Pastor’s Letter

Grace & Peace CCUMC Family!

I pray this newsletter finds you all healthy and well.

I recently went out of town for a wedding, and the trip was a total disaster. The late-night wedding was difficult for this early morning gal, and the food truck feeding us dinner ran out of food before I could get mine. It was supposed to be outdoors, and moved indoors due to the fires, which ended up spreading Covid through much of the wedding party and family. My return home flight got cancelled mid-air, and had to turn around. That turned in to two more delayed flights and then ultimately a cancelled flight without compensation for my overnight stay, and a one-way car rental was needed to get home. Like I said, it was a disaster trip.

And yet, there was so much joy at the wedding. I got to see much of my home church family (from before going in to ministry) who I hadn’t seen in almost a decade. The venue was stunning, and the view from my bedroom was breathtaking. More than that, however, I ran in to someone from Choir who was on my flight home. We were able to share a hotel room and a meal, and sharing a difficult time always makes for a much more enjoyable tough situation.

More than that, we got to know one another on a deeper level, and shared life stories with one another more than we ever could have in choir. When we decided to get a car rental, we found two other women who needed to get home, and shared the 7-hour car ride up together. Not only did the sharing ease the financial burden on everyone, but we all got to make new friends. As we arrived at the airport, weary from a long few days, we laughed, hugged, and wished one another well. Despite the disaster, there was beauty and joy in the mess. I pray that we are all able to find fellowship, joy, and laughter in whatever disaster we find ourselves in.

This month, we are beginning our Stewardship Campaign (or Giving Campaign, both work!). We will be doing a three-week series on God’s Grace in Action. You should be receiving letters each week, either through email or physical copy, depending on how you receive your issue of the Spire. You’ll also get a pledge card and a giving chart at the same time - please be sure to bring it on Sunday the 16th, our Giving Sunday, to drop your card off in the offering plate. After we get your pledge cards, we will be able to best assess our budget for next year’s ministries and all the ways we will be able to spread the love and grace of God in our own backyard.

Please be sure to check out the “Local Church News” section, as well as the “Money Matters” portion of this newsletter. We go in to detail some of the offerings and events happening in our church and in our community. I hope you will be able to join us for all of our events as we continue to build back up our community engagement, emerging out of the isolation period of the pandemic and in to who and what God is calling our community to be.

We are also still working on building up our Garden and getting it ready for Spring - we have a lot of fertilizer still to lay down before the rain starts too much. If you find yourself itching for some manual labor outdoors, please speak with myself or Sylas, and we will get you what you need to get started.

I pray you will find yourself infused with joy and fellowship in all of our offerings, and even if you aren’t participating in those, I pray you find fellowship and laughter in the most unexpected of places.

Yours in Christ, Pastor Dana

Money Matters

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of stewardship is “the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially, the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.”

So what is Stewardship Season? It is the season in our church year in which we begin to talk more overtly and clearly about money, finances, and ask you to commit to give to the Church. And we call it stewardship because that’s exactly what it is - just as you are *hopefully* carefully and responsibly managing the money that is entrusted to you (whatever your source of income is), we ask that you do the same with us, or at least give us that opportunity.

We believe that the ministries and missions of our church are worthwhile and important, and we believe that if you were to give to us, we would responsibly manage the precious resources you give us to continue to create the kindom of God.

Our Church’s mission statement, created last year, is “Like Jesus, we love, accept, and serve our community in innovative ways.” And this coming year, we have a few things that we are focusing on in terms of our mission in ministry, and boy are we being innovative!

We are effecting to do at least one thing that serves the community each and every month - so far, we have had the back to school fair, in which we donated back to school supplies (and ran out much faster than expected!), we have opened up our space for musical concerts, and this month, we are promoting pet adoption and helping kids safely enjoy Halloween! We are hoping to have study groups for young students, (hopefully) a ball with dancing, and maybe even an Oscars party! All of this is on top of our Bible Studies, Pub Theology, and regular worship schedules. The Covid pandemic did a number on our mental health, and we are working hard to bring joy and socialization to everyone in many ways.

In order to remain transparent with you, our monthly spending still runs about $10,858.00 and our monthly general income for July 2022 was $5,782.38. Please continue to prayerfully give as you are able.