Three Requests

By the time this hits your inbox, our second annual Parish Retreat will have begun! Around 70 of us will be in Prescott this weekend for a time of worship, fellowship, and play.

If you are not able to make it to the retreat this year, let me say three things (If you are reading this email on the retreat, stop! Put your phone away and enjoy the retreat!). First, please do pray for the retreat. Pray that all would travel safely, that logistics would work out smoothly, and, more than anything, that all who gather would do so with open hearts and minds, desiring to draw nearer both to God and to one another. I believe that we will have long lasting fruit because of this weekend, so please join me in prayer along those lines.

Second, please come to church on Sunday! On Saturday evening Bp. Mark Zimmerman, who is a friend of the congregation and our retreat speaker, and I will be driving back to Phoenix so we can be here for Sunday morning services. Both services, as well as Coffee Time and Adult Education, will happen as they normally do. Bp. Zimmerman will preach at both services, and I will be speaking during Adult Education, offering several biblical reflections on Sabbath. Chuck will lead worship on Sunday morning at the retreat.

Finally, please plan to attend the retreat next year! We do hope to make this an annual event, creating space for us as a congregation to get away to worship, learn, and play. As we do so, I believe that God will meet us in special ways, drawing us nearer to him and to one another. I trust that many new relationships will develop on the retreat, while many existing relationships will be deepened.

It is a wonderful opportunity that we have as a congregation to get away like this, and, again, I’m looking forward to the good things that God will do. If you are unable to go, please do pray, come to worship, and plan to be there next year. Good things happen when we take time away from our day-to-day routines in order to create space to grow in Christ together. Regardless of where we might be this weekend, however, I believe that God desires to meet us, assure us of his love, and lead us deeper into life.

Peace,

Chris