Weekly Update: 29 September 2005

Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands; *
serve the Lord with gladness
and come before his presence with song.
Know this: The Lord himself is God; *
he himself has made us, and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise; *
give thanks to him and call upon his Name.
For the Lord is good;
his mercy is everlasting; *
and his faithfulness endures from age to age.
Psalm 100

This was our third Sunday in new chapel space, and our first with visitors! Two local college students-- from Loyola and DePaul, as I recall-- elected to come and worship with us. Unfortunately, the guest book wasn't out! One of the oversights in moving and arranging. The clipboard will be back next week, we promise.

In other congregational news, we once again laid hands on Amy and prayed for her, as she prepares to return to the middle east with the Christian Peacemaker Teams. This time she will stay for two months, working to live out the Gospel proclamation of peace. Please continue to hold Amy and her team in prayer, that God's grace will strengthen them during their work, and bring them safely home.

In a way, Kate is also moving. With the blessing of her home parish family, she will be taking a leave of absence from her membership there, and wholly committing her time and energy to the Reconciler congregation. This is a wonderful gift of time and commitment from Kate, as well as a generous sharing from All Saints' Church in Ravenswood, which will miss her cheerful spirit and strong alto.

Here's a reminder of a few dates coming up on the parish calendar:

• Sunday, October 2: World Communion Sunday. Originally a Presbyterian observance, the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America established World-wide Communion Sunday in 1940 as a global, interdenominational event. We will commemorate this effort toward Christian reconciliation
• Sunday, October 9: Congregational meeting following the service. We will be discussing the formation of our parish council, and bouncing around other ideas for parish involvement.
• Saturday, October 15: This is our conversation day: a time when we intentionally pause and take stock, in conjunction with prayerful, interested people from all three of our traditions. We will be meeting at North Shore Baptist Church from noon until 4:00 pm. If you are not able to join us, please keep our work in your prayers that day.

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Ephesians 3:20,21