For Summer's Ending and Fall's Beginning...

Dear friends, 
As we head into the fall and into a new month, we want to take a moment to recognize that more change is coming. We are beginning a new sermon series, looking at the church as universal. We'll start with World Communion Sunday on Oct. 1 and end with Día de los Muertos on Oct. 29. We are starting our Outdoor Worship back up this Sunday and soon we will reintroduce passing the plates in our indoor services. We are beginning our month-long participation in the Bethany Food Drive. And we are preparing to welcome our Interim Senior Minister, Rev. Janet Maykus, in two weeks!  
We are so grateful for the many ways this church continues to be a companion to one another through all of life’s changes. May we continue to travel together, sharing God’s love for all, with all.  


–Your UCC Staff
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A Prayer “For Summer’s Ending”
From Ash and Starlight: Prayers for the Grace and Chaos of Daily Life
 
Near One,
Thank you for all the ways you’ve companioned me this summer.

You’ve traveled with me as I made road trips to visit scattered, special family, waited at airport gates thick with frustrating delays, buckled kids in the car for an adventure at the zoo, driven across town to eat crisp cold salads with a dear friend, folded clothes and packed the suitcase another time.

You’ve traveled with me, Jesus, as I’ve sat in medical waiting rooms, as I’ve kissed loved ones goodbye while holding back tears, as I’ve lingered by the window with a cup of coffee, overcome with too many thoughts to name…

You’ve made your presence known through tracked-in sand on the kitchen floor and the smell of fresh strawberries dumped on the counter.

I’ve heard your voice in the joyful shrieks of children in sprinklers and the creak of the porch swing as dusk settled. You’ve held me through weeks that were stressful and weeks that evaporated in elation… weeks when I was complacent and selfish and weeks I was sacrificial and servant-hearted… weeks when I was honest and integrated and weeks I didn’t even recognize the person in the mirror….

You never failed to remind me how you loved me and still had good for me to do.

Sometimes I caught your message… 

How I thank you, traveling and strengthening One, for going with me through these summer months… for offering reassurance as I enter the fall and all its change.

I hold out my gratitude for what was and my quiet hopes for what’s to come.

Amen.
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Genesis 46:4 * Deuteronomy 31:8 * Psalm 139:7–10 *

“Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?…
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.”
—Psalm 139:7, 9–10