Last week while visiting a member in her apartment, she gave me one of those Dove chocolates that have messages inside the wrapper. Mine said:

“Don’t wait for sleep to start dreaming!”

That is a good way to describe what we are doing in our process with Pastor Erin Nelson to have a clearer sense of how we serve God in this time and place.

At the heart of the process is listening and being attentive to those around us and what God may have to say through them. The eighteen of us present were given some options for homework to gather some of the direction we need for the next session:

We agreed to do Dwelling in the Word on Exodus 16 in the June 26^th worship service, with the crafters, and I believe with the council. We listen to the passage with our spirits open to hear:

• What words God pushes in our direction that really stand out for us?

• What new questions stir in us as we listen and

• Is there any direction that each of us hears from God for the process we are engaging in.

We also have questions with different kinds of people:

• Members of the congregation about when God has been especially present to them in their life and what the church had to do with that.
• Non-church going folks about where they see God moving in their life.
• Leaders in the community about the needs that they see in our area and the gifts people have which are in search of a place to use them.

Finally, we were invited to walk our neighborhood with another member and pay attention to what you notice and what that says about the place where Grace is located.

If you are interested in doing any of these tasks, Pastor Phil will coach you and give you a hand out. If you would like to hear what others have discovered, the next meeting is Wednesday, July 6^th at 6pm in the Parlours.

I am excited about dreaming together about what Jesus is calling us to do in this time. The energy feels good and the more participating the merrier we will be!

Pastor Phil

About Philip Ruge-Jones

After I served for eighteen years as a professor of theology at Texas Lutheran University, my family decided to return to the Midwest where my wife and I grew up, attended college and seminary. Read more...