Suffering and Glory
June 23, 2019 – Nathan Dickerson
1 Peter 4:12-19, Psalm 63:1-4, Luke 9:18-24
Abigail Westbrook has joined our team!
Abigail Westbrook, a long-time member of Restoration, has joined our staff team as the Sunday Coordinator of Kids’ Small Groups. Here’s a glimpse of her heart which will help you understand why we are all so happy she’s here loving and shepherding those in our nursery.
Teach me work
Teach me work that honors thy work,
the true economies of goods and words,
to make my arts compatible
with the songs of the local birds.
Teach me patience beyond work –
and, beyond patience, the blest
Sabbath of thy unresting love
which lights all things and gives rest.
-Wendell Berry-
I love this prayerful poem in which Berry asks the Lord to “teach him work,” specifically the kind of labor that honors His work.
Remember your first job ever? I bet you do! It was likely the first in a series of jobs, each one that brought some kind of lesson or experience. Work can be a great teacher.
My first job was Sundown Gardens, a landscaping business where I grew up in Carmel, Indiana. Great first job. Hard (and hot) work.
Much of my work in recent years has been with elementary children, but these days I’m teaching much smaller scholars, particularly toddler types. I’m grateful for this new role working alongside Louise at Restoration. I am beginning my acquaintance with these precious “local birds.” I am meeting families at Restoration as well as leading and working alongside a beautiful team of women who faithfully show up each Sunday to care for our kids.
Berry’s poem is my prayer for you, too, in your work. Lord, may our work honor your handiwork: your creation, our fellow image-bearers. May we learn to recognize the songs of our “local birds” so that we can better serve them and sing along. We seek your shalom, “the blest Sabbath of thy unresting love.”
May you walk in this truth: we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which He has prepared in advance for us to do.
-Abigail-
Posted by Louise Brooks on Jun, 21 2019 | 1 commentsSummer Small Group!
Hi, all!
Scott Buckhout here. I am back for the summer as a Pastoral Intern, and I am excited to be worshipping and serving Jesus alongside you for the next couple of months.
Last summer, I hosted a mini-workshop on creating a personal Rule of Life, and a lot of folks showed up. Way more than I expected. But afterwards, folks wished we could have had more time to create their own personal Rule of Life.
So this summer, beginning June 27, I am hosting a small group on Thursday nights where each member will have the chance to craft their own personal Rule of Life. You can sign up for the small group here!
What is Rule of Life?
Great question!
In 534, St. Benedict was an abbot who wanted the monks in his monastery to live a more “ordered and stable” life. He wasn’t the first abbot to try such a thing, but he was the first to create a rule of life for monks that was actually livable. The monks under his care flourished and grew spiritually as they put his rule into practice. There are still Benedictine monks to this day living by the Benedictine rule for life.
Today, Rule of Life is a tool to help Christians take stock of their life in order to live faithfully, create intentional goals, and measure our progress toward our God-given callings, goals, and responsibilities.
Ok. Great. But why should I have one?
Again, you ask really good questions.
If you feel like your life is overwhelmingly busy. Or if you are in a season of questioning and discerning different aspects of your life. Or if you feel like you are doing things you don’t want to do and never getting to the things you actually want to do. Or if you feel like you have been in a spiritual rut and not growing, crafting a personal Rule of Life can be a helpful way to press pause, take stock of where you are going and what you are doing in order to see if your life reflects God’s best for you.
I know for many of us “Rule of Life” sounds restrictive or legalistic, especially when we tie it to faith. But despite the title, it’s actually the opposite. A Rule of Life is meant to give you freedom.
It certainly isn’t the only thing you can do. You can go for a walk, call a friend, pray, lift weights, take a deep breath, journal. But some of these things might be habits you want to regularly incorporate into your daily schedule and rhythms. A Rule of Life will help you find a place for them in your already packed schedule… 🙂
That’s the gist.
Ok. I am sold. What are the deets?
Awesome! Sign up here!
Beginning June 27, we will meet on Thursday nights (7:30-9pm) at Restoration in the Fellowship Hall. There will be snacks.
Each week we’ll tackle a different aspect of life, whether it is relationships, work, our spiritual disciplines, the way we treat our body, the way we spend our money, etc.
We’ll pray together. Read Scripture together. And ask some questions that will help us reflect on ways we can trust God with every aspect of our lives. Also, did I mention the part about the snacks?
