From my vantage point on the platform Sunday, my heart swelled when I saw children coming back into the classroom after having been outside. This was the first Sunday since March of 2020 that children have been here. Thank you to the families who brought your kiddos, and my prayer is to see more families in the coming weeks.
We have a new event happening on Friday night! It is the first of hopefully many Coffee House and Open Mic offerings. If you or someone you know has a gift to offer, please bring them. The doors open at 6 p.m. and the first performer will be starting at 6:30ish… Wayne Smith will be the man to see when you arrive. He will be lining up the performers.
Lots of good programming happening, and you don’t want to miss anything!
The message on Sunday was the third from the book The Third Coming by Rev. Jim Rosemergy. The meat of the talk was asking the question, “Are you an explorer or defender?” What are we fundamentalist about? All of us are, in some areas of our life! It may be in our eating habits, physical fitness, or some of our beliefs.
I tell the story of Bishop Carlton Pearson, who was once an evangelist preacher with a congregation of 5,000 to 6,000 people. He fell from grace when he started preaching that there was no hell that people were going to when they died if they hadn’t done right by the Lord.

Sister Lucy Kurien
His wake-up came when he was watching the news and saw women and children walking back home during the Rwanda crisis and he knew, because many were Muslim, that they would go to hell, based on his theology. He had a moment of clarity and knew that what he had been preaching didn’t hold water. These women and children were in hell, here on earth. I will leave the rest of Bishop Peason’s story for you to watch if you missed it on Sunday.
This coming Sunday I am so excited to welcome Sr. Lucy Kurien from Maher Ashram in India. It has been a few years since we have had her with us. Please come and welcome her back as she shares with us the news from Maher. She will update us on the expansion that has been happening, new programs, as well as how they dealt with the pandemic.
So once again, I am in awe of the vibrancy of our community, and it is because of you! Your energy and your tax-deductible financial support, which is used to continue to build this amazing and loving spiritual community.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, staff, and myself, we are so grateful that you practice the amazing law of giving and receiving, knowing that as you give joyfully to the source of your spiritual enrichment, you open yourself to receive abundant and incredible gifts of the Spirit.
You are a blessing in my life,
Rev. Patricia Bessey