please pray

please pray for the grieving community of university baptist church in waco, tx. their pastor, kyle lake, died sunday during a baptism due to electrocution.

kyle was friend to many and an influential leader in the emergent movement.

lynnette has listed links to several blogs and news reports here.

october reflections

the well went quite well this month and we had a much bigger turnout than at previous gatherings. thanks to all who participated in the gathering.

our theme this month was "finding GOD in the desert" and the family life center was turned into a desert landscape with around 700 pounds of sand. rather than a traditional sermon, pastor ken edwards facilitated a conversation in which all of us contributed. We also worshipped through song and hymns, creed, interactive prayer stations, communion and even shared refreshments throughout the service.

we will post more reflections with pictures sometime this week.

if you're reading this...

then you care about the well. if you're in the nashville area come this thursday. and here's the real challenge: tell five friends or co-workers you care about to come to the well this thursday. our attendance has been really low and we need your help to assure this service continues.

the well october - this thursday

it's been a while since the last blog!

our next gathering is THIS THURSDAY at 7 pm. our theme is "finding GOD in the desert".

we will fill much of the family life center with sand as we focus on the good and bad about desert times in our lives. ken edwards and david teel will facilitate a conversation with the congregation. we will have six or seven worship stations including the art station.

join us at 7 pm as we all contribute and create worship through discussion, music, liturgy, interactive prayer stations, food, and a whole lot of sand.

we will set up in two shifts:
1. wednesday night at 7:45
2. thursday starting at 2:00

items needed for the well

we still the following items (you can have your personal items back after the well) for october's well gathering:

• baby food jars
  
• small pool / baby pool
  
• portable personal cd player
  
• large bags of sand (beach sand)
• large cacti (that would be the plural of cactus)
  
  

things we need at each well gathering:

• large persian rugs (for future well gatherings)
• candles
• candle holders
• canvas drop cloths

leave a comment if you think of something else we need or would like to donate something or email me at ecoomer at comcast.net. (spelled it that way to avoid spam).

finding GOD in the desert

this sunday at noon we will meet to talk about october's well gathering. everyone and anyone is welcome to come and discuss our next gathering over food and drinks in the special studies classroom in the adult wing of grace umc.

our theme this month is "finding GOD in the desert" and we will be discussing the desert times in our lives. we touched on this in july but we will focus on it this month. our conversation will be centered around finding GOD in the desert times.

between now and then think about the following and bring your ideas:

• scriptures
  
• liturgy
• visual aids
  
• video & movie clips (feel free to bring a dvd or video)
  
• artwork (print it out if it comes from the internet)
  
• songs (from the church and from the world) & hymns
  
• prayer stations
• other ideas

let's get the ball rolling. leave a comment here with ideas.

here's how to comment:

1. click "comments" below this blog.
   
2. write what you want.
3. click "other"
4. type your name in the name box and (if you have one) your website in the website box
5. in the "word verification" box type the squiggly word that is above that box. it will be something non-sensical like "lymonf".
6. Click "publish your post".
   

saturday - to be or not to be?

forgot to mention that we considered seriously whether or not we should change the night to saturday and were in agreement that it would probably work better for a monthly gathering.

the question is when to do it.

should we go ahead an do it this month? the date would be october 29. trick or treat?

taking the offering

we started to talk about offerings at well gatherings and never finished. considering we spend money it is something we need to discuss. i think we could do one of the following:

1. take a traditional offering (but use wooden baskets or something like that) and as we announce the offering say, "If you are a regular attender of grace umc, we'd like for you to give what you can to help us keep the well going." something like that.
2. or...get a wooden box with a slot and place it by the door.
3. any other ideas?

from today's well planning meeting

Here's some of the stuff we said in today's meeting:

1. theme for thursday, october 27 well gathering - "finding GOD in the desert" (read more here and leave comments). this is a change.
2. all-church wednesday night well gathering (probably christmas time - december 21?)
3. sign-up sheets (with theme for following month listed) for different areas of involvement at the well gatherings by door.
4. coffee, drinks, snacks, etc. at the well
5. what else?