Do I need to bring anything?
You, a Bible, and a journal.
Also, I learned about all of this from a good friend and mentor named Steve Macchia who wrote the book on creating a personal rule of life. I’ll be using it to structure our time together. Feel free to buy a copy for yourself if you want to go deeper. It is very well done!
Again, sign up here, or email me – scott@restorationarlington.org. Feel free to reach out with any questions!
Hope to see you this summer on Thursdays!
-Scott-
Posted by Louise Brooks on Jun, 20 2019 | 1 commentsWarden’s Report: June 2019
The Wardens’ Report: a brief summary of highlights from monthly Vestry meetings, designed to provide information about our growth, finances, priorities and progress towards our strategic plan.
At our June 18th vestry meeting, we enjoyed dinner together and prayer before starting the meeting. This month, Brad Jones led us through prayer which included a time of intercession and prayer for Isaiah Brooms, our Director of Youth Ministries. We prayed that above all every middle school and high school student who enters Restoration would know how precious they are and how deeply loved they are loved by the amazing God who created them. We prayed over and gave thanks for our youth leaders without whom APEX would not be possible. We gave thanks for how APEX has grown in the last year. We prayed over Isaiah’s final coursework as he finishes seminary and gave thanks for all he has learned during his intensive year of study. We prayed for Isaiah and his family that they would grow together as a family and they would have peace and rest. Additionally, we prayed for those sick in our community, for the hiring of a new Director of Worship Arts, for wisdom in our budgeting process, and for the Strategic Plan (Restoration 2025). As always, we invite you to join us in praying over the staff, vestry and all of God’s work on Quincy Street.
In our meeting, we received an encouraging update from Incarnation Anglican Church and gave thanks for the hard work Incarnation has done to grow into the church that it is. We began thinking and praying about who will represent Restoration as Delegates at the DOMA Synod in November.
David Hanke led us in a discussion of our Strategic Plan (Restoration 2025). We spent some time reviewing the survey results we collected last month (thank you to all who filled out the survey–every comment was noted!) and then pivoted to next steps. We continued a discussion that we began during a vestry brunch with +John Guernsey about what we dream for Restoration in five years (and beyond) and what we believe God is calling our church to do and to be. We are grateful for the work of our Strategic Planning Advisory Team and welcome your prayers as we continue working on this plan.
Brad Jones, our treasurer, led us through a financial report that showed May giving was 24% over projections bringing our current annual offerings received to just 8.75% below projections versus the 12%-below that we’ve been experiencing for several months. We are grateful for this news and the generosity of our congregation–thank you. Brad also presented two options from our finance team for fiscal year 2020 (Restoration’s fiscal year runs September to August). The vestry will vote on the budget at their July meeting. They are currently looking to hold our budget steady (which is essentially the FY18 offerings budget) or make approximately 5% in cuts compared to the FY18 budget.
Johanna Montague, one of our wardens and our liaison with our personnel team, gave a brief update on the hiring process. We are thankful for the hiring of Ryan Goyer as our new Communications Coordinator. Ryan has been in the Restoration office for training and officially joins our team in July. We are in the interview process with several candidates for the Director of Worship Arts position and we ask you to join us in praying that we find the right candidate for this position. Finally, we are delighted to have Scott Buckhout back as our summer intern.
If you have questions, concerns, words of wisdom or encouragement, please know that we are open to your feedback. You can read an archive of past Wardens’ Reports on our website or Vestry Meeting minutes on CCB, under the ‘Files’ tab in the ‘Entire Church Group’
– Chris Belen and Johanna Montague, Wardens
Posted by David Hanke on Jun, 19 2019 | 0 comments
Silent Soaking Prayer – June 30
“How can I pray for you?”
It’s a genuine, loving question, but so often I don’t know how to respond. Sometimes I have something specific that is easy to articulate like I’ve been sick, or my job is difficult, or someone I love has died. But more often than not, the longing, fear or pain deep within me is beyond descriptive words, and I just sheepishly smile and shrug, uttering, “Just pray.”
I find such comfort in Paul’s words to us in Romans 8:26, “…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” The Holy Spirit interceder is always at work in prayer, and especially I think, when we are praying for one another.
On Sunday evening, June 30, from 7:30 – 9:00 p.m., