Beauty in Community
“I made it beautiful with abundant branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden in the garden of God.” – Ezekiel 31:9
Dear Friends,
On this, the coldest day we’ve had in some weeks… the construction of our DeZomba Garden has begun!
Over the next week or so, the landscaping along the front of our property – facing Pike Street, that houses both the historic bell and the church sign, will be upgraded as part of one of the final parts of our renovation project. This is the next step in maintaining the beauty and welcoming front face that Markus Solobay has been tending for many years now and we want to thank him for all the time and effort he has put in to it over the years. Previously, having no funds to put towards its maintenance, Markus did an exceptional job of curating our face to the community.
The new Garden will continue to include lawn and annuals, as well as river rock, but will add benches, pavers and additional ornamental grass, unifying and further beautifying the front of our church. The work is expected to take place over the next ten days, meaning we will be completed two weeks before Easter!
In addition to this, last night we welcomed in six new members and on Sunday we will celebrate their joining in worship in our SINGLE 10a WORSHIP SERVICE! Following that, I want to invite EVERYONE to join us downstairs to meet and greet and mingle and connect and continue to welcome each other! In fact, I’d love it if everyone went a little further – go ahead and bring a little appetizer or dessert to share – let’s blow this up on Sunday and have an extra special, extra BIG Fellowship hour! We’ll be all together, let’s take it a step further and GROW together!
There’s something beautiful when we add in a mix of all different people and ages and stages and stories and share. It was wonderful last night to have deacons and elders and staff gathered together to welcome in these new members – we had toddlers and retirees, youth and young adults, and we shared the love of Jesus by just being together. It was beautiful.
In the DeZomba Garden, we’ll be showing off that beauty to the community too. We’ll be reminding them, both that we are seeking to be a community of beauty, a community of love, a community of joy, a community of peace – and that we are making room for them to experience that among us! One of my favorite parts is going to be the benches – we’re literally making space for people!
I look forward to sharing in this with all of you – the beauty and goodness of God in our midst. Let’s celebrate it this Sunday – bring some treats to share!
Welcoming You to Grow in Jesus – one beautiful moment of sharing at a time,
Pastor Don