Beloved Community,
Blessings for this month of November. I look forward to a joy filled month with all of you. Some of our November highlights include our Annual Pie Auction on Sunday, November 23rd
our Thanksgiving Evening Worship on Tuesday, November 25th at 6:30 p.m. This year we will also celebrate First Communion with some of our 5th grade kiddos at our Thanksgiving Worship Service.
This month we will continue to live into our merger and discuss the possibility of a name change. I ask for your grace and patience as we dive into these conversations. This merger has entrusted us all with a great responsibility. We are the ones called to carry forward the gifts, the people, and the legacies of both St. John and Immanuel.
Because of that, the transition team has proposed a beautiful shared name, St. John Immanuel. A name that reflects the fullness of who we are and who God is calling us to become, as we weave our stories together.
This name would not only honor all who have come before us, but all of us. This new name would mean, St. John God is with us. A core belief of our faith – as we believe God is truly with us. In ways we cannot see, in ways we cannot understand, and in the living body of Christ. We believe that God is alive, living in the memories we cherish, the gifts we share, the lives we live, and the saints we remember.
May the Spirit continue to guide us all, and may we find the strength and courage to live into our new shared identity – both now and into the future. And so I leave you with these words from Isaiah 43:19,
I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”