PJ’s Page –
Have you ever been so busy that life felt like one of those merry go rounds on a playground? The one where you’re hanging on while someone else is spinning it as fast as they can? The spinner eventually jumps on and everyone shrieks as the merry go round flies around and around. I get a little green around the gills just thinking about it.
This was never my favorite piece of playground equipment. It was just too much. And I had no control. I couldn’t get off when I wanted to and I couldn’t control the speed.
Sometimes, life feels exactly like that.
Sometimes, congregational life feels exactly like that.
We have been through so much….so much wonderful stuff and some pretty hard stuff too. This congregation has done incredible work. We’ve done the kind of work that most congregations who are far larger with far more re-sources find daunting.
So we are going to take a break.
When Ordinary Time arrives on June 17th, we are going to move into a mode of rest. A posture of being that focuses on worship, social time together, and only the essential Council meetings. All committees and teams will take a rest. (Of course, your paid staff, including your pastor will continue to keep their tasks moving forward.)
If we were to adopt this posture of rest and Sabbath keeping for the entirety of Ordinary Time, it would take us all the way to Reformation Sunday, at the end of October. We don’t plan to do that. But we’ll let you know when everything picks back up again.
In the meantime, beginning on June 17th, you are invited to lay aside any busy work you hold in this place. Focus on God. On God’s goodness. On God’s invitation to rest and renewal. Your Mid Week updates won’t offer a lot of “information”; rather they’ll offer some practices for Sabbath and some reflections on resting. We will still gather for Table Talk Happy Hours, because that’s not work, that’s a form of rest, too!
At the end of this time of rest, we’ll consider three questions together:
What did you miss?
What didn’t you miss?
How did this practice make you think about our ministry going forward?
I’m so looking forward to this experience with you. We all deserve it and God invites us into deeper solitude, deeper relationship with the Divine, and a more restful way of being in the world.
In the midst of this rest, I hope you will make worship a priority.
See you in church!
Pastor Julie+