I am sorry for LONG break in blog posts. As you might imagine there is a lot happening around these parts during the season & the season leading up to Advent. But now that we are officially here Advent 1 in in the books and we are inching closer to the 1st of December I thought we could check in.Life here at Boulevard is going well & the days are flying by. We have been worshiping in our newly redesigned & renovated chapel for some time now and I think that people are really starting to feel comfortable with the space. The new surroundings makes way for a lot of firsts and experimentation. For instance in the last couple of weeks we figured out how to do Ordain and Install New Members in a space that has little "up-front" space and light the Advent Candle. What it all really boils down to is understanding how the space "works" and doing our best to get out of the way. It is exciting to celebrate the events in the life of the church in a new space. I have been fortunate enough to be the 1st one to preach in the new space and celebrate the season of Advent. For me it was a privilege.
Right now the big news is all about this Saturday, December 5th. Like the Block Party, there is a ton happening in those short 24 hours that December 5th is giving us. The day begins at 10:00 am with the Red Cross Blood Drive taking place in Room 111. The Red Cross saw our last Blood Drive as so successful that they asked us they could do it again. This time we will pair the Blood Drive with our already existing Dinner & Fair Trade sale that is now in its 3rd year. To round out our exciting December 5th will be the work of the Dream Team, a collection of Members & Ordained leaders who are taking on the work of finding the dreams our congregation has for this church. The process they are working with is known as Appreciative Inquiry and was brought to our congregation by Rev. Tim Jones, a pastor and church consultant here in our presbytery. Through Tim's leadership our Dream Team Members will be sitting at tables during the dinner with the hopes of exploring with members and friends their dreams for this congregation as it grows into the next generation. I am looking forward to their findings!
Finally, by way of checking in, I want to let you know that the Advent Devotionals are finished and I have already begun to hear great things. Copies from the 1st printing are still available and I hope that you will pick one up. In the event that you can't get out here but would like a copy for yourself please let me know and I can drop one in the mail or email you a PDF copy. Either way I hope that you will use the words of Scripture and the people of this congregation to enrich your Advent expereicne.
Check in tomorrow for a trasncript of my sermon from Advent 1.
