February 2020
Pastor's Note
If you haven’t heard yet, my wife and I are expecting our second child, a boy, due in June! We are so excited to share the news and look forward to this new adventure.
The whole process of getting ready for a new baby is beginning to remind me of 2 years ago, at about the same stage of getting ready for the arrival of our daughter, Lucy. Though we have not decided on a name for the new baby, I remember one small part of the reason we decided on Lucy’s name was because of its meaning - light. And Lucy certainly is a light in our lives.
I have also been thinking much about light this season as we continue with a sermon series I am calling En(light)ened. We have already explored a couple of light images that hopefully help us to know how to be more faithfully connected to God and neighbor. The rest of this month we will continue to explore the divine light that awakens us and illumines us to the way God leads us to wisdom, to be light and salt among the earth, to recognize God’s Spirit within all people, and to better understand and respond to Jesus’s transfiguration glory among us.
In addition to looking for light imagery in any Bible reading you do this month, I encourage you to take some time and seek prayerful inspiration in gazing up at the starry night sky (you may have to drive a little ways out of the city to fully appreciate that), gathering around a candle or lamp in a dark room, or going on a night walk with a flashlight. As you do any of these, pray that God guide you both to better know Jesus as the light of the world and to be a light of Christ in the world. Then pay attention to any enlightenment that might come from that unique presence of physical and spiritual light shining around you.
Coming Up...
Tuesday, February 4
6:00 p.m. Young Lives
Sunday, February 9
3:00 p.m. Immigration Summit at Lovers Lane UMC
Monday, February 10
9:00 a.m. District Committee on Ordained Ministry
Sunday, February 16
4:30 p.m. Meet at Oak Lawn UMC to serve Community Meal to homeless neighbors
Monday, February 17
1:00 p.m. DoveNotes
6:00 p.m. Trustees
Wednesday, February 26
7:00 p.m. Ash Wednesday Worship Service
Bishop McKee's Immigration Summit
On Sunday, February 9, Lovers Lane UMC will host an immigration summit. The Immigration Summit, an event designed and sponsored by the North Texas Conference, will feature the testimonies of UM immigration advocates and preaching by Bishop Michael McKee. There will be breakout sessions designed to equip you to take humanitarian and legislative action. Register here if you would like to attend.
Ash Wednesday Worship
Join us on Wednesday, February 26, at 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary for a brief Ash Wednesday worship service with imposition of ashes.
DoveNotes
Come craft with us! Our DoveNotes ministry will meet on Monday, February 17, at 1:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall, to make greeting cards for our homebound members and those on our prayer list. You do NOT need to be a veteran crafter to attend! There's something to do for everybody and we always have a great time. We hope you will join us!
Reboot Youth Updates
We are now about 5 months into a process of working alongside a team from Perkins School of Theology to to begin dreaming up what a new form of youth ministry might look like at our church. One of the major lessons they have shared is something I think we can all benefit from - that the church is best when we do not have siloed ministries. That means each small group, Sunday school class, even each age group is truly integrated in the life of the congregation. Such work allows for people to learn with each other and it prepares everyone to embrace whatever phase of life comes next that may take us out of our comfort zones, for instance, youth going off to college. I am encouraged that our church is already well on our way to living out integrated ministries - especially in the way we have people of all ages involved in worship. Even our model for Messy Church embraces a non-siloed approach as all ages worship together in that unique space.
Over the next several months, we will be narrowing in on one idea (from a long list of great ideas our team has come up with) that we will propose back to the Reboot Team at SMU for new ways of engaging youth in non-siloed ministry. Please keep us and all the youth in our wider neighborhood in your prayers as we do this exciting planning and find innovative ways to build community.
Lent Study
This lent we will offer a special study specifically focused on one of the core practices of our faith life - prayer. Whether you are an experienced prayer pro or someone who feels like you do not even know what to do with your hands or words when it comes to prayer, I invite you to join us on this 6-week journey. Each week we will learn about a specific method of prayer - both how to do it and what it teaches us about the act of praying itself.
Our schedule will be:
March 1 - The Lord’s Prayer
March 8 - Prayer Books
March 15 - Ignatian Prayer
March 22 - Centering Prayer
March 29 - Labyrinths
April 5 - Lectio Divina
As always, there will be some conversation that builds upon itself through the whole series, but if you can only come to one or a few weeks, you will still get a lot out of each individual lesson. We will meet from 1-2pm in the Harmony Classroom, upstairs. Additionally, there will be at least one field trip we will schedule toward the end of the series!
Dallas Community Taizé
Happy Birthday to...
Augustus Agnew 2/2
Sally Hoover 2/3
Mary Ann Finley 2/9
Mary Ann Macsisak 2/14
Van McClellan 2/17
Wes Larroca 2/25
Andrew Venable 2/26
This Month, We Pray for...
Gail Baldwin; Marilyn Bourdene; Lynn Bruce; Carole Bryde; Tammy Busby; Linda Castor; Shirley Dunn; Wilma Elrod; Mary Ann Finley; Chris Gann; Bonnie Glanville; Leck and Cynthia Heflin; Michael Hilley; Kathy LaTour; Harold Logan; Jan Logan; Carolyn Miracle; Marie Miranda; Pat Norvell; Jorge Ortiz; Brandon Owen; Pontis Ministries; Kathy Purvis; Connie Riddell; Elizabeth Robbins; Robin Robbins; Ginny Salinas; Beth Saxton; Jeanne Scroppo; Linda Simmons; Alan Smith; Kelly Smith; Travis Smith; Tyler Smith; the Stretcher family; Chris Venable; Louise Williams; Amy Young
