As seems to happen every year in Rochester, the summer goes too fast. And while I hate to see it end, I’m looking forward to the fall. Not only is it another beautiful time of the year, it’s a time when people who have been away for the summer come back to church.
We are calling September 7, “Back to Church Sunday.” In a way, it’s a bit of a misnomer. Many have been in church throughout the summer—worshiping, studying the Bible, participating in various programs — yet on September 7 many activities that took a breather during the summer are re-starting. In addition to welcoming everyone back, we will have an “Involvement Fair” following both the 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. services. This will give you an opportunity to sign up to be a part of a small group and/or Bible Study, to learn more about other opportunities to serve both in the church and in the world, and to sign up to serve. There are lots of exciting things happening at and through Aldersgate. I hope to see you there. And remember, this is a great day to bring your unchurched friends and neighbors with you, especially those we’ve been praying for during the past year.
On another note, the group that is working on the intentional discipleship process (which is the thing we decided to work on first from last year’s study of “Remember the Future”) read the book Simple Church and met on August 7. At that meeting we identified three primary aspects of being a disciple that we want to build our process around. They are love God, love others, and serve with joy. The team is meeting again on September 8 at 7 p.m. to look at the first of these—how we can help people come to love God or love God more. If you are interested in helping in this important work, please let me know.
See you in church!
In Christ’s love,
Pastor Anne