Dear Blooming Glen Friends,  

It’s good to be back with y’all.  Your prayers for our health and well-being, for rest, for time with children and grandchildren, are all appreciated.  Our oldest grandson, Jake, is home with his mom and dad after a week in hospital.  His kidney functions are slowly returning to normal.  Your prayers have been instrumental in his recovery – thank you. 

During the spring and summer, I’ve been trying to think and pray about transitions at Blooming Glen.  As I launch into an unexpected extension of service with you, and as we together work to move forward into the implications of new realities, there will be a lot of transition.  The church in North America is in transition as it finds itself scarred with various scandals, weakened by post-Christendom, challenged by chronic COVID, and troubled by the digital Babylon that is rich in knowledge, but bereft in wisdom.  The transition in front of us as a church is actually a series of transitions:  How do we engage family life to be rich in wisdom-bearing?  How do we curate worship to speak across all our developmental cohorts?  How do we form adults to make discipleship a vocation?  How do we coach one another to fulfill the great commissions of Jesus? How do we care for one another in the challenges brought about by life? 

We’ve sought to answer some of that through what we’ve called “Sounding Boards.”  The goal of these five gatherings has been to provide opportunity to develop, convey, and begin to implement ideas related to Blooming Glen’s five core ministries:  family life engagement, curating worship, adult formation, coaching mission, and pastoral care.  We’ve had a (mostly) good experience with these sounding boards as they are forming the backbone of efforts to establish benchmarks for congregational health as we go forward. 

This fall, we will continue this process of inviting ideation to take root in the congregation by hosting on-going, “Core Ministry Round Tables.”  These Core Ministry Round Tables will extend the initial effort of the sounding boards, by moving from a general conversation of values, vision, mission and innovation to a broader and deeper conversation related to specific pieces of our life together. 

On Monday, September 18, you are invited to participate in a Core Ministry Round Table on Family Life Engagement – parents, grandparents, and other interested adults are invited to come together for some resourcing (7:00-7:30 pm, and 8:20-8:30 pm) and then split into some breakout groups (7:30-8:20 pm) to participate in discussions about ministry plans with Children’s Ministries, JMYF, and the MYF. 

On Monday, September 25, you are invited to another Core Ministry Round Table – this one on Curating Worship for Advent, Christmastide, and Epiphany.  A similar format of a plenary resourcing event, followed by breakout groups, is envisioned. Both Core Ministry Round Tables are open to everyone in the congregation.   

Let’s join for discussions that focus on opportunities that create possibilities, as we seek to do more of what works, and do less of that which we do not do as well. 

For however long this next chapter is that we share together – it is good to be back with you. 

Love you, Church! 
Pastor Jeff
jeff@bgmc.net

PS -  The weekly listening opportunities continue!  I’ll be at the Rise & Grind Café on Friday, September 1, 2:00-3:30 pm (note the earlier time; Rise & Grind is open until 4 – as long as they let me stay inside, I’ll be there). This enables you to also visit Perkasie’s First Friday activities (I hear there’s a chili cook-off this month … bring your favorite hot sauce!).  On Monday, September 4 (which is Labor Day), I’ll be at the A&N Diner, 7:30-8:45 am.  I’ll be back at the Broad Street Grind in Souderton on Friday, September 8, 3:30-4:45 pm. These are opportunities to dialogue with me about whatever is on your mind.  I look forward to our discussions.