Fall Brings Excitement and Action!
“Wow! Power-packed!”
This autumn brings so much life and vitality into the life of our church! The liturgical season of Ordinary Time begins to take on ever-greater meaning as we learn and grow together.
We will share in the home potluck meals. Please sign up for one of the meals as the hosts begin providing dates. This is a great time for us to get to know one another and develop consensus on where we see God leading this blessed church.
We will have some different worship opportunities available to us this autumn. Once a month, on the second Sunday of the month, we will have a service of Compline, of silent meditation and rest at 7:00 p.m. on the Second Sunday of the month. Please bring a pillar candle you are willing to light to begin the service and leave behind for future services. This month we will begin with open, silent meditation on Sunday, September 11. Next month, October 8th, we will share in a guided meditation. These worship services will last between a half-hour and forty minutes.
On Tuesday, October 4th, at 3:30 p.m., we will have a Blessing of the Animals service that will remember the pets/animals that are important to our lives. It is the Feast Day for St. Francis of Assisi! I promise to show up this time! Please make sure your beloved pet/animal is under control so that it does not harm others or cannot be harmed by others.
Finally, we will begin Bible 201, the study of the major Hebrew Scripture stories and learn how they inform our faith and continue to inform our faith. We will begin Thursday, September 15th, at 3:30 p.m. for five Thursdays and then finish on the first Thursday in November, November 3rd.
Wow! Power packed! I also want to call your attention to a great event being hosted by the League of Women Voters at our church. On Friday, September 16, The League of Women Voters will be hosting a Climate Change Town Hall. What other congregation could possibly host such a great community event? Doors open at 5:00 p.m.! Be there or be square.
I will be installed as teacher and pastor of this blessed church on Sunday, September 18th, at 4:00 p.m. It will be a great day as we continue this mutual ministry together.
Telling Our Stories: Blessed be the tie that binds
We have six homes who are going to host for our home potluck dinners! Please look for the sign-ups in the church narthex as those hosts choose dates that work for them. We ask you also to sign-up for a main dish, a salad, a vegetable, or a dessert as we come together and share a little of who we are, learn about others, bless the tie that binds us with one another.
Worship
Sunday, September 4th, 10:30 a.m., Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
A hymn sing with egg casseroles! Good food and good music are going to be part of our worship experience on the first Sunday in September.
Sunday, September 11, 10:30 a.m., Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Chillin’ at Java Joes! We worship in the narthex with some of our favorite beverages! We once again practice Julian of Norwich’s Body Prayer and lectio divina as we discern what it means that those in power do not want to hear the truth.
Sunday, September 11, 7:00 p.m. Meditation Service
Join us for a service of silent meditation and a welcoming of the night. Please bring a pillar candle you are willing to leave at the church as your own so that you may light it and remember what a gift the stillness, the darkness, the quiet is as we move through meditation.
Sunday, September 18, 10:30 a.m., Re-covenanting Sunday
Jeremiah asks for a repentance, a turning around. We approach the High, Holy Days in the Jewish liturgical calendar which remind us of our own mortality and always our opportunity to begin again. In Benedictine spirituality, we are invited to have the heart of a beginner, to always know we can begin again.
Sunday, September 18, 4:00 p.m., Installation Service
The Southwest Association of the Michigan Conference in covenant with Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ installs Rev. Mike Mulberry as teacher and pastor of the church.
Sunday, September 25, 10:30 a.m., Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday School begins with children! Loretta Gibby will once again be leading Sunday School for our children. After the Children’s Sermon, children are invited back to the narthex to continue to learn, play, and work on crafts Loretta has provided.
What is your mission statement? What is our mission statement? How do we continue to walk with God even when the path is hidden or difficult?
Sunday, October 2, 10:30 a.m., World Communion Sunday
Join Christians around the world in this celebration of our common identity as people who learn about the Divine as we share across the table.
Sunday, October 4, 3:30 p.m., Blessing of the Animals, Feast Day for St. Francis of Assisi
Bring your pets or the animals you love to the church for this time when we recognize what a holy and sacred gift they are to our lives and the beautiful relationship we have with them. Please make sure to have your pet/animal in control so they do not harm other pets/animals or won’t be harmed by other pets/animals who might escape the control of another. We want everyone safe and protected. Rev. Mike promises to be there this time!
Bible Study: Beginning Thursday, September 15th, 3:30 p.m., for 4 weeks with two sessions on Thursday, November 3rd and November 10th.
Bible 201: The Hebrew Scripture Stories
Hebrew Scripture (The Old Testament) is far larger than The New Testament and has this incredible stories of humor, apocalypse, song, prayer, and a re-counting of how God has been present for the Jewish people. At the same time, when we study the Bible critically, we have to decide what we will leave behind and what we will take forward with us. This has been the spiritual task throughout the centuries.
Please bring a study Bible with you. Rev. Mike recommends one of two: The New Oxford Annotated Study Bible (New Revised Standard Updated) with Apocrypha or The HarperCollins Study Bible with Apocrypha (New Revised Standard Updated). Having the Apocrypha will be important as we move into Bible 202. We will continue with our critical look at some of the larger stories we find in Scripture.
Please let Rev. Mulberry know if you are interested (mmulberry@gmail.com)
