Thoughts from
Jim Teague,
Director of Communications
Have you noticed that Jesus and the Apostles used a variety of methods when healing the sick and accomplishing other miracles throughout their ministry on Earth? Sometimes the miracle was done through the laying on of hands. Other times, it came from the spoken word or declaration. Jesus once even used mud to make a blind man see!
Just as they never found themselves constrained by a “that’s the way we’ve always done it” mentality, we at FPCE have always done our best to put our commitment to mission before our loyalty to method.
Last week, the First Pres Session announced the approval of our new Sunday morning schedule, which gets put into practice on September 7. It’s been so fun to hear your commitment to reach the next generation reflected in the comments made to the FPCE staff.
I know some of you are really excited about these changes while others are a bit uncertain about them. As a staff, we get that and we hear you!
These changes came out of an extensive effort by members of the Our Church, Our Families Council in coordination with the Adult Discipleship Council and Community Life Council. The end result was a proposal approved unanimously by the Elders with their focus on the necessity of change for the sake of reaching the youth and children of our surrounding communities. We thank you, too, for your heart for the next generation!
This coming Sunday, we embrace another change as we “take the show on the road” and move our worship service outdoors to Evanston’s Dawes Park at 10 a.m. (weather permitting). Why, you may ask, would we move our Sunday service down the street to the park? Well, a) it’s a nice way to be just a little more visible to the community, and b) our annual all-church picnic follows immediately after the service, and a park by Lake Michigan is a great place for a picnic!
We really hope everyone from the First Pres community comes out to attend both the service and the picnic. Details for both are available here.
I’m looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible this Sunday at the park!
In Christ,
Jim Teague
FPCE Director of Communications
