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SUNDAY MORNING from the pastor June 23, 2002 It’s a few minutes before 6 a.m. and a blazing orange sun seems to be bursting through the thick green trees of my backyard. The sounds of the morning are peaceful. A lone bird here and there calls out so unself-consciously. A slight haze fills the air. And the earth appears to ready itself for another hot day. As I look around the backyard and the house, I am anticipating an open house the afternoon of July 4. Everyone in the congregation is welcome that afternoon to stop by for food and fellowship. It will be a day of celebration. My daughter Alison has graduated from high school. Grace Church and I are celebrating our first anniversary of being together. And the nation will be 226 years old that day. If you are in town, feel free to stop in anytime between 2 and 6 p.m. The address is 2508 South Cottage Grove, Urbana (just a block or so north of Windsor Road, but accessed from Scovill). Remember that in two weeks we change our times of worship and Sunday School. The early service begins 15 minutes earlier: 8:15. Our late service will begin 30 minutes earlier: 10:30. Sunday School will be at 9:30. And fellowship time will be from 9 until 9:30. Please pass word around about these time changes. One of our hopes is that we can build up participation at our late service by holding it a bit earlier. Most churches around our area are finding that churches grow well in worship services during the 9 or 10 o’clock hours. Today is a ‘trial’ run for a new type of worship service: the Seekers Service (at 8:30). Churches that have a Seekers Service focus on folks who don’t usually go to church. Our service is designed a bit differently. We want to welcome people into the church, but even more importantly, we want to encourage people who are seeking a deeper relationship with God, a more vivid experience of God in their lives. To some extent, we are all seekers. Congregational participation is more through reflection than action in the Seekers Service. In all of our various types of worship, I am eager to hear back from folks about the experience. Drop me a note or a phone call and let me know the benefits and problems that you are experiencing. All of our worship services are in the state of evolution, as we try to make them richer and richer experiences of faith. Please note the announcements for Vacation Bible School in the bulletin. We will be working very hard in the next couple weeks to prepare a program and recruit children. Help out however you can. Finally, we have a new address and phone directory available for everyone this morning. Please look through the directory and call the office with any changes of names, spelling, numbers, or omissions. This is our first, rough draft. We need everyone’s help to make it as accurate as possible. --Mike |
