News and Notes:
1) The Belonging Service: For the next three weeks Rod and I will be discussing the Village and it's Values. Attached to this email is the Village Covenant. It describes what is required of you and your leaders if you wish to sign it. Of course, at the Village there is two types of belonging. Those who sign the covenant are simply saying that the Village is their spiritual home for the year, and they want the leadership and the community to help them walk towards Christ. There are others in the Village community who believe the Village is their spiritual community but can't sign the covenant for one reason or another. So belonging at the village is broken into two sections at the Village - public belong and private belonging. On October 15 the Belonging service will take place. During that service you will have two opportunities to state your belonging. If you so choose, you can sign the covenant and publicly state that you belong by participating in whatever public activity we come up with, or you can simply participate in the public part without signing the Covenant. We do all this because we recognize that everyone is at a different place in their journey towards Jesus and with Jesus. We also realize that families(the church is a family) are not just made up of moms, dads, and kids - but include aunts, uncles, and in-laws. Not everyone belongs the same way at the Village. If you have more questions about belonging, please give me a call. Also, the magazine, Ad Vitam(for life) will have further explainations on what it means to belong at the Village. Please come to the service, even if you are going to participate. It will certainly help you better understand the Village.
2) Vespers: I could use some help breaking down after the service. If you are about when the lights go on, please take ten minutes and help put chairs away, break down music equipment, and fold fabric.
Thxs Eric
3) Up coming events: Today: Potluck and Bible Study at the McConnell house 6:00pm; Dinner and Bible Study with Eric - Sept. 27 6:00pm at the Unwen House.
4)A Note From Rod: I’ve noticed how hard it is for me and for others to talk to the visitors at the Village. It is uncomfortable and I have to be very intentional in order to do it. I always think that we will have nothing in common or that the conversation will be extremely awkward, but it is so important to me to be gently welcomed when I am in a strange place or new setting, so I imagine myself walking into a new place for the first time and try to offer what I would long for.
It is easy to run and join my friends and family and catch up on what is going on in their lives. It is easy to have deep conversations in a little circle of select friends who I have found to be safe. It even
feels especially Godly to probe the lives of those I know intimately. It is hard to open my circle by looking past my friends to people sitting alone and wave them into my group by pointing at the empty chair next to me. It is even harder to come early to meet visitors (who often believe we start at 5:00) and to take those first few minutes after the service to not look first of all to my own needs and desires, but to put strangers first.
I am thankful for the role models who make it a practice to be kind to strangers. I long for the whole Village to be a ‘strangers first’ kind of place. Having just returned from a strange place (Holland, Michigan), I loved that people took me aside and made me feel welcome. It makes me want to go back. |
