Dear Edgeboro Family & Friends,
It has been wonderful worshipping outside with you and seeing (the top half of) your faces over the last month, and for those still worshiping from home, I pray that the warm embrace of God’s Spirit will remind you of the church fellowship of which you are a part.
Finding ways to be together to worship and observe baptisms and confirmations (in the near future) are meaningful accomplishments for Edgeboro, but there is still more to prepare. The Joint Board continues to discuss the ministries and events that are typically on Edgeboro’s fall/ winter calendar in order to discern if and/or how they can be done while keeping all involved safe. I am grateful for their commitment to both doing the work of ministry and prioritizing the health and well-being of their fellow church and community members.
You can find information about ongoing and upcoming events and ministries in the following pages of this newsletter, but I’d like to take this space to highlight one in particular.
In September 2019, many of you participated in the first annual Moravian Day of Service, the idea for which came from the 2018 Northern and Southern Provincial Synods. We began that day with a lovefeast and then split up to do a number of different service projects.
This year’s Moravian Day of Service is Sunday, September 20th. In planning for this, the Board of Elders realize that this year’s Day of Service will be very different than last year’s. Below is a suggested list of activities that you can do to participate. The Board of Elders created this list while considering service opportunities that could be done outside, with a limited number of people, at different times, or from your own home.
Here’s how you can participate on September 20th. (More details about these events to come.)
- Help prepare lunch to be shared at the Salvation Army.
- Join a peace walk as we travel to a few neighboring places of worship to pray for them.
Here’s how you can participate at any time during the month of September.
- Find a service project that you, your family and/or friends can do on your own or together.
- Decorate our outdoor worship space (the church parking lot) with sidewalk chalk before worship. (If need be, the church has a lot of chalk! Also, check the weather first!)
- Bring a can of food to donate to a local food pantry when you come to worship.
- Send the enclosed card to a church member you haven’t seen in a while.
As you find ways to participate in the Moravian Day of Service (or month of service!), you are encouraged to take pictures and share them. If you share them on social media, be sure to include #moraviandayofservice in your post. Moravians from all parts of the country will be doing the same!
As we are taught of Jesus we celebrate the faith built up by those before us and passed through us today.
Thus our lives are established in time and history. We know who we are called to be:
The church, empow’red in ministry to serve all people lovingly. Alleluia!
(Written by John T. Hicks. Hymn #434, Moravian Book of Worship)
May we serve together with joy this September!
Pastor Dan