Newsletter — June 7, 2022

Join us Sunday mornings for worship at 10:00 am, with the option of in-person or on-line worship. Masks optional for all activities in the church building, including worship. All are welcome!

You may also join us online:

Find worship live on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/spiritoflifeav
Join us live on Zoom by clicking https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83600960782
You can stream the service later either on Facebook or on YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC-G31isag0NKhIT0cat91qA

As Pastor Rob is starting his Sabbatical, he has challenged us as a congregation to work through the same book he will be using over the summer: “Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in our Busy Lives”, by Wayne Muller. There is an opportunity for you to join in with a group study of this book, if you are interested. Denise Lewis will lead it, and will be hybrid so our online congregants can join in. Here is the proposed schedule for study (tentatively planned for following worship, with the adult Sunday School zoom link): by clicking the link at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84136883066
June 12: Section 1, REST
June 26: Section 2, RHYTHM
July 10: Section 3, TIME
July 24: Section 4, HAPPINESS
August 7: Section 5, WISDOM
August 21: Section 6, CONSECRATION (Pastor Rob’s first Sunday back)

Emergency Pastoral Care Coverage while Pastor Rob is on sabbatical:

May 27-June 8: Rev. Kate Payton

June 9-11: Loretta Hunt

June 12-19: Rev. Kate Payton

June 20-July 17: Marge Braden

July 18-Aug 19: Loretta Hunt

Coffee and Conversation Mondays, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am.
During Pastor Rob’s sabbatical this summer, Bob Shepard will be leading the weekly coffee and conversation time with the above hours and using the same zoom link. Come as you are. This is a gathering online and in person. It is open for you to pop in and out any time so feel free to drop in and say hello. *Note, same login, recurring meeting each week. Join Zoom Meeting at https://zoom.us/j/286584190
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The session of elders of Spirit of Life is hosting our regular community PICNICS this summer while Rob has sabbatical. We ask those able to bring a side or dessert to share and the session will provide a main course. Dates will be June 26th, July 31st, and August 28th and the time will be approximately 11:15am (immediately after worship) with games in the backyard for kids and food and fellowship for all.

From Community Service:
– Spring has sprung! The Community Service team is looking for help in weeding our many flower gardens. If you would like to spend some quiet time outside, please contact Chris Sachs or sign up on the clipboard in the back of the church. We will establish a schedule with volunteers signing up for a week when they can do it at their convenience. Thanks!

– The Community Service committee has planted the donation vegetable garden. This garden is a ministry of the Community Service committee, and all produce from the garden is delivered to the Rosemount Family Resource Center food shelf. Our deliveries will be weekly, and up to twice weekly as the garden starts to really produce later in the summer. If you are interested in being on the list of helpers, please contact Denise Lewis.

– Our LITTLE FREE PANTRY has been of great use to our neighbors and is in need of frequent replenishment! We can now resume contributing canned items as well as other non perishables. Donations may be left in the little pantry or in the cabinet inside the church entry. Many thanks for your wonderful support of our pantry and neighbors!

Spirit of Life was offered the opportunity to purchase a classroom set of used guitars, at a steep discount. With Session approval, these guitars were purchased and are now in our possession. There are plans in the works to incorporate options for group guitar lessons into Meet in the Middle programming, and 12 guitars will be available for participating students to borrow for lessons. But, that still leaves an extra 12 guitars that are available for purchase for personal use; 4 church members have already requested the opportunity to purchase a guitar, so there are still 8 guitars available for sale. The cost is $70 per guitar. They are beginner Yamaha CGS104A full sized, nylon string classical guitars. (Classical are smaller than full sized steel string–good for smaller hands). New, the cost of the equivalent of this guitar is approximately $150. Used, between $90-$100; so this is a good deal. The guitars come with a case; there is wear and tear on the cases, and all of the guitars should have the strings replaced, so you would be purchasing them “as is”. If you are interested in purchasing a guitar, please contact Denise Lewis.

From the Presbytery, by way of the Justice Works committee:
FREE interactive webinar: “Beyond Despair & Toward Repair: faith, racial justice and finding our call to action”
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Who: Crossroads Organizers, Jessica Vazquez Torres and Rev. Shawna Bowman
When: Saturday June 11th, 2022, 10:00-11:30 AM
Have you ever said to yourself “this is all too much!” or wondered why progress hasn’t brought the causes justice further along? Have you ever found yourself wrung out and unclear what your faith can say in moments of great stress or upheaval? Join Jessica Vazquez Torres and Rev. Shawna Bowman from our consultation partners, Crossroads Antiracism Organizing & Training, as they engage us around how we as Christians avoid pitfalls like complacency, impatience, and despair in the face of the ongoing harms of racism and other forms of structural injustice. Taking real examples from history, they’ll lead us in conversation around what it looks like to play our own faithful role in the call to bring about justice today.

If you are looking for ways to help the people of Ukraine, here are a couple of effective organizations that are working to bring relief:
– Church World Service, which sponsors CROP Walks, also works in the areas of disaster relief and refugee resettlement and is actively responding in the Ukraine crisis. You can read about their efforts and donate here https://cwsglobal.org/appeals/ukraine-crisis-response-fund/
– Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is also actively involved, and you can read about their response here https://pda.pcusa.org/situation/ukraine/

If you have a prayer request you wish to share with our Spirit Care Prayer Team, please email our deacon, Chris Sachs. Word it as you wish it to be submitted, and we will post it for our prayer team.

2022 Per Capita is $36.50