Pastor's Message- Wonderful Wednesdays

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

“If anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink.”

— John 7:37-38

I can't wait for WONDERFUL WEDNESDAYS this Summer! As we look forward to 'Splashing' into God's Kingdom with people of ALL ages on Wednesday evenings, I want to share with you why I am so excited for this wonderful adventure!

As a continuation of Faith Formation during the school year, we will SPLASH into the summer with gusto. God has compelled the Faith Formation Team, to re-think how we do Vacation Bible School during the summer and they have had the innovative spirit to dream about something for ALL AGES! YAHOO!

This summer we will designate five Wednesday evenings to learning across the generations. Cross-generational Faith Formation (AKA- faithful biblical learning for ALL AGES!) is not some strange idea out of the blue, this is the pedagogy of theological education. This approach is the vital way of faith formation across the board and across the Church universal. With this move toward innovative faith formation, we are thrilled to invite our congregation and community of faith to reach out, invite your friends and engage in a summer of fun with water themed biblical learning. This opportunity will create community, offer faithful learning and conversation for people from birth on up.

There will always be a service component to our time together. This year, as the need for clean water and justice is still very real for our sisters and brothers in Flint, we will be collecting water bottles, money and we will me making cards of care for our family in Flint at Salem Lutheran Church. This congregation has become the center of caring for the community and we have promised to help too. So we will! What better way to celebrate the gift of water, by giving the water to those who desperately need it!

We will gather all together to enjoy a meal, then engage cross-generations in reading the same biblical story together, then we will break out into various age groups for age-designed experiences. Young ones will enjoy Art, Science and Games to really dive into the biblical stories. With help from our older youth and young adults we will create fun relationships and creative ways to engage the Bible! Adults will be invited to join me for faithful Bible Study and conversation around the biblical narrative.

Here is what we will gather to enjoy together...

• THE CREATION STORY

• MOSES AND THE PARTING OF THE RED SEA

• WOMAN AT THE WELL

• BAPTISM OF JESUS AND JOHN THE BAPTIST- WATER FUN DAY!

•  CALMING OF THE STORMS: JONAH & JESUS

As we gather back together in the Sanctuary, at 7:30pm, we will enjoy a relaxed, family-friendly, interactive worship experience with engaging 'camp-style' songs. You will be encouraged to dance, play and be free as God wishes us to be! We will share communion in new and creative ways that keep our focus on God's presence in the Holy Eucharist and we will pray and experience the Holy Spirit in amazing ways. This worship experience will offer a midweek opportunity to reinvigorate your faith and fill you with the Holy Spirit as you finish out the week. I hope you will ALL join us as we SPLASH into God's Kingdom this summer and celebrate the gift of water with WONDERFUL WEDNESDAYS - WATER & THE WORD!

Peace +

Pastor Greer

Pastor's Message: Wonderful Wednesdays

Wonderful Wednesdays is an exciting new adventure we are THRILLED to begin this summer at Amazing Grace! With combined efforts of Faith Formation Ministry Team, Worship Team and anyone who desires to participate in a church wide learning and faith exploration, this is sure to be an INCREDIBLE summer!

What is Wonderful Wednesdays you might ask?! Well, I can’t wait to tell you!

Wonderful Wednesdays will combine a Vacation Bible School approach with Bible Study and Worship, for people of ALL AGES! You may have heard the term Intergenerational?! Which means that ALL ages come together to learn, grow and experience God’s Amazing Grace together. This approach is not something we just made up, but has been studied by many and is proven to be an important way to learn and grow in faith together. With people of all ages we pray that God will use our youngest hearts and our more experienced lives to create meaningful relationships as well as impactful conversations and life-long opportunities for a shared faith experience.

On every-other Wednesday evening, anyone who comes to Wonderful Wednesdays, are invited to a shared meal in the fellowship hall, then break out small groups (by age) for Bible Study (adults) led by Pastor Greer and Vacation Bible School Learning for (kiddos) led by our excited and talented Faith Formation Team. As each age group explores the same Bible story and Living Water theme, we will find creative ways to connect those stories to our shared experience. To close the evening everyone is invited to join in a beautiful worship service that combines faith, fun and fellowship. Be prepared for an interactive and experiential worship with lively songs, interaction and opportunities to share faith.

This approach is exciting and innovative and will offer opportunities for new and exciting worship experiences, intergenerational relationships, learning for all ages and a summer full of fun and faith. God is alive and active and what better way to embrace God’s exciting activity then to worship, wonder and wiggle together?! We are so excited and can’t wait to get everyone excited with us! Since we will continue to worship on Sundays with Traditional and Contemporary worship services, this mid-week (every other) approach will be different and engage the senses and invite everyone into a deeper learning in new and exciting ways.

As your pastor, I invite you to invite people in your neighborhood, bring your families and share the good news of what God is up to at Amazing Grace! As summers get busy and people go on vacation, I want to strongly encourage you and yours to remember that God doesn’t take ‘time off’ from us, and our faith should not take ‘time off’ either. The church continues to work hard to serve God’s people and Wonderful Wednesdays is an important way that God reminds us how important it is to get together as people of faith and to continue to build up God’s kingdom in this world. Please get excited with me and the wonderful ministry teams that aremaking this summer one to remember! Watch for information in the weeks ahead as we ask for volunteers, helpers and ask for people to sign up for summer fun!

We invite you to spend your Wednesdays at Amazing Grace alongside one another and in prayerful and faithful fun! I am so excited for this adventure and hope you will invite, reach out and get pumped to share God’s amazing grace and experience a summer filled with fun and faith!

Peace,

Pastor Greer