Mid-week Update--August 16, 2017

FAITH PRACTICE: READING MATTHEW
Our faith practice this week comes from a suggestion from Pastor Julie. Here is her invitation:
During worship this past week, I mentioned that often we are told things about Jesus, but often we are not learning directly about Jesus ourselves. "Reading the Bible" can sound really daunting, but some books are more easily accessible--specifically the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). These four books record the events and teaching of Jesus during his life. On Sunday, I encouraged individuals within the community of Edgcumbe to read the gospel of Matthew in these weeks. Many of our upcoming Sunday's Gospel texts come from Matthew, and so your reading will enhance the Sunday morning stories. This is not "required." However, I am guessing you will be surprised by the experience! Let me know how it is going for you!! Pastor Julie

WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 20
Our text is Psalm 133—it’s only three verses, but it’s a beauty. Look it up! We will also welcome back pianist Jenya Trubnikava and ordain & install Meredith Holt to the office of Elder.

FORUMS THE NEXT TWO SUNDAYS!
 August 20: After worship this Sunday, there will be a conversation about ideas for the backyard of church. There has been some wonderings about creating places and paths for reflection and prayer. The designer of the meditation walks at the Christos center, Gordy Rosine, has spent some time in our back yard, and has offered some initial ideas to get our conversations started. Please come after worship to hear about these dreams! Also, Session has asked for a task force to be created to help support and lead the congregation through this process—pray about this opportunity and consider joining the team! Please talk to pastor Julie if you are interested or have questions.
 August 27: Again after worship, our guest artist Jinger Markley will talk about her “100-Day Project” that is currently hanging around the church building.

STORYTELLING EVENT – SEPT. 11
For several years our church has co-sponsored storytelling events with Humble Walk Lutheran community. Every one of these evenings of stories told by local folk has been moving and amazing. The next event, at 7pm on Monday, Sept. 11, will be at Edgcumbe Church. The topic is: “What I Learned during Summer Vacation.” Does that make you think of a story? If you have any inkling or desire to share a story, please talk to Pastor Phil and we will explore the idea together.

SCHOOL TOOLS-DEADLINE FOR DONATIONS NEXT SUNDAY, AUGUST 27, 2017
This is the last week to go shopping for school supplies for Highland Park high School. Shopping lists have been distributed but here’s a quick list for your convenience.
¨ #2 Pencils
¨ White board markers
¨ Pens
¨ Notebooks
¨ Backpacks
¨ Hand sanitizer
¨ Tissues
If you would like to contribute to the School Tools program this year, we dedicate our donations on Sunday, August 27. Contact Pastor Julie with any questions. pastorjulie@epchurch.org

CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER ON TUESDAYS
Our meditative prayer group continues to meet each Tuesday at 3pm in the sanctuary. Feeling frazzled or overwhelmed or just in need of some quiet space? Join the circle of silence and support. Beginners are always welcome!

PRAYERS
 Dean and Anna Grussendorf ask for prayers as they move Dean’s mother Doris into their home for hospice care. We ask God to bless them with the strength and comfort they need, while also blessing them with miracles and love during this special time.
 This morning Eleta’s aunt, Nancy Young, underwent extraction of her bone marrow to donate to Eleta’s father, Montell. This afternoon, once the marrow has been processed, it will be inserted into Montell (via IV). Continued prayers for both of them, and for a successful outcome of this transplant to put the leukemia into remission for Eleta’s dad.
 Also, continued prayers for Eleta’s cousin, Mike Bowser, who is still missing, and for his immediate family that they can have answers. This Saturday it will be two months since anyone has heard from him.
[If you have other prayers for this list, please feel free to email Pastor Phil (pastorphil@epchurch.org) early in the week and we’ll get it in.]

Please see the Session communication below. Peace to you today! Pastor Phil

Session Communication – August 10 meeting (The Session is the governing board of Elders of Edgcumbe Church)
Last week, your elected officials (Elders and Deacons), came together for a joint meeting. The goal of our time together was to have a conversation about the direction of our church. We began by finishing three sentences, first to ourselves, and then we shared our answers with the group. The three things that we answered were: One thing I am grateful for at EPC, One thing I grieve about at EPC, and One thing I long for at EPC. We had a deep, meaningful conversation about our answers, and we saw a lot of commonality in our responses: we are grateful for our church, we grieve the losses we’ve had over the years, and we long for a more vibrant church community. Our goal wasn’t to come up with THE answer, but to recognize what is, and to start the wheels turning as to what we might need to achieve what we long for. By the end of our time together we had plans for upcoming events geared toward strengthening our bond together, and ideas of how to involve the rest of you in this conversation as well. Following this joint meeting, the Session and Deacons split to have their individual business meetings.

Treasurer, Ron Eggert, gave a financial update: we are looking good financially with pledges coming in ahead and our expenses where they were projected to be. Our budget is on track, our investments are gaining, and we are waiting on a bequest from the will of Sid Nelson. (Praise God!)

Pastor Julie presented a plan for conversation about our backyard, inspired by thoughts and drawings from Gordy Rosine, who has worked with other churches and organizations in the area. The plan is for a walking path around our property with different “stations” for meditation and thought. The “mission” of the backyard could be something like: “Creating an outdoor Sanctuary, to provide spaces for prayer and reflection for the community to heal and change lives.” This was a very inspiring conversation and was well-received with the elders, as we have been intentionally thinking about the use of the space. This Sunday, August 20, Pastor Julie will lead a forum after worship to share this vision with the rest of you, and we will do a walkthough of the back yard for further envisioning.

Eleta Pierce presented a proposal for an all-church service project this coming October 8. We will celebrate World Communion on that day and the project will take place during the worship service as part of the offering time. We will be assembling “blessings bags” for the panhandlers and homeless people that we cross paths with. The drive for the items to go into the bags will start September 1 – look for more information and shopping lists coming out within the next two weeks.

Meredith Holt was approved for ordination as Ruling Elder. We shared with Meredith our gratitude for the gifts that she brings to us. Meredith will be ordained in worship this coming Sunday, August 20.

Other topics that we discussed: The Montessori would like to add more sand space to the existing playground. Montreal Highrise Thanksgiving dinner – we would like to continue this offering to the residents and need more participation from our congregation to do so. There will be a Storytelling event at EPC on September 11, at 7 pm. The pastors will be away on continuing education September 25-October 1.

Blessings and peace to you all, Elder Eleta Pierce