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Dear MRC Family,

Eastertide blessings to you, beloved of God

It’s Pride Sunday! As we have done every year since 2016 (except the Covid years) we will be marching in the New Jersey Pride Parade, sharing God’s inclusive and expansive love for ALL God’s people in Asbury Park. This year is going to be even more fun as we are marching together with the Community Church of Keyport — two churches united in God’s love! Please note worship will start at 9:45 AM this Sunday. If you are marching in the parade, I will be sending out an email with logistics — where and when to meet — later this afternoon after I have a Zoom meeting with the organizers of Jersey Pride. Stay tuned! Also, I am making sandwiches to take with, so if you would like a PB & J or a turkey/Swiss cheese, or if you plan to bring your own lunch, let me know so I can make the appropriate number of sandwiches. Lastly, if you need a ride down with Jamie and me to Asbury Park after worship, let me know. 

Joyfully, I look forward to worshiping with you this Pride Sunday/Seventh Sunday of Easter at 9:45 AM. Tom will be leading us in our hymns and will sing the Anthem “Hope on the Horizon.” (Yes, indeed! May it be so.) I am preaching from Galatians 3.1-9; 23-29 — we are all ONE — and my sermon title is There Is Only We.

As we prepare to celebrate that we are all wonderfully and amazingly made this Sunday, I leave you with this Prayers of the People from the good folks of Room for All:
(Fun fact: Did you know we have been a Room for All church now for ten years?)

 

Holy Spirit, breaker of boundaries and binaries,

Forgive us when You arrive in ways we fail to recognize. We forget to look for you in others, to see that the many identities and experiences of our neighbors reflect the expansive Glory of God.
Come, Holy Spirit.

As wind fans flames, may our celebrations of diversity carry on and grow in strength throughout the year as you breathe life into us each and every day. For God’s Spirit is poured out upon all flesh, undivided by sex and gender, sexuality and asexuality, race and creed, ability and disability, youth and age.
Come, Holy Spirit.

From many lands, from many tongues, may our words foster connection and grow the beloved community we lovingly call your church. Let this day be the inauguration of an era in which we recognize and honor our differences, abandoning efforts to chastise or convert those who are unlike ourselves.
Come, Holy Spirit.

When the moment overwhelms us, and we cannot make sense of the whirlwind encircling everything and everyone around us, remind us of the faith of our ancestors. May we see one another through in solidarity.
Come, Holy Spirit.

When we misunderstand and are misunderstood, help us to seek clarity with compassion. Help us to imagine better futures, and interpret our dreams into actions. Be with us as we humbly strive to build a world where each and every person has what they need.
Come, Holy Spirit.

Thank you for your enduring presence, your faithfulness to every generation.

 

Keep following Jesus, beloved.

 

With gratitude for the privilege of being your pastor and the holy call of loving you,

Pastor Trish

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