Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. 1 Cor 16:13-14 (NRSV)
This last Sunday was Easter 6 - and so also our sixth Canopy service. Hoorah - so grateful for six weeks of dry Sundays! We finished out our series on 1 Corinthians - what a joy it has been about learning how ‘to forge unity through love’. Did you come up with a 1-6 word summary of the book? Would love to hear yours - could you pop it in the comments below? If you missed the wrap-up sermon - here’s the link. But more importantly - did you learn 1 Cor 16:13-14? Watch this delightful rendition!
And let us not give up meeting together. Some are in the habit of doing this. Instead, let us encourage one another with words of hope. Let us do this even more as you see Christ’s return approaching. Hebrews 10:25
I love that all through this pandemic we’ve been able to keep meeting on zoom. And I love that we are now getting to meet together in person again under the canopies - and that the ‘zoomies’ can also meet with us every week remotely. What delight to be able to meet and encourage each other with ‘words of hope’ …
SO what’s next on the meeting front?
Our first challenge is how to handle a HOT DC summer - we are thinking about ways to adapt to handle the heat and we’d like YOUR input.
One option is to move to an earlier worship time on Sundays. What do you think about that? Here are a few of the thoughts we have - and there’s a link below for a quick survey for you to complete - PLEASE DO SO! Preferably right now!
Here are some of our thoughts….
If we move to 9am:
It would be cooler - this is the BIG WIN.
BUT setup would have to happen earlier (ooh …. but nothing a coffee can’t help with, right?)
So you would have to wake up earlier!
‘Wild Wonder’ would move to immediately AFTER the service instead of before - most likely returning to Alcova Heights Park for the joy of being by the stream in the shade.
Everyone would be invited to bring brunch and hang out in the park after the service
When we move inside again (we hope in the Fall - depending on VA/CDC/pandemic status) we expect we to have two services to accommodate everyone - 9am and 11am with a mingle time in the middle … so 9am would be a keeper moving forward.
If we stay at 11am:
We don’t need to change most of our habits and routines! An alternative BIG WIN?
The kids would start to meet at 9.30am in the park before transitioning up the hill to church for the summer.
We would still head to the park for picnics etc
We can think of creative cooling solutions: fans, iced water etc.
Popsicles (wait! - no worries if you're a 9am voter - we can do popsicles after the 9am as well)
What would you do? Please fill in this 1minute survey to let us know! Every voice matters :) If we make the change it would be from the first Sunday in June - so we'd like input now so we can plan appropriately for either option. VOTE NOW.
In other news: GLOBAL WEEK is coming!
Have you set aside next Wednesday, May 19, 7pm for our global worship night under the canopies?
And can you come and join the next prayer walk on May 22, 10am - starting from the canopies
Pentecost, May 23 - is also Incarnation's-international-snackluck day: what will you bring to make the feast after the service more sumptuous? AND how about inviting a friend to church that day too!
And finally, I keep a list of all your names to hand - and love to pray for you regularly. If you have specific things you'd like me to pray for - will you let me know? And if you want to grab a coffee or come walk Poppie the bernedoodle with me one day - drop me a text or WhatsApp,
~Your pastor
Liz