We’re almost to the beginning of another school year. It’s been a busy time, and we’re doing our best to beat the heat!
Our Vacation Bible School was a ton of fun! We welcomed 15 students during the week, and had 8 adult and youth leaders! Everyone especially enjoyed the last day, where we had some water fun and pizza! June 21st also brought the wedding of our office manager, now known as Mary La Barbera! She and Kenny enjoyed a honeymoon cruise to Mexico, followed by a weekend of baseball in San Diego. Congratulations!
Summer has been a great time for new ideas and preparations! We began the Summer’s Cool! Cooling Station on Sunday afternoons, and were glad to have hep from Brett, Lois, Kent, Maxine, and more! We’ve had an average of 8-10 each week with snacks, and a movie! Next week, our new Pizza Fellowship will start – (July 22, 6pm) at Pizza Rock on 3rd Street & Ogden downtown. I look forward to this tasty meet-up as a time to build relationships. We’ve started to enjoy some special music by members of the church in worship, and are now recruiting for a new musical ensemble, the RLC Harmonica Chorus! I hope you’ll consider joining in!
I’ve been working on building relationships in the community. I had a great meeting with the new CEO at the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, Heather Engle, and will look forward to working together in the future. They are in need of some Bible Study, and have many opportunities for volunteers. I have spoken the with Executive Director at the Center on Maryland Pkwy, and will meet him next week to talk about about how we can be good community partners.
It is true that some of our members are slowing down, are present in worship less frequently, and are in need of prayer. I have visited with members of the church, and look forward to some more in the coming weeks. If you’d ever like a visit, please just call the office, or let me know! We are in need of members of the church who would like to make visits also, as I know they are appreciated. .
Reformation will host the Beverly Green Neighborhood Meeting August 7th at 6:30pm, and we hope to have some more sound system upgrades in place by that date. We have received the gift of some consultation and equipment from a neighborhood resident who does sounds design in large churches in town.
I offer thanks and appreciation to our Fellowship team for a delicious Ice Cream Social, that raised $115 for the youth group. Special thanks goes to team leader Ivy Adams with help from Patt B. and Mary L. Ivy will be stepping down from that position, and we are sure looking for more who would like to serve in helping to plan and setup events for us to grow in relationship. Our next event will be God’s Work, Our Hands, Sunday, September 8th.
I look forward to meeting soon with our new worship and music team, as we think about how our worship can be refreshed. In the meantime, you may notice we’ve taken a break from the hymn of praise, added a call-response version of the Apostle’s Creed, and tried to include more involvement from the assembly. We will have Barbara Siegel filling in on piano/organ July 21 and 28th while Linda is on break. I’m grateful to Pastor Matt who preached July 7th while I was on vacation in Mexico, and for Pastor Paul who has helped with Bible Study. I do hope more will attend, as we read through and study Daniel Erlander’s Manna & Mercy.
Thank you for giving, serving, worshipping, praying, and leading in this ministry together. Please continue to tell the story of Jesus in your life, as you invite others to see what God is doing here as we share the heart of Christ in the heart of the city!
Leave a Reply