Thursday, August 03, 2006
Summertime
Hi Friends-
So, summer brings our church our own unique version of Vacation Bible School, and some fun for the adults too with our "Hot Topics" Series. With year-round schools in San Bernardino, we can't do weekday Vacation Bible School, so instead we're doing it on five consecutive Sunday mornings after church, with a Luau to celebrate at the end on August 20. Our children and youth have been learning about God's amazing creation, about the senses and stories that God has given us, and recycling all kinds of fun stuff to make musical instruments that they'll share with us in an amazing concert on August 20 in church.
And, the adults have been dialoguing with guest speakers about how our Christian faith impacts our life together in issues of the day - we've tackled immigration, economic justice, and HIV/AIDS so far - war/peace, equal marriage, and global warming are yet to come. We are definitely a diverse church, with many opinions and ways of practicing our faith in this complicated world, but it's also inspiring to hear the passion and commitment and respect that so many of us bring to these discussions. This last week Natasha Martin, the executive director of GRACE USA, spoke about her grassroots community organizing work in Africa. It was a powerful experience of hearing the true hope and gifts and leadership that exist in communities that we so often hear of only as statistics.
Thanks be to God for summer spiritual growth!
So, summer brings our church our own unique version of Vacation Bible School, and some fun for the adults too with our "Hot Topics" Series. With year-round schools in San Bernardino, we can't do weekday Vacation Bible School, so instead we're doing it on five consecutive Sunday mornings after church, with a Luau to celebrate at the end on August 20. Our children and youth have been learning about God's amazing creation, about the senses and stories that God has given us, and recycling all kinds of fun stuff to make musical instruments that they'll share with us in an amazing concert on August 20 in church.
And, the adults have been dialoguing with guest speakers about how our Christian faith impacts our life together in issues of the day - we've tackled immigration, economic justice, and HIV/AIDS so far - war/peace, equal marriage, and global warming are yet to come. We are definitely a diverse church, with many opinions and ways of practicing our faith in this complicated world, but it's also inspiring to hear the passion and commitment and respect that so many of us bring to these discussions. This last week Natasha Martin, the executive director of GRACE USA, spoke about her grassroots community organizing work in Africa. It was a powerful experience of hearing the true hope and gifts and leadership that exist in communities that we so often hear of only as statistics.
Thanks be to God for summer spiritual growth!
# posted by Petra : 3:04 PM
