“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer… They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.” Acts 2:42, 46-47
We have lived through our first month together, and what a weird month it has been! It has been strange for me to begin working as your Pastor without being able to see any of you in person. I am sure it is just as strange for all of you to have a new pastor that you cannot get to know in person! I have deeply enjoyed the opportunities that we have had for connection, and I hope they continue for as long as this pandemic keeps us in our homes.
I’d like to take this time to let you know about a few things I have been working on, and what you can expect to see happening in June!
A couple of weeks ago, I shared in a sermon that I was going to be starting a weekly group for church members who are interested in meeting together virtually to do a Spiritual Practice together. I have decided that (for now) we will be doing this on Thursday mornings at 10 AM via Zoom starting June 4th. If you are interested in being a part of this group and that day/time does not work for you please contact me so I can reevaluate what is best for everyone who wants to be involved.
Every week we will be sending out a Zoom link for that Thursday, along with what Spiritual Practice we will be doing together and any materials you might need. We will be doing everything from meditation and centering prayer to lectio divina to scripture-doodling and Bible journaling, so there will be something for everyone! If you have a spiritual practice that you love and would like to share with the group, please contact me so I can get you on the schedule.
I also want to let you know that Laura Bever and I have been working on our social media strategy over the last couple of weeks and I think we are making some changes that many of us will find helpful!
First, we will be posting regularly to the page so make sure that if you are on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter you are following us! The Zoom worship recording will be moving from our Facebook page to our Community Bulletin Board on Facebook—if you aren’t in that group make sure you join it! If you need any help with this, please contact Laura Bever (lbever@fcclc.org)!
Second, I will be posting teasers of upcoming sermons and sermon series on social media and a video of the sermon from each week on our church Facebook page. This way you will have an idea of what I will be preaching on every Sunday, and you can catch the sermon later if you have to miss worship! Speaking of Sermons, I am very excited about the topic I have picked for my series the month of June!
For those who may not be aware, June is LGBTQ Pride month. As we are amid this pandemic, most Pride events have been cancelled or postponed until later in the year. However, I think it is a great time for us to examine our Open and Affirming covenant and what that truly means for our congregation. In honor of Pride month our sermon series for the month of June will be “All Means All” and it will explore groups of people that (despite our best intentions) can be misunderstood or under-represented in progressive churches.
These topics will be:
I hope that you will join us each Sunday in June as we explore how to be more intentionally welcoming of all persons together!
See you on Sunday!
Rev. Bethany Meier
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
