From the Pastor – June 2017

It all started with a handful of Playdoh…
The members of our “Designing Your Life” small group
were sitting around the table in the upstairs conference
room. At the first session of our group study of
“Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful
Life” by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, Keri Olson, our leader,
invited us to take some Playdoh from the basket.
Throughout the six week study, each time we arrived for our weekly session, we placed
our personal container of Playdoh in front of us. Some made creative shapes during
the two-hour session. Others kept kneading it like bread dough, reshaping and reforming
our neon-colored lump. Working with Playdoh while discussing that week’s assignment
helped kept the creative flow of ideas going.
Clay is the humble predecessor to Playdoh. The Bible uses the image of clay to talk
about our relationship with God. “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay,
and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” (Isaiah 64:8) Playing with
Playdoh is relatively easy. It is much harder to allow God to refashion and rework – reform
– us into the image and likeness of Christ. That means giving up thinking we always
need to be the ones in charge. It’s more challenging – yet much more rewarding
– to allow God to reshape our lives. God does this in many ways. One way is through
the community of faith. It’s so good to have friends in faith – like people we meet at
church in small groups like the one Keri Olson led — to encourage us in this journey of
transformation.
I’m grateful for Keri Olson’s leadership of this small group. Our time together got me
thinking about the ways God is shaping us as a congregation — transforming us even
more into the image and likeness of Christ. Pat Bullard, and the other members of the
Administrative Council’s “Design Team” have taken on this work of discerning the ways
God is at work among us. The next meeting of our team is Monday, June 5 at 5:30 p.m.
in the pastor’s office. All are welcome. I’d be happy to sit down with anyone who is
curious to learn more about our church’s “Design Team.” I’ll even bring
along some of my Playdoh to share!

Love in Christ,
Pastor Marianne