Friends in faith,
There have been a lot of funny quotes and posts concerning the year 2020. It’s been a doozy, that’s for sure! Personally, I think “the best laid plans of mice and men” might make an appropriate subtitle for this chaotic year. It’s impossible to count all the wrenches that have been thrown into our plans over the past several months. But we adapt and life keeps moving on.
A recent wrench had come to the attention of our Session. Grace Community Church (which shares our building) and Bethany planned to live stream at the same time on Sundays; Grace would stream from the Social Hall while Bethany would stream from the sanctuary. However, we realized that our internet may not have enough bandwidth to allow us both to stream at the same time. Both congregations were scrambling to find a solution, until Pastor Trinh told me that Grace was willing to move its service to 9:30 a.m. What an incredibly kind act of grace and adaptability! I think we owe them one, next time around.
As always, flexibility and adaptability help us to manage whatever comes our way. As Christians, we continually seek to offer one another grace, to trust that God will always make a way for us, and that we’ll always be afforded opportunities to share hope and love in our communities. As we stumble along, when plans work out and when they don’t work out, we remember that God calls us to faithfulness rather than perfection, and thanks be to God for that gift!
This Sunday we will be celebrating “World Communion Sunday”—when Christians from every country and culture proclaim our unity in Jesus Christ. At both our 10:30 a.m. Facebook Live service and our 11:10 a.m. Zoom service, we’ll partake of the Lord’s Supper. Please be sure to have some juice or wine and bread available. And if you are attending our Zoom service, please bring a photo to share of one of your favorite places on Earth. It can be a place you have visited before, or a place you long to see.
Blessings for a lovely fall,
Jesse
UPDATES:
Please note that Zoom is continually increasing security protocols, so most of our Zoom meetings will require a password. You will be able to find the passwords listed near the Zoom links.
Join Zoom Worship - 11:10 a.m. each Sunday
Meeting ID: 874 2045 1400
Passcode: 391892
Join Zoom Tuesday Bible study - 11 a.m.
Meeting ID: 846 9201 6512
Passcode: 163491
Join Zoom Wednesday Check-in - 11 a.m.
Meeting ID: 826 5268 2647
Passcode: 621465
Don't forget that everyone is invited to attend us for a four-part book study on Ibram X. Kendi's How to Be an Antiracist"—the dates are set for 10/20, 11/17, 12/1, and 12/15, all happening from 7pm - 8:15pm. We trust that these discussions will be full of meaningful sharing as we all seek to be more understanding of one another—people who are similar to us and folks are different from us.
Finally, I will be away on vacation from October 5-16. My vagabond cousin Tim and I are headed on a road trip to visit some of the national parks in the Southwest. In the event of a pastoral emergency, please contact a member of Session. Jim Guida has graciously offered to lead worship on Sunday, October 11, while I am away. Thanks Jim!
