Beloved Friends and Families with Kids,
This is a great week in the life of our church! Tomorrow is our Mardi Gras potluck after worship, so we hope you can join us for a time of food and fellowship. We also invite you to join us for our Ash Wednesday service on February 14th at 6:00pm in the Chapel. Each year we gather to set the tone for the season of Lent and engage in practices that ground us in God's love alongside our fragile humanity. The service will include the imposition of ashes as well as intercessory prayer, singing, and confession. I look forward to moving through Lent with our church family.
Below you will find some information about a Lunar New Year celebration event at a museum in Pasadena today. I thought I would also share this writing by Jeff Chu about the history of the zodiac signs and the communal focus of various Lunar New Year traditions. May we see our interconnectedness and communal life as a calling and a source of hope. Enjoy the read!
Youth Retreat
Yay! We are heading up to Big Bear on Friday, February 23, for our annual Winter Youth Retreat. We will return in the afternoon on Sunday, February 25. Here is an online registration form. Please fill that out as soon as you can so that I can get a final count for purposes of accommodations. If your youth needs a scholarship in order to attend, please do not hesitate to reach out. We never want cost to be prohibitive, so please just let me know what your family needs. Jensen, Brianna, and Michael will be joining us for a wonderful weekend away, and we can't wait to spend quality time with our youth!
Feeding the Youth
If you are looking for ways to spread some love to our youth and you enjoy cooking, then we would welcome a contribution from your kitchen to take to Big Bear! We will also be bringing some bulk store-bought snacks and other food, so we don't expect you to feed us the whole trip. This is really a chance for kindness to be shared. Trust me when I say that food is one of their biggest love languages, and we will receive anything on this sign-up sheet as a great act of generosity.
Local Engagement
Celebrate Lunar New Year today with others in the City of Pasadena at the USC Pacific Asia Museum on Los Robles Ave. This event goes from 11am-3:30pm and features traditional dances, storytelling, calligraphy and food trucks.
The City of Pasadena and the Black History Planning Committee are pleased to announce the 42nd annual Black History Parade and Festival on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, 10am-4pm with the theme “Past, Present, Future: Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Jackie Robinson.” The parade begins at Fair Oaks Avenue and Mountain View Street. See flyer for more details.
SUNDAY
KIDS
Our nursery room is open this Sunday for babies and toddlers four years old and under. Childcare will be open starting at 8:50 AM for those who are attending Sunday School before service. This week our nursery kids will continue to explore the story of Daniel. Don't forget to grab a take-home sheet with some simple ways to engage the story at home.
Our kids five to ten years old will join us in the sanctuary for the start of worship and then be dismissed to head to their classrooms together. They can begin service with their families or sit with Pastor Mary and me in the front pews. This week we will talk about various images of love from scripture and our lives, and we'll make some Valentine's to share with others. It's going to be a fun morning as always with our kids!
Discussion Questions for the Table at Home:
What are some powerful images for you when you think about what love is?
What are some moments when you felt loved in the last week?
What acts of kindness and love do you enjoy sharing with others?
YOUTH
This week the youth will join the church for our Mardi Gras potluck! We'll be back on for our regular youth gathering next Sunday.
Have a wonderful weekend, and thanks for being such a special community of families!
With deep affection for you,
Pastor Lindsay