Interview

This Sunday I’ll be doing an interview/dialogue sermon with Rev. Lane Campbell.  Lane is a young white woman who is co-leader of the Columbus chapter of SURJ – Showing Up for Racial Justice.  This is the group that helped organize the public action Mark, Austin, and Adam spoke of last Sunday.  SURJ is also hosting a training/teaching/skill building event this Saturday and Sunday, hosted at First UU.  Lane is one of the pastors at First UU, and comes at this work from a faith perspective.  I’m looking forward to the dialogue, and glad to be the one asking rather than answering the questions.

Renovations

This Sunday is also our last time worshipping in our building before renovations begin on the front of the sanctuary and the kitchen.  The project is on track to begin this coming Monday and will go into the first days of September.  The opening song in Hymnal a Worship Book (HWB) presents a theology of place with these words: “What is this place where we are meeting?  Only a house, the earth its floor, walls and a roof, sheltering people, windows for light, an open door.  Yet it becomes a body that lives when we are gathered here, and know our God is near.”  Anabaptists have always emphasized that the church is the people and not the building, so while our building undergoes some changes in order to better serve people, we’ll keep being church.  Please give attention to the announcements (bulletin insert and email) about what will be the same and different during renovations.

Vacation

Also starting Monday, our family is taking a two week vacation…  This is a coincidence as we’ve had it on the calendar for a while and renovations were originally scheduled for May.  The first week we’ll be at a family cabin on Lake Michigan, then we’ll be in Columbus, likely making some day trips around the area.  I’ve found that it’s hard to take 2-4 day vacations with pastoring, but the larger block of time will enable me to unplug.  I’m not sure how much extra sleep one gets on a vacation with three children, but it will be good to enjoy unhurried and open days together.