While I expected this fall to be busy, I'll admit that I didn't quite expect it to be this busy.
This past Sunday, we held our second Lunch 'n Learn about the Israel/Palestine Conflict - a date for Part Three will be announced shortly. There have been neighborhood gatherings, interfaith events, and memorial services. If you haven't been able to make it to everything (or everything that you have wanted to), we understand. There is always more to do than most of us have time for in a day, a week, or even a month. However, the next event on Northminster's social calendar is coming up this Sunday after worship: Northminster's Fall Potluck Picnic. I encourage everyone to 1) bring some food to share & 2) invite someone to come. Call someone up and see how they are doing and ask what they are planning on bringing. Send an email to ask if a friend has made plans to come. Or simply, let someone in our community know that you are thinking about them. The weather forecast for this week looks like rain. If it is rainy or drizzly on Sunday like it is today, we will move our picnic inside to the Ark. While I hope you all are excited to come and fellowship with one another, we also expect guests to join us: The Congregational Church of Birmingham. As we enter into official space sharing negations with CCB, we felt that it was important that the two congregations get to meet each other and mingle for a bit in order to see if the culture of our congregations is a good fit. Since we were already planning to gather for some extended fellowship time, we felt that the Potluck Picnic would be a perfect opportunity for the congregations to officially meet one another. As I mentioned on Sunday, we at the beginning stages of negotiations with CCB. We have not come to a formalized agreement, and we will be discussing the details of a possible agreement in the coming weeks. We expect this process to take time in order to make sure that we have gotten input and feedback from both congregations, have found solutions to potential issues, and ironed out details of our weekly rhythms before we sign any agreements. By taking this slowly, it also gives both communities a chance to envision what this will look like before implementation. We also hope that this process will give us opportunities to change plans if we think something won't work. This Sunday's Potluck Picnic will be an important step on this journey: we get to meet each other and put names, faces, and personalities to a congregation that we have mostly just heard about. My hope is that you make this picnic a priority this week so that you will be able to contribute feedback as we continue on this path. If you have any questions about this process or what next steps look like, do not hesitate to email me with your thoughts. Blessings, Pastor Chris |
AuthorPastor Chris Hallam earned her degree at Princeton Theological Seminary and moved to Michigan to become a pastor. Also trained as a studio artist and graphic designer, with an interest in pop culture and social science, her passion is thinking creatively about the future of the church. Archives
February 2025
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