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Dear Peacemakers,
At Andrew’s
convocation last Sunday we heard an inspiring speech by the
President of High Point University. During the time I have been serving
Peace, High Point has tripled its student body and faculty, and added or
renovated 47 buildings. They did all this by serious attention to a mission
statement and some darn good fundraising: every student receives an
extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people.
I was spurred to consider how we are doing with our mission: to make God known by growing as
disciples of Jesus Christ, building a community of peace, and caring for
the needs of others. We have grown from 20 to 200 in seven
years as a community called Peace Presbyterian, but the prayerful, hard
work is not done. Summer break is over. Ask yourselves: what am I doing to
make God known? Am I growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ and helping
others to grow? Am I building a community of peace by the way I relate to
church members, guests, and folks in the neighborhood? Am I caring for the
needs of others?
We accomplish our mission through a commitment to these goals: inspiring worship, authentic
relationships, nurturing discipleship, compassionate outreach, and
responsive stewardship. I invite you to re-commit yourselves to
every one of these goals.
And if you are still new to Peace, please jump in with both feet as soon as
you are comfortable affirming your trust in Jesus Christ and making Peace
your church family. We need you! We want your fresh input. We value your
perspective. If you’re ready
to join, make my day and tell me! I know we have several
ready to meet with the elders on September 2 at 11:30.
This Saturday Presbytery
meets at Chuch of the Palms from 9:00-2:30. If you are
interested in attending all or just the part when Kim Adams is presented for
candidacy at 1:45ish, please write me or call. We can
carpool from Peace at both 8:00 and 1:00.
This week in worship
we are having, as we had three years ago to the day, a service of scripture
and song, prayers and sacrament. We will travel through sacred time with a
single verse of favorite hymns. Come, celebrate God’s goodness with us.
After worship, we will have three options:
Hope Seeds:
learn about a mission that provide seeds to missionaries in developing
countries.
Church Community
Builder: develop greater comfort with Peace’s web-based
communication system. Bring a laptop, if you’d like or follow along on the
screen.
Worship Reflection:
Hear some of the stories behind the hymns and discuss how the Spirit was
moving during worship.
Then our first Kids
Club for 3rd-5th graders will happen
at lunchtime and following, because we assume the storm will not arrive
until Monday or Tuesday.
Speaking of the
Hurricane, please write down my cell number 941-779-4900
and let me or someone else at Peace know if you need a safe place to stay.
Peace to all, especially the Haitians in still living in tents,
Pastor Elizabeth
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