage you to stay curious, open, and nimble. We hope you will soften your assumptions and expand your perspectives. We pray that these questions will create a safe space to explore—to be drawn more deeply into the fullness of life, into the heart of God."
A Sanctified Art is a collective of artists in ministry who create resources for worshiping communities. The team works collaboratively to bring scripture and theological themes to life through film, visual art, curriculum, coloring pages, liturgy, graphic designs, and more.
Their mission is to empower churches with resources to inspire creativity in worship and beyond. Driven by the connective and prophetic power of art, they believe that art helps us connect our hearts with our hands, our faith with our lives, and our mess with our God.
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Art Brunch
with
Waverly Matthews
The Modern Revival of an Ancient Heresy
If you have ever seen the Matrix movies or The Truman Show, then you have seen a modern expression of an ancient Christian heresy. It was formed from a blending of Persian religious concepts with Greek philosophy and Jewish messianism. It is known as gnosticism, after the the greek word gnosis, meaning “knowledge”. This isn’t knowledge derived from deductive reasoning or other forms of rationality. It is mystical knowledge derived from a vital spiritual experience. Part of this knowledge posited the idea that this world was made by an imperfect creator who botched the job. This world is also inhabited by malevolent divine beings, like fallen angels, who want to keep us attached to the material world and keep us from experiencing spiritual freedom.
In this presentation, we will examine the roots of this “heresy” along with periodic revivals of it and its modern manifestations. We will also look at reasons why such a doctrine was attractive in ancient times and why it is attractive today. As usual, art will guide the way.
Hope to see you Sunday!
Please join me virtually this Sunday, Feb.26th, at 9:00 AM MST via THIS ZOOM LINK or at 11:15 AM MST IN-PERSON in the Salon Room at Pine Street Church in Boulder, CO (1237 Pine Street). If you would like to invite a friend, please let me know your friend’s email, and I will send them the invite directly. |
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Church Directory Update
We would like to invite anyone who would like to be included in the Directory or anyone who has changes to their information already included in the Directory to send their information to Tam VanSpriell, tamvanspriell@gmail.com
The information could include as much of the following that you find important to share:
Name(s) including children you would like included
Postal Address
Email addresses
Cell Phone
Land Line
We'd like to collect updates and additions by February 27 so that we might issue the revised directory by March 1. Thank you!
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Volunteer Opportunity!
Help Provide Meals for Boulder Youth
Partnership with TGTHR and Chase House
Pine Street Church has been providing monthly meals for the youth at Chase House, part of TGTHR, a non-profit dedicated to ending youth homelessness.
This small group home is located in Boulder and there is a monthly opportunity for YOU to help plan, create and deliver a meal to the youth.
If you are interested in participating in this project, contact Debbie at: Setlock7@MSN.com
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Oasis, Women's Book Study Group
Special Lenten Book Study
Thursday, February 23 thru April 6
Newcomers, or women wanting to join only for this Lenten study, are welcome to join on Thursdays from 1:30 - 3:00 PM by Zoom. Please purchase your own copy of the book. Contact Mary Beth Mankin, mbmankin545@gmail.com, with any questions or to receive the Zoom link.
Contact Mary Beth Mankin, mbmankin545@gmail.com, for more information or to request the Zoom link.
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Men's Fellowship Group
The Men's Fellowship Group has a new meeting schedule. Beginning immediately they will meet in person for Breakfast at the Parkway Cafe on the first Tuesday of the month at 7:30 a.m. They will also hold a monthly Zoom gathering at 9:00 a.m.on the third Tuesday of each month. Please contact Bill Mankin for more information on how to join these meetings: mankin@ucar.edu
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Sunday Morning Greeters Needed
Showing hospitality takes a team. And we need a few more players on our hospitality team for Sunday mornings! Can you help?
We're looking to fill out our online signup form for being a greeter on Sunday mornings. It's both easy and important! And even more so, FUN!
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Chuckles of the Week
There is nary a time in our lives where at least a little humor couldn't improve our day. Come to this section each week for a little laughter that will come in various forms.
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The Pinehead Portal
Check it out, and register today, HERE. There's a church directory, updates from the PSC Leadership Council and much more. Email admin@pinestreetchurch.net if you have any trouble registering and gaining access.
CLICK HERE for the most up to date version of the Church Directory (Sept 2022).
You can also find Strategic Planning documents and updates in the Pinehead Portal.
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God's desire for us is our wholeness; the Hebrew Scriptures call this shalom. This wholeness incorporates our physical, mental, emotional, and relational being.
*Please note: If you wish to include a prayer need on this Community Care list---or another specific pastoral care need for which you would like prayer, please email Pastor Andrew: Andrew@PineStreetChurch.net
PSC's Nurture and Prayer Team also stands by for prayer support. To share your prayer concerns, needs, or celebrations, contact Rev. Carol Simpson at: pastorcms@cs.com
Pine Street Church's love and sympathy is extended to the family of Darrell Lietz (son Christopher and daughter-in-law Marlys) who died on February 16th. A celebration of life service will be held in the PSC sanctuary on Saturday, March 11, at 1pm.
Community Care List
Please use this list today and throughout the week, praying with special intention for:
- All victims and families of mass shootings throughout our country
- All those affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria
- Peace in Brazil
- All impacted by the Marshall fire of more than one year ago, December 30, 2021
- Our planned financial commitments to 2023 PSC mission and ministry
- Ongoing war in Ukraine
- PSC strategic planning team
- Victims, families, teachers, and children and all who are impacted by gun violence.
- PSC strategic planning team and process
- The people of Ukraine
- BOCO fire victims and our Boulder community
- Out Boulder County and all those in our LGBTQ+ community
- PSC's Off Broadway Preschool
- Those in our Boulder community who suffer from food insecurity and hunger and who are experiencing homelessness
- All who celebrate joys and those who are distressed in mind, body, or spirit, and members of our spiritual family including:
Short term
Becky Gruber
Cindy Owens
Christine Dowd (David's Mother In-Law, undergoing chemo for lung cancer)
Mark Jones (Nephew of Polly McDonald, is hospitalized in serious condition)
Lloyd Collins' Family (Polly's brother in-law, Lloyd, Passed Away, February 8th, 2023)
Jane Laughlin
Eliana Walker (Enzio, Effy, and Emmy)
Family of Jean Evans (All Souls' pastor Will Forsythe's mother-in-law, who recently passed away)
Rev. Vern Daugherty (Andrew's father)
Susan Anderson (Avery and Katie Morrell)
David Stowell (father-in-law of Nancy Jacobs' daughter)
Joel Medley (Carol and Mike Simpson's loved one)
Darrell Lietz
Jon Blauw
Dan Torpy
Nicole Barabas (Frasier Wellness Center--cancer diagnosis)
Johanna Smith
Carter Edgerley (son of PSC bookkeeper Michele Edgerley)
Lizzie Parker (Susan Anderson's Daughter, still in remission)
Long term
Susan and Julie Gray (Jane Gray's sister & niece are both battling cancer)
Vondell Martin
Alicia Andersen
Andrew Daugherty
Butch & Kathy Stanko (Friends of Polly McDonald)
Jo Judd
Kerry Hassler
International Ministries Global Servants
Lance & Christina Muteyo, Pieter & Nora Kalkman, Ketly and Vital Pierre
*Please notify the church office (303-442-6530) or David@PineStreetChurch.net if there are people who should be added to or removed from our community care list.
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In Case You Missed It:
Sunday Worship, February 19th, 2023
(Click Here to "watch and listen" to past worship gatherings)
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