June 21, 2024
Dear Church,
Last weekend, our Church Council gathered for a leadership retreat at Mt. Olivet Retreat Center in Farmington. We were together for four hours and we took advantage of every single minute. We prayed together, we reflected on our core mission and values, we took a deeper dive into our finances and processed our learnings from a book we all recently read on church fundraising trends and strategies. It was such fruitful, energizing time together! We will be sharing more with the congregation in the coming weeks and months about where and how this work will guide us forward.
We started the retreat with everyone sharing what they would be doing if they were not attending the retreat. Unsurprisingly, everyone had something – a grandchild’s baseball game, karate class, yoga class, a trip to the farmer’s market, breakfast with friends, sleeping in, getting a kid packed up for camp, unpacking from a recent trip, etc. I thought it was important to begin our time together by recognizing that everyone gave up something in order to be at the retreat. It’s such a tremendous gift of generosity, every time we give of ourselves to something we care about. And it’s important to recognize it as such because it almost always means setting aside for a time other things we also care about.
I share this small moment of our time together last weekend because I think it matters. We make so many choices throughout each day, particularly around how we spend our time and what things, people, organizations, and concerns get our attention. Every time we say “yes” to something or someone, we also say “no” to something else or someone else.
This is life. So many choices, so many ways to live a day, and yet also limits – limits of energy, time, and attention.
My prayer for all of us is that our faith in Jesus Christ shapes what we say yes to and what we say no to. My prayer is also that we are gracious with ourselves as we discern our priorities, live with the consequences of our choices, and stay open to how God is calling us to live. Remember that you are loved in all of it!
Pastor Sarah
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.