Greetings Pentecost People,

I want to personally invite you to attend the Story Telling Retreat on Monday, June 4 beginning with a simple meal at 5:30 and retreat from 6:00 – 9:00. The retreat will be led by our LEAD Coach Jim Merhaut. We need to learn to tell our story because if we don’t, who will? We are witnesses of the things that God is doing among us. A witness simply tells what they see and experience. Our faith, our trust in Jesus, gives us a way to see the world that just must be shared. It is good news.

Your Lead Team continues to listen to God and you. At our last meeting we reflected on what we have heard God saying to us through the Bible studies and through our focus groups. Through scripture and prayer we have heard that all are welcome as the early church struggled to figure out what they should do with the Gentiles. We witnessed prayer and listening to God and practiced being together and bringing different things to the table. And we kept listening to God. We reason together and sometimes reasoning might even look like arguing. We trust in the Lord and we are devoted to one another.

Through the focus groups we heard these themes repeated: a desire to be inclusive, fellowship, we see ourselves as disciples, we appreciate many options to fit the many needs and schedules, we love music, we are about feeding others in many and varied ways and tradition.

We invite you continue in conversation with us. This summer we will be busy meeting our neighbors. We have met with some of our gardeners and preschool teachers. We will meet with people from area elementary schools, West HS, Johnson Co. Neighborhood Community Center and area businesses. If there is someone in the neighborhood that you think we should have a conversation with, please let a Lead Team member know. We welcome your conversation. Please hold us in prayer as we seek to engage in God’s kingdom work.

Bible – believing it boldly loving everyday,

Pastor Connie Spitzack