Kindred in Christ,

I am thrilled that this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, from 11am-7pm, we will be out at the U District Street Fair, co-hosting a free button making booth! We are joining forces with UW Lutherans Campus Ministry and University Lutheran Church. You can find our booth on University Ave between 47^th and 50^th Streets. Please plan to stop by to make a free button or sign up to volunteer below—we still have a few shifts open! This will be a fun and creative way to meet our neighbors and make art together.

This weekend is also Pentecost Sunday, a.k.a. the birthday of the Church! This is totally appropriate, because as Acts 2 reminds us, the Church was born when the Spirit led a group of people out of a building and into the world. The text tells us that on the day of Pentecost they were all gathered inside one room and “suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire building where they were sitting” and the Holy Spirit filled the room with “flames of fire” on each of them. And with all that wind and noise, and the hazardous pyrotechnics of the Spirit, the text tells us that the Apostles were moved outdoors to begin their multi-lingual proclamation. While they began indoors, the Spirit pushes them outdoors to connect with new people in new ways. Rather than starting outdoors and being moved inside a temple, the Church is born when a group is empowered to finally “come out” and connect with the world in a new way.

This Sunday we are also kicking off our yearly LGBTQIA+ Pride celebration series, God is Proud of You! Throughout the next several weeks, we will reflect on the many ways the Holy Spirit is inviting us as a community to be birthed anew and to “come out” in the world through spirited passion and blessed queerness.

I hope to see you on Sunday for Pentecost, and out in the streets this weekend!

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz