October 3, 2025
Dear church,
This weekend we begin an exciting venture as a community. We are kicking off the Spiritual Gifts Workshops, which will offer an opportunity for us to gather together after worship and learn about the gifts God has given us – both individually and as a community. We talk a lot about sharing our gifts at church. Sometimes it feels obvious what our gifts are and how they can contribute to the needs of the church. Singers can sing in the choir, teachers can lead Bible Studies, those gifted in fixing and repairing can help maintain our property, etc. But I think a lot of us aren’t sure what our spiritual gifts are, nor do we know how they could be used to build up the mission of the church. These workshops over the next four weeks will offer a space to grow in our knowledge and in our imagination. We’ll be wrestling together with questions like: What are spiritual gifts? What makes a gift spiritual? How do we identify the particular gifts the Spirit has given us? Do gifts change over time? And how might it change us, and change our church, to know what our spiritual gifts are?
This 4-week series is going to be rich. We are going to learn new things about ourselves and about each other. We are going to dream about what we might be able to do as individuals and as a church because we’re clearer about our strengths and giftedness. We are going to laugh and stay real. And we are going to grow in connection with God, who gave us all of these gifts in the first place.
I hope that, on the Sundays you’re able to come to church, that you’ll stick around for this experience. It will be different than the forums – more dialogue, more individual application, and more continuity week to week. This first weekend, we will meet in Shalom Hall (right above Friendship Hall), but the rest of the Sundays, we will meet in Koinonia Hall. Join for all four, join for one – whatever works for your schedule. The more participation from all of you, the more impactful this will be.
Parents of little ones, a note especially for you. We have adults (all have been background-checked) lined up to help in the Nursery and Neighborhood during this hour. I hope this makes it possible for you to join us for these workshops!
See you Sunday!
Pastor Sara
Every Friday, we send an email to the congregation and any others who would like to learn more about the Grace community. The last four Friday emails are posted below.