7/24 Goode Thoughts - Pieces Falling into Place

By the time you read this, I will have posted a new reflection on my personal photo/writing site about how the Spirit has been speaking into my heart about living with expansiveness.  I’ll also be writing about this for the Northwest church newsletter.  So this week in my photo walks with Scout, I’ve been centering on that word…Expansive.  Here are a places where I have seen it around me.

The second one of those was one of a bunch of T-shirts hanging outside Centennial Barn that said, “Changing the world one tidbit at a time.”  That’s a beautiful expansive thought, don’t you think?  

Our week here at ResoundingJoy began with another of our unified services and my first opportunity to be a part of one of those.  It was a wonderful service of worship including us sharing the Lord’s Supper together.  We also installed the six members of the transitional Session for RJC which has already begun meeting.  One of the questions asked of them (and of me) is this one:

Will you pray for and seek to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love?

That question is a beautifully expansive question isn’t it?  Each of those things asked about are words brimming with possibility of what can be.  They aren’t simply about what was or what is, but what God will still be up to doing.  Speaking of those questions, a year ago, I wrote on my site about how I would answer those ordination/installation questions 25 years after my ordination – going a bit deeper than simply the “I do” and “I will” that are the “standard” responses.  If you’d like to read those you can find them here:

Part 1 
Part 2 

So what’s been happening in our merge process this past week?

513 Help Bus – On Tuesday, the building here was a buzz of activity as the 513 bus was here and many different community resource organizations were present to help people get connected to opportunities in the community.  There were a great group of volunteers who made it happen and a good number of people who came through.  I loved the breadth of organizations that were here and I love that we were hosting this time.  It was marvelous.  I personally had the opportunity to pray with several folks who asked for prayers during that time, notably one woman who I spent about 30 minutes with talking through her situation and giving her some ways to help work through and process the things she is facing.  I will simply ask you to pray for C as I have been continuing to do so.  

Ethiopian Congregation – I met with the leadership of the Pillar of Truth congregation on Monday night to first get to know them and their backgrounds and their ministry and also to talk with them about the merge coming up.  We are still working through some issues with room usage and will be continuing to do so.  But I am so excited that they are here and I hope we can find ways to share in life and ministry together!  

NW Session – I moderated the session meeting for Northwest on Monday night in what was largely an updates meeting.  Updating on finances and building needs, sharing about ministries taking place, talking through some worship questions, and also walking through the draft of the Plan of Union that we will be sharing with the Presbytery.  

New Sign – We had a meeting set up with a sign company on Thursday the 24th but something came up for their sales rep and we will be rescheduling for next week.

Streaming Options – Several folks met with a representative of an audio/visual company that specializes in churches to talk about options for streaming our services.  We currently have a streaming system in place but talking about what other options are available to us.  We are anticipating receiving a quote from them in the coming days.  

Finances  - Tonight (Thursday), financial representatives from the three congregations will be having a zoom meeting with the Presbyterian Foundation to talk about endowment opportunities as well as investment options for us as we merge our finances in the coming weeks and months.  More on that conversation in next week’s update.  

Jesus, Open, Yes (and)  – I want to encourage you to be praying about what was shared in the message on Sunday drawn from the story of Mary and Martha.  This is going to be a major framing of who we are and what will guide our ministry.  If you were not able to be in worship on Sunday, you can view the sermon at this link:
July 20 - J.O.Y.

Do you hear the expansiveness in what is happening?  I do!  

Grace, Peace, Love, Hope, and Joy,
Pastor Ed