Come worship with us this Sunday for the first week of Advent, the season we prepare our hearts for Christmas! You can participate online at this link starting at 10am: youtu.be/NHwtPZK4ZhE
As a church, we are always looking for ways to grow in our understanding of how our Christian faith is the foundation that leads us toward pursuing justice in the world around us. To that end, an interest meeting is coming up specifically for white men to learn and talk together about white identity and following Christ in antiracist practices guided by scripture. Sign up for the interest meeting and wrestle with questions like: what is our responsibility to our multi-ethnic church and to the global body of Christ? What does the Bible say about race, racial reconciliation and justice? Join other white men to explore biblical answers to these questions and encourage each other to love God and love our neighbor in our unique and changing times. Click here to give your input on a date for this first learning session: bit.ly/3FAiNKA
Yesterday Pastor Peter shared about several transitions on our church staff. This is a hard season, but we recognize that the strength of our community is not measured by whether we experience difficulty and conflict, but how we persevere through it. Please pray for unity in our community, for wisdom in how to navigate this season, and for grace for one another as we do.
You can learn more in this FAQ: bit.ly/2ZedFfG
Click here to pitch in by volunteering: bit.ly/30M3T56
And, you can reach out to staff and board! We appreciate your prayers and encouragement as we work hard in this season, and we welcome the chance to talk with you directly about questions or concerns you may have. You can reach us at info@rainieravenuechurch.org.
Advent starts next week on Nov 28th!
It's a time when we journey together towards Christmas in this season of longing and drawing near to Christ as we wait for His coming.
We are also aware that with covid complicating our ability to fit everyone into our in person services,
journeying and celebrating together is difficult to do. That is why we have created Advent Take Home Kits
in the hopes that we can feel unified and together despite being physically apart.
In this packet will include a devotional by A Sanctified Art, which has daily meditations, original artwork, and other interactive pieces created by women of color,
an advent tea candle set to use each Sunday through Advent, a candle to use during our Christmas Eve service, an advent arts and craft project, and more!
Please sign up here: bit.ly/3Hy5ax8, or call the church office at 206-722-5616. The kits will be available for pick up from the church office starting at 10am on Nov 24th and onward, or let us know if you're not able to stop by and would like a kit mailed to you. Let's take this chance to celebrate Advent together!
Join us for online worship today at 10 am!
youtu.be/qr-BnS-R_wA
If you were waiting on sermon notes today, thanks for your patience! Here they are: bit.ly/3qTChFT
We'll take communion this Sunday, before Advent season starts next Sunday, Nov 28. If you're part of the service online (www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr-BnS-R_wA), remember to get some kind of bread and juice ready for the end of the service. If you're at the worship service in person (please remember to sign up! bit.ly/3dNA0VC), the greeters will give you pre-packaged communion elements as you enter. Let's worship God together this Sunday as we remember Christ's death and resurrection bringing us together into God's family.
We are looking to hire an interim media coordinator! This person would help to prepare visual elements for our Sunday service, and coordinate sound and video volunteers on Sunday morning. This is a part time position. If you are interested, please email the church at info@rainieravenuechurch.org for a detailed job description!
For Thanksgiving, you're invited to give gift cards and encouragement to support young moms who are part of our partner ministry, YoungLives! You can help young moms put together a special Thanksgiving meal for their family. Gift cards for Safeway, Walmart, Fred Meyer, and Target are most helpful, in amounts up to $50. Please mail or drop off to the church office's secure mailbox, at 4517 S Juneau St, or click here to give online: bit.ly/3GVBwlc Please give or send gift cards by Monday so we have time to distribute them! You can also write a note of encouragement at the lobby table on Sunday. Thanks for taking the opportunity this holiday season to love our neighbors!
Apologies for all of the technical difficulties this past Sunday! If you weren't able to hear the sermon clearly, you can view it here where the audio is much clearer. Thank you for your patience!
A new short-term Small Group (Launch Group) begins this week! "How We Show Up -- Fostering Community" will explore the concept of community from a Biblical perspective, look at how we choose to show up in shared spaces, and also draw on materials from the work of Brené Brown, Mia Birdsong, Margaret Wheatley and others. Members will spend time sharing, listening, and in other creative activities to build connection and explore life in the church. It will meet in-person five times in Nov. and Dec. 2021 (vaccination requested), and we hope some or all of the group may choose to continue meeting after the initial five weeks. Contact the group's leader Melinda Anderson to sign up (or email us at info@rainieravenuechurch.org to connect with Melinda) or learn more or sign up for other Small Groups here: bit.ly/3neYFYb
I'm interested if it meets during the day M-Th?