First of all, thank you all for being interested in coming to Warren’s 75th Birthday party in May. We so appreciate all of our friends here and the community we have together. Unfortunately, that party is going to be cancelled in favor of a private family party which appeared out of nowhere while we were planning something here. Plus, Larry Reimer said it was just too hot for any band to play outside. Consider us climate refugees once again. We promise not to plan any more parties we have to cancel.
Secondly, here is the book I mentioned in my April 19th sermon about collective reimagining. Congratulations to you all for being such good examples of this great book – ALREADY working while I was reading it!
“An adaptive church requires something more than rebuilding or remodeling existing structures. It requires renovation of a collective imagination. Grounded in place and connecting around the challenges communities of faith face, these hubs are crafting and recrafting how individuals see and inhabit an ecclesial ecology. Their work displays renovating virtue in its finest form. Without denying the cataclysmic challenges individuals and communities are currently facing, an adaptive church sees renovating possibilities within and on the other side of uncertainty. EMERGENCIES ARE HINGE TIMES. Derived from the Latin root renovare, “renovating” describes an act of renewing, restoring, or reviving. Far from a solitary endeavor, virtue requires a connection to a broader community, finding its proper end in relation to others. Renovating virtue, as described here, also requires wisdom to discern the appropriate form of response at this particular site of rupture.” – From Adaptive Church: Collaboration and Community in a Changing World by Dustin D. Benac. Copyright © Baylor University Press, 2022. Reprinted by arrangement with Baylor University Press. All rights reserved.
Third, I can’t tell you how happy I am to announce that Lindsey Telg will begin on May 5th as our new Executive Director. After a long and interesting process – which involved the departure of some beloved staff, Catherine Cake and Dar Mikula, and the serendipity of not having any good candidates to fill Dar’s position– this essential new position was proposed, approved and filled. Congratulations to all who were a part of this process.
Fourth, we will be moving to Austin Texas on or about September 1 to live in the same city with our grandchildren; Anza and Levi, ages 6 and 2 and their parents. We can’t believe we got so lucky to be in the picking up school arena again. I will be taking a job as pastor of the First Congregational Church of Austin. By the time you visit, I’ll know all the good dance halls, thrift stores, and barbecue places. Suffice it to say, we will never stop missing Gainesville, the sand cranes and you. Ever since we moved here last May 1, it has been one gladness after another. We are blessed to have been here with you for this interim period.