Romans 8:28 - And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (NLT)
Welcome to summer!
Did you know that our Church year has different seasons that we call Liturgical Seasons? There are six of them, starting off with the season of Advent, then Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter and Ordinary Time again. I am sure you can guess what most of the seasons represent but there may be the question “What is Ordinary Time?” The first Ordinary Time (from Christmas to Lent) is a time when we focus on the calling of the disciples and the early ministry of Jesus. The second period of Ordinary Time (from Pentecost till Advent) is the time where we support our living into our discipleship by supporting each other as we live out the gifts and callings that we discerned during Easter and commissioned Pentecost. *
Why am I bringing this up? Well, it’s because sometimes the summertime, ordinary time, it can feel like not much is going on in the life of the Church, but really it’s here where we learn that Christianity is not just Christmas and Easter. That being a Christian is a daily adventure and it never stops, or takes a break for the summer. For you see there is work being done behind the scenes at Church. I for one, use the summertime to attend online webinars on all sorts of subjects that pertain to faith development and Church operations. It’s during this time that we start pulling together the small group studies for the fall and we start our planning for Advent. This year we have a team, The Guiding Coalition, that is beginning to meet to strategically think about the future ministries here at Beaverdam and Rouzie’s Chapel. The goal of the team is to provide a plan in how we are going to live into our new vision – “We are a Church that worships the triune God as we connect with, and serve all of our community”. The members of the Guiding Coalition Team are Lauren Easter, Fredy Calderon, Jay Marsh and Nancy Lear. I ask that you hold them in your prayers as we seek clarity into where God is leading us as a Church in our community.
I hope you are enjoying this ordinary time and growing in your faith this summer.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Owen
* https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-what-is-ordinary-time