Mealtime Learning

Dear Friends,

One of the things I loved about you when I first arrived last summer was how many of you were already asking about soup suppers during Lent. It was clear that last year’s series on outreach and the organizations we serve organized by Deacon Mimi was a stunning success. (I have been too many places where this is not a tradition!) It was a conversation with the staff of GELC that planted the idea for this year’s soup suppers. They were really interested in having someone come and speak about the spiritual life of children. My colleague, and head of St. John’s School, Steve Springer was available and from there we built a series featuring guest speakers and our own clergy about the spiritual life in all walks of life.

Lent is a season of preparation. Last year you focused on those you serve in the name of Christ. This year I elected to have us look inward and consider what it takes to give us hearts and souls that are prepared to serve with grace, hope, and love. As younger generations frequently remind older folks, you can’t serve well if you are stretched too thin spiritually, emotionally, and physically. As a smaller congregation we have enormous hearts to serve that can also exceed our capacity to do it well.

This is our time at a simple soup supper on Tuesdays in Lent at 6 pm to gather for food, brief conversation and then to be filled in another way about the presence of Christ offering us refreshment and rest. This about these Tuesdays as “mini-retreats” for us. And, thank you to all of the wonderful folks who have offered to make soup to nourish our bodies. Walking the Pilgrim Way of Lent

God's peace and keeping,

Mary +