Our Church of the Roses has a new vision
statement. It is the title of this article. We want to be known in
the community as a sanctuary for healing and wholeness, a place where anyone
can come in and find a church family ready to embrace them with love and peace.
And we are willing to do all we can to support one another in the family of God: those who are homebound, our Rosebud preschoolers, our Montgomery High School youth who
come for breakfast, those of all ages who walk in our doors, and those who wait for someone to reach out to them outside in our community. All of creation belongs in the family of God.
Our
church committees are in the midst of plans to do more to reach out into the
community to support local resources like: Worth Our Weight and Big Brothers/Big Sisters right across the street. Our goal is to help our community and one
another be healthier in body, mind, and spirit and more resilient for the
future as we journey through life with our common joys and struggles. The
membership committee is working on making our narthex more welcoming and
focusing on visitors who walk in our doors weekly. Our front lawn is being updated
to provide a place of beauty for outdoor gatherings. And the chancel is being
draped with seasonal fabric to enhance the beauty of our sanctuary.
“The local church is the hope of the world, and its future
rests primarily in the hands of God and its leaders.” (Bill
Hybels)
Our
church is blessed with great leaders but we need your participation! Plan to attend
our Lenten series starting on Ash Wednesday. We will gather in the sanctuary at
5:30pm for ½ hour worship and move to Bowen hall for a simple soup supper, then
to the Rose Room at 6:45pm for a study about understanding how your health is
connected to the earth and faith. We will be using a study by the Northwest Earth Institute entitled: A World of Health: Connecting People, Place, and
Planet.
On
the second and third Wednesdays of our Lenten series there will be a free showing of a new
documentary: Living Downstream. The movie is a story of a physician who is a
cancer survivor. She explains how the toxins in our environment cause cancer
and how to avoid them. View a trailer see:
http://www.livingdownstream.com/trailer.
God is good and God’s grace will see us through to a bright future with the involvement of all of us in whatever way we may give of our time, our resources, and our talents. Have a blessed Lenten Season!
God is good and God’s grace will see us through to a bright future with the involvement of all of us in whatever way we may give of our time, our resources, and our talents. Have a blessed Lenten Season!
