Co-Creating Together

Beloved friends, 

This Sunday we will mark the feast of St. Francis, that strange and joyful man whose life became a kind of living prayer. Francis was attentive. He was attentive to Christ, attentive to the poor, attentive to the sparrows and wolves and rivers that told the story of God’s creation. His attentiveness was not soft or sentimental but rooted in a fierce trust that Christ is present in all things, and that by paying attention we might discover again what it means to walk in the way of Jesus.

As a church, we are listening for that same invitation in this season. We sense that God is stirring in us a desire for more spaces to be together. As we move toward Advent and Epiphany we are discerning the possibility of offering additional evening gatherings. Some may take the shape of services, others of formation opportunities, others of seasonal celebrations. Our hope is that whatever form they take, these spaces will be marked by attentiveness to Jesus, by generous hospitality, by restoration for weary bodies and souls, and by participation in God’s work of shalom in our world.

Alongside this, we are also feeling the invitation into more contemplative spaces. We know the need for prayer that is unhurried, for silence that does not need to be filled, for worship that allows us to bring our grief as well as our gratitude. As part of this discernment, we are considering the possibility of more regular contemplative evening services. Spaces of soaking prayer and healing, spaces of lament, spaces where scripture can be heard with fresh ears, where sacrament can be received with open hands, and where silence can do its work of opening us to the presence of Christ. These would not be gatherings of performance but of presence with our Living God and with one-another. They would not attempt to solve every question or tie up every sorrow, but to hold them together before our Living God, trusting that God is at work among us.

Of course, we know there is no perfect time for everyone. Still, your voice matters. We are inviting you to help us discern by taking a few moments to fill out the short survey linked below. Your response will help us see when and how these gatherings might serve our common life.

My prayer for us continues to be the words of St. Francis, “Lord, make us instruments of your peace.” May our current life together, and the potential of new ways of being together, whatever shape they take, become small answers to that prayer. And may we continue to walk together, with one another and with Christ, in the way of peace.

Bliss +