NEW Worship Opportunity: Outdoor Contemplative Worship Series
As we transition from our summer to fall schedule, we’re offering a NEW series of contemplative outdoor worship experiences — Wednesdays at 7pm in Giddings Park (behind church). These worship experiences are meant to be simple, welcoming to the neighborhood, experiential, prayerful, casual, participatory, and intergenerational.
Please bring your own lawn chair/blanket and a friend. If the weather is lousy, we’ll gather in the Chapel instead (except for August 19). As an outreach to the community, sidewalk chalk will be available for writing/drawing blessings for the neighborhood on the driveway.
We are not planning for childcare, however, if your family is wanting to be here for the services and you let us know ahead of time, we will look into providing childcare.
August 19: Blessing of the Animals
Bring your pets (in carriers or leashed, please) or a photo of a beloved pet for a blessing and/or a moment of grateful remembrance. The service will be informal, outside in the park, and joyful. Please bring a blanket or a lawn chair as we give God thanks for these creatures who have stolen our hearts. Click below to learn more about these contemplative worship experiences offered Wednesdays at 7pm leading up to the fall.
August 26: Wholeness & Healing
The service of contemplative prayer for wholeness & healing reflects our belief that God’s purpose for us all is a life of wholeness, as expressed in the life and teaching of Jesus. The ministry of healing is an integral part of our Christian witness.
We each stand in need of healing, but in this ministry we recognize also the social dimension. The healing of divided communities and nations, and the healing of the earth itself, have their place alongside the healing of broken bodies, hurt minds, and wounded hearts, and of the hurts and divisions within ourselves. So too our prayers are complementary to the work of medicine and other forms of healing, which are also channels of God’s loving and transforming purpose.
Each person and situation is known to God, not as a problem to be solved, but as a focus for God’s acceptance and love. We are not seeking to change God but to change the world. We trust God that our prayers will be answered, although we do not know when or how healing will happen.
There will also be an opportunity for those who wish to come forward to receive or share in the ministry of the laying on of hands. This can be either for oneself or for another person or situation. In and through this we affirm that the ministry of healing is not restricted to particular individuals but is a corporate inclusive process — the work of the whole Christian community in which we all have a part to play. God’s healing purpose, reconciliation, the promise of God’s fulfilling and sustaining love, is for every one of us. Whether we choose to come forward or to remain seated in prayer and concern, God can use our presence in this service.