Beloved friends of LaSalle -
I pray that you’re enjoying the warmer weather, sunny skies, and gardens blooming this spring! On the church calendar this season is called Resurrection Time – the period of focusing on life after the grave, on the power of Christ at work in the world today. In our own backyard I can now see dogwood, hydrangeas, lilacs, hostas, phlox, and herbs starting to show their colors. Every evening I go outside to smell the blooms, check on what’s growing, and sometimes to just sit and see the new life that is visible – growth that’s sprouting after the work of weeding, cleaning out broken glass (!), transplanting, and fortifying all the soil. I also love a drink under our twinkly patio lights with Peter, hearing about Sam’s latest craft project, or a game of badminton with Graham as a way to round out my day – all these spaces, new life in the ground and life-giving people I love, help me focus on the growth and beauty all around me.
This season at LaSalle we have many signs of life sprouting up in our congregation and in the community. I hope that you’ve been privileged to see and experience some of these yourself, and I wanted to share some of what I am lucky enough to witness on a daily basis:
We have 2 new neighborhood groups starting (and 2 more forming), Young Adult monthly meet ups established, and increased kids/fam attendance across several areas
I got to hear moving stories from several women at our afternoon Women’s Event that made space for story sharing, connection, and seeing one another across life ages/stages
We received a $100,000 grant to support our outreach ministries of Breaking Bread and NNUP!
We held our first Offering of Letters with Bread for the World and sent in over 40 letters advocating for funding the Farm Bill to strengthen domestic hunger programs – and were led at our prayer, art, and writing stations 100% by our youth!
We have several new tenants secured or in process in our Cornerstone Building and a tenacious team of lay leaders and staff helping clean and make room for increasing our occupancy
We have some new creative voices preparing to share in worship with us on Sundays, and the power of the Holy Spirit has been palpable in our music, prayers, and sermons throughout this season
We have interest growing in restarting our focus on white people’s work around racial justice and I’m so encouraged at the commitment and sight several in our Body have for this growth
We have another round of potential new members exploring the church this month, some baptisms coming up with our youth, and several graduates to celebrate in June
Our pastoral team has been privileged to hear stories of people who are healing, finding new friendships, and being encouraged by God at work in surprising ways!
We are in a season of growth Beloved – it’s a time of working the soil, seeing what blooms and thrives, preparing for what might shift or need to adapt next, listening to each other well, and trusting God who is the One doing all the growing and new-life bringing. It is also a time to be okay with naming places that need more tending, to feel and share with one another what’s difficult or feels like a loss, and to be comfortable holding the complexity of life growing right alongside spaces of questions, pain, or grief.
One invitation I want to specifically share with you this week is to lean in – both to where you see or are sensing new life, and to the places that you sense need more tending or someone to help carry what is difficult. And if you’re not sure where to start with the leaning in, I want to point you to one easy to access entry point: Pastors Brent and Julie have started a new focus on equipping the church, matching our people with places to serve, making volunteering and engaging simpler, and making sure we all find connection and community. You’ll hear more in the coming weeks about this focus, but if you sense any potential life around leaning in more, and you want to learn more – email Brent or Julie and they will follow up with information on where you can get involved, what teams need your gifts, or where you could feel better connected to this Body this spring. (bbailey@lasallestreetchurch.org or jwelborn@lasallestreetchurch.org)
New life is all around us Beloved – thanks be to God! - RevDoc Liz