Dear Friends,
Usually I write a letter to the entire parish in this space. This week (and maybe in other weeks) I will write it to folks within our parish.
Dear Alex,
When you and I were talking today as part of our once-a-week, hour-long conversation [with Alex Roberts and Rich Saxon, our lay leaders], you mentioned to Rich and me that people often come to church because of some crisis in their lives: grief, a bad diagnosis, a miscarriage, loss of a job, end of a relationship, etc.…You said, “I wonder if people think about coming to church ALSO as a place to come celebrate.”
What a thoughtful, wonderful question. How does part of the culture of the church become “this is a place we come to celebrate”? It is unique when we baptize someone (infant, child, youth, adult) – it becomes a moment where we stand and the congregation affirms “this person is a beloved child of God.” How often does THAT happen in life?!
This week…we are celebrating 6 high school graduates from our parish: Julia Krause, Ada Hester, Tara De Reuck, Landon Resch, Malli Clare, Elliott Mickleberry. This is a one of those times of celebration. Let’s find some more. Let’s find the occasion to mark significant movements and moments in our lives.
What do you want to celebrate?
Keep tellin’ the Story,
Mike
If you can, take a moment to enjoy this rendition of Joyful, Joyful by the cast of Sister Act 2 and the La Guardia High School Singers.
Here are the three takeaways from this week’s Loop:
- I’m going to start, occasionally, writing letters to a person or persons within the congregation in this spot.
- Alex notes people often come to church in the midst of crisis, what about celebration?
- We are celebrating our six high school graduates this Sunday!