What is prayer? Why do we do it? How do we do it?
These are questions that pastors hear from time to time. If you’ve ever asked any of them, consider coming to a two-week class led by Pastor Catherine Neelly Burton. The class meets on Tuesdays, July 26 and August 2 at 6:30 pm in the Grace chapel. Together we read prayers, talk about prayer, raise our questions about prayer, and we pray.
Some described the summer of 2020 as a summer of racial reckoning, others as a summer of racial unrest. As individuals, as a church, and as a society we learned the names George Floyd and Brianna Taylor. We saw protests nationally and right here in Wichita. Members of our congregation committed to reading articles and books and watching movies related to race. We gathered and discussed. Corporately we have not talked much since then.
Yes, our book club has read and discussed books related to race and religion. Individuals in our congregation have certainly done this. This summer the Christian Discipleship Team invites you to a study of the Belhar Confession.
At first glance, a study of one of the confessions in the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) Book of Confessions may not sound like it has anything to do with race, but it does. The Belhar Confession comes from the Uniting Reformed Church of South Africa. It was written in the early 1980’s as a statement of faith and as a form of protest against the sin of apartheid.
We studied this confession after the PCUSA approved it and added it to our Book of Confessions in 2016. This summer we do the same study but through the lens of what has happened in the United States since then. Does the witness of the Uniting Reformed Church of South Africa have a word for us today?
There is a book for the class, and the cost is $5. Books are available on Sunday mornings or in the church office. If you can’t come to all of the classes, that’s okay.
Questions? Contact catherine@mygpc.org.
During the month of June we use the Ecumenical Lord’s Prayer translation in worship. Like many of you, I (Pastor Catherine), love the Lord’s Prayer that we say each week in worship. It is in my bones. I am not trying to take this away from us, and we return to it in July.
The reason for using the Ecumenical version in June is to remind ourselves of the expanse of God’s church. We begin June with Pentecost Sunday when the Holy Spirit is poured out and the church of Christ begins to take shape. In celebration of the ways the church takes shape in the world, we use this translation this month.
Each month we invite you to participate in ‘yellow bag’ giving. This month our yellow bag donations go to the food pantry at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Wichita.
All non-perishable items are welcome, and these would be particularly helpful: canned fruit, applesauce, sugar, tuna, mayonnaise or miracle whip, ranch dressing, and ketchup. Take home a yellow bag when you’re in the building and bring it back with your donations.
Please remember to be aware not to donate open food packages, long out-of-date items, or items that do not have a long shelf life. Thank you to everyone who participates in this much needed mission of Grace.