Mid-Week Pause Service 2-23-22
Bring your Hopes, Bring your Doubts, Feed your Soul.
Pause Worship Video is posted below.
Order
Welcome – Travis Norvell
Stone Catchers – Bryan Stevenson
Prayer – Travis Norvell
Those Who Dream – The Many
The Northern Vicar (pastoral notes from the intersection of Northern Exposure and The Vicar of Dibley)
On a glorious Sunday at the first church I pastored in Athens, WV, we would have, maybe, 22 people. One week I decided to change things up for the next Sunday:
I printed only 15 bulletins, instead of the usual 20. The next Sunday the ushers were fit to be tied. They threw their arms up in despair announcing we ran out of bulletins.
I loved that Sunday. Now we haven’t run out of bulletins at Judson Church in over two years…until last Sunday! Eileen printed 50 and we had at least 53 people in attendance.
It was a great surprise.
Maybe it was the promise of church coffee and donuts…
Interesting, we also had of our best engagements with those live-streaming the worship service too!
All to say, I felt the energy of Judson Church changing, momentum was in the air. Our goal is to build toward a grand Easter celebration on April 17th. We are well on our way!
Last week I sent out a Pastoral Letter to the congregation, a “How Is Judson Doing?” letter. Some of you received it, some of yours have yet to be delivered,
and for some, we do not have your mailing address. Here is the letter.
Please note, I will be away at a conference this Sunday and next week. Rev. Dr. Cameron Howard from Luther Seminary will be our guest preacher.
Peace,
Travis
Poem/Prayer for the Day A Prayer for Peace Between Ukraine & Russia adapted from a prayer written by the Dominican Sister of Peace
Ever and All-Loving God, As we follow news of the mad progression towards war, we pray and we plead for a logic different from the one based on geopolitical competition.
We pray for a change of hearts and minds, for de-escalation, and for dialogue instead of threats
All peoples are Your children. And Your children find themselves on both sides of the current confrontation. Should this situation descend into war, it will be both Ukrainian
and Russian families that will suffer the loss of siblings, parents, spouses, partners, husbands, children, friends, loved ones, homes, neighborhoods, and ways of life.
But You are a God of peace and love, not war and bloodshed. Though the things that make for peace may be hidden from the eyes of those driving the march to war,
we pray that those eyes may be opened and that peace may yet prevail.
Let us pray together that everyone recognize that we have a common home and that more, much more, unites us than divides us.
Let us pray also that the world never look away. Pray that we always remember the situation in Ukraine is real. It kills, maims, and destroys even now and
that an escalation will generate more deaths and more injured, more tears and pain, more fears and hatred. Pray that we continue to seek and to share the truth which gives authentic freedom and wisdom.
We make this desperate prayer secure in Your love, through Jesus, our Lord,
AMEN.
Find Judson on the internet through our link tree, linktr.ee/JudsonChurch
In-person worship this Sunday, Feb 27th, at 9:30 am with a Livestream on Facebook.
The February Messenger, Tree of Life, and Calendar can be found by clicking here
