The Way is excited about celebrating its first Easter together in just a few short weeks! There is much in the works as we progress through the Lenten season and prepare for resurrection morning. And in case you haven't heard, here are the official details regarding our Holy Week gatherings:
April 1st - Maundy Thursday, 6:30pm-8:30pm, Wimmerton Community Center - "A favorite food item potluck"
Maundy Thursday (a.k.a. Shire Thursday and Holy Thursday) is a commemoration of Christ's last supper and the initiation of The Good Gift (Holy Communion). Just as Christ's last supper was a great feast celebrating God's mercy during the Passover season, this gathering of our church family will be centered around a huge meal. Every person in attendance is encouraged to bring their most favorite food item with enough to share with a few people. And we will spend the evening as Jesus and His disciples did at the last supper, feasting on our favorite foods, laughing, enjoying one another's company, and remembering God's great mercy extended to all who come unto Him. The evening will conclude with the presentation of The Good Gift in the communion elements. Come hungry and ready to relax, this gathering is about food, fun, and thanksgiving.
April 2nd - Good Friday, 7:00-8:00pm, Wimmerton Community Center - "Tenebrae"
Good Friday (a.k.a. Black Friday and Holy Friday) is observed to remember the crucifixion of Christ and the events that led up to His death at Golgotha. This worship gathering will be a somber, reverent step-by-step Scriptural journey to the cross of Christ, to think on His death and the events that transpired in the hours just prior to His crucifixion. This Tenebrae service with The Way will be a liturgical walk through scripture with moments of music and meditation.
We hope that you'll mark your calendars and bring your friends to join us for these Holy Week services. We are anticipating a wonderful time of fellowship and worship this Lenten/Easter season. Grace and Peace be with you.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
This is so much fun
I can honestly say that I've never been so excited about being a part of a church as I am with The Way. And I can also honestly say that I've never had so much fun working in ministry as I am working at The Way. And I've certainly never believed in a church as much as I believe in this ministry.
Every Sunday is a new treasure for me. Getting to actually take the time during our worship gatherings to communicate value to each parishioner while we engage them in the sharing of prayer material and our needs based ministries is something so precious to me. I can think of no better way to communicate true care and interest in each person than making time during our worship gatherings to hear from them on matters that are near and dear to their hearts. What a beautiful freedom it is to worship in an environment that truly values each person present. After all, how much impact can a sermon have if the preacher himself fails to give opportunity or listen when other people are speaking.
I'm so thankful to God for breaking me out of the mold that I had been in for a decade of church work prior to starting The Way. I'm thankful to God for the freedom of growing with a church family week to week as opposed to being forced to approach ministry as the task of growing up a church family.
I thank God for every Sunday. I thank God for every person present. I thank God for everything that each person contributes to our worship gatherings. I thank God for The Way.
Grace and Peace be with you.
Every Sunday is a new treasure for me. Getting to actually take the time during our worship gatherings to communicate value to each parishioner while we engage them in the sharing of prayer material and our needs based ministries is something so precious to me. I can think of no better way to communicate true care and interest in each person than making time during our worship gatherings to hear from them on matters that are near and dear to their hearts. What a beautiful freedom it is to worship in an environment that truly values each person present. After all, how much impact can a sermon have if the preacher himself fails to give opportunity or listen when other people are speaking.
I'm so thankful to God for breaking me out of the mold that I had been in for a decade of church work prior to starting The Way. I'm thankful to God for the freedom of growing with a church family week to week as opposed to being forced to approach ministry as the task of growing up a church family.
I thank God for every Sunday. I thank God for every person present. I thank God for everything that each person contributes to our worship gatherings. I thank God for The Way.
Grace and Peace be with you.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Tell me about The Way
I received an email from an old friend with whom I had lost contact today. In the email she asked me to describe The Way and our mission among other things. I feel led to share some of my reply with you, as it was a great opportunity to share in clear terms what it is that we're all about. Here's part of my reply:
"As for the new ministry, I started The Way back in September. And while this may sound obligatory to say, it's the church of my dreams. To answer your question in very specific terms, our mission is to be the Acts church of our community. Our charter was taken straight out of Acts chapters 2 and 4. In short, we aspire to "keep to Scriptural teaching, to the practice of breaking bread and praying together, and doing our best to meet the needs of others". One thing in particular which tugs on our hearts is that the Christ followers of the first century were clearly known for the way that they served the Gospel ministry by not only spreading the Word but also by specifically taking care of each others needs. That is the goal that we reach for. Where as there are churches who want to grow and grow bigger and bigger to become a beacon of Christianity in the community, The Way wants be a mechanism in the community leading by example that the Kingdom of Heaven can come on Earth when we simply focus on the practices of the Christ who said, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for just one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did also for me."
These values manifest themselves in our worship gatherings as we take time during our service to discuss matters of prayer for the entire congregation as well as needs that are personal to those both inside, and outside, of the The Way. We then have some form of Sciptural teaching and praise and worship together. These values also manifest themselves behind the scenes in our financial practices as we allocate 50 cents of every dollar that we ever receive in tithes and offerings to be given directly to people who have needs. Along the way in our brief history we have had the joy of helping people leave abusive situations by financially empowering them to start over, provide an automobile so a struggling single father could get to his job and provide for his daughters, make food provisions for a number of families, among many other stories.
Quite frankly, it's been the most holy and liberating experience of my life. The Way has allowed each staff member and each parishoner the opportunity to stop using their financial contributions to invest in buildings and start using their financial contributions (as well as every other aspect of their participation in the ministry of The Way) to invest in people's lives. And God has blessed us all richly along the way.
We meet at Latrobe Elementary School in the bandroom for now, though we will soon be moving to a new space because we've outgrown it. We meet on Sunday mornings at 10:30am. We'd love for you to join us sometime. Come to LES and enter the door which faces Irving Avenue."
Grace and Peace be with you.
"As for the new ministry, I started The Way back in September. And while this may sound obligatory to say, it's the church of my dreams. To answer your question in very specific terms, our mission is to be the Acts church of our community. Our charter was taken straight out of Acts chapters 2 and 4. In short, we aspire to "keep to Scriptural teaching, to the practice of breaking bread and praying together, and doing our best to meet the needs of others". One thing in particular which tugs on our hearts is that the Christ followers of the first century were clearly known for the way that they served the Gospel ministry by not only spreading the Word but also by specifically taking care of each others needs. That is the goal that we reach for. Where as there are churches who want to grow and grow bigger and bigger to become a beacon of Christianity in the community, The Way wants be a mechanism in the community leading by example that the Kingdom of Heaven can come on Earth when we simply focus on the practices of the Christ who said, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for just one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did also for me."
These values manifest themselves in our worship gatherings as we take time during our service to discuss matters of prayer for the entire congregation as well as needs that are personal to those both inside, and outside, of the The Way. We then have some form of Sciptural teaching and praise and worship together. These values also manifest themselves behind the scenes in our financial practices as we allocate 50 cents of every dollar that we ever receive in tithes and offerings to be given directly to people who have needs. Along the way in our brief history we have had the joy of helping people leave abusive situations by financially empowering them to start over, provide an automobile so a struggling single father could get to his job and provide for his daughters, make food provisions for a number of families, among many other stories.
Quite frankly, it's been the most holy and liberating experience of my life. The Way has allowed each staff member and each parishoner the opportunity to stop using their financial contributions to invest in buildings and start using their financial contributions (as well as every other aspect of their participation in the ministry of The Way) to invest in people's lives. And God has blessed us all richly along the way.
We meet at Latrobe Elementary School in the bandroom for now, though we will soon be moving to a new space because we've outgrown it. We meet on Sunday mornings at 10:30am. We'd love for you to join us sometime. Come to LES and enter the door which faces Irving Avenue."
Grace and Peace be with you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
