Autumn Brunch Church
Kindred in Christ,
This has been a tough week for some of us, as we have had to deal with extended power outages and debris clean up in our neighborhoods. I appreciated those of us that have been community and have checked in with one another during these last few days. And I have celebrated with you and others who have let us know that their power has been restored. Praying that as you read this, your power is back, or will be back very soon. And if you find yourself still in need and could use help from our church community, please reach out to me at:
In all of this, I am reminded of the importance of creating community and extending hospitality toward one another. This Sunday we will gather with various community partners and attempt to do just that! We are joining forces with Green Lake UMC, Woodland Park UMC, and GLSA (childcare program) to co-host a brunch church event starting at 10:30 AM. RSVP and indicate what you can bring below.
As I prepare and collaborate for this event with many of you and others, I am reminded of the story of Jesus feeding the multitude (Matt 14:13-21). At first, the disciples see that there are only five loaves and two fishes. Yet after Jesus gives thanks, blesses, and breaks the loaves, he invites the disciples to begin distributing this small gift among the hungry crowd. And as the story goes, five thousand were fed that day, and there were leftovers! This story can be interpreted as God miraculously multiplying the elements until all had enough to eat. Yet, perhaps the more meaningful miracle would be that once one person offered their small gift of five loaves and two fishes, it inspired others in the crowd to also share the little they were holding on to. And by the end of the disciples going around the multitude, all had been blessed and moved to share what they had with others, and all were fed through God’s work, through the power of community. My hope is that we will all share what we can with each other and with our community partners and see what miracles Jesus might do through us!
Alongside you,
Rev. Paul Ortiz