By Pastor Devlyn Brooks
Is it just me, or does it see that the summer has flown right by? … While we’ve already worshiped our last Wednesday service of the year, it feels as if we were just sitting down for our first family-style meal of June!
But, alas, the turn in weather and the beginning of the changing colors of fall is upon us. High school football is even entering its third week for some schools! And, yes I have already seen advertisements for pumpkin-flavored everything.
Fall is here, Faith Family, and with it comes the best part of the year in my opinion: The start of the church year!
The FLC Music & Worship Committee has met, and we have a plan in place. The Education Committee has met, and they have their plan in place. And I’ll be communicating more about confirmation next week with our families.
This means that, as of Sept. 1, we are at T-minus 10 days and counting toward the start of our church year!
With that in mind, I would like you to keep in mind three early dates for September.
And they are …
SUNDAY, SEPT. 10
Rally Sunday, the day that we mark to be the beginning of our church year, will be Sunday, Sept. 10. This will be our first Sunday service since this past May, and I am looking forward to the excitement!
This is the day that many folks come back to worship after a busy summer. This is the day that we will hear the footfalls up and down our steps and the peals of laughter from our little ones again. This is the day that we will hear our lovely church bells ring out across Wolverton on Sunday morning once again.
On that morning, we’ll also be installing our teachers and performing a backpack blessing for our youngsters who are early in their school year.
Please join us as we kick off our church year! I am excited to see everyone again!
SUNDAY, SEPT. 17
On Sunday, Sept. 17, we invite you to an important worship service that will be a little out of the norm.
I have mentioned during our summer services that twice this summer folks from our synod office have been out to talk with us regarding a process called “revitalization.” First, in late may, Pastor Rebel Hurd, our synod diretor for evangelical mission, visited with our church council about reimagining what our future might look like. And then in August, Pastor Melissa Pickering, was a guest preacher and talked about a synod program called “Rural Revitalization” that she chairs.
Both events were efforts to help us begin to imagine what the future of Faith Lutheran looks like.
It’s no secret that attendance is down from past years, and we aren’t drawing new members. Given that, and our geographical distance from other population centers, we face some challenges over how to keep our church vital.
On Sunday, Sept. 17, during worship, members of the council and I will discuss the conversations we had with Pastors Rebel and Melissa this summer, and talk about what revitalization means.
We need to have some important conversations about our future, and this service will be just the start. But we encourage you to join us this Sunday for what will be an important conversation about our future. Thank you!
SUNDAY, SEPT. 24
And finally, on Sunday, Sept. 24, our church will host one leg of the synod team’s fall “Road Trip.”
Each year, the synod staff hosts one “Road Trip” stop per conference all around our synod. This year, we’ve been asked to host our conference’s stop. So, starting at 5:30 p.m. we’ll be providing a picnic style dinner for not only our congregation, but also guests from surrounding churches.
In addition to the meal, the synod staff will provide a short presentation about the state of the synod, including what the new church year looks like, and what took place over the previous year.
We encourage you to put this important event on your calendar, as it would be a great start to our year to welcome with a big hometown crowd the synod team and guests from all over the conference to our beautiful church.
In short, we’re throwing a party for the synod staff and all the surrounding churches! Please come help us welcome our guests!
Blessings to you this September, Faith Family!
תגובות