A MESSAGE FROM REV. LINDSEY ALTVATER CLIFTON:
BEGINNING OUR LENTEN JOURNEY
Dear ones,
This Sunday, March 2, we welcome our Transitional Pastor, Rev. Karen Kinney! I’m sorry to miss her first Sunday with us, but Laura and I will be away for a long-planned Winter Survival Trip in Cancun. As a reminder, the congregation is invited to an informal Meet & Greet after each service. Please plan to stick around after each worship service to enjoy some refreshments and conversation with Karen in Fellowship Hall.
This week, Karen will be preaching on the 
Transfiguration story and celebrating communion at both services alongside Suzanne. She also arrives just in time to celebrate the Lenten season with us, beginning with an Ash Wednesday service in Fellowship Hall on March 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Like in recent years, we are using liturgical resources from A Sanctified Art, a talented group of mostly Presbyterian clergywomen, to guide our Lenten and Easter journey. This year’s theme is Everything In Between: Meeting God in the Midst of Extremes. I invite you to read their description about the series and the accompanying devotional below.
Blessings for the next steps in the journey,
Lindsey
___________
This year, we’re letting the Gospel of Luke guide us through Lent. Beginning with Jesus setting his face toward Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), this worship series flows through several familiar stories – the Good Samaritan, Mary and Martha, the fruitless fig tree, the Lost Sheep, Zacchaeus, and more. Many of these stories are well-known in both sacred and secular imagination and hold significance in pop culture, church history, politics, and everything in between.
As we studied these scriptures, we were struck by how Jesus’ ministry disrupted the established social, political, and religious divides of his time. Jesus intentionally pointed out cultural and political extremes to emphasize the radical, inclusive, and surprising love of God. When we study these stories in their historical and cultural context, we see how they mirror the divisions many of us experience in our families, churches, and communities today.
Our theme, “Everything In Between,” invites us to navigate the polarities in our lives with more faith, intention, and openness to be transformed. You will see that each weekly sub-theme explores two supposed binaries, like “faith & works” or “rest & growth,” or “grief & hope.” We often consider these ideas to be opposing. However, as we explore these concepts within the scriptures, we find nuance and complexity. We find that these dichotomies are false. We might begin to see a full spectrum instead of black and white. We might find that God is present in between.
And so, this season, we invite you to look beyond black and white binaries and easy answers. We encourage you to notice the dichotomies that define our lives, but also imagine where God might be meeting us beyond the categories we create. This Lent, we’re trusting that God shows up in shades of gray, rainbow hues, and everywhere in between.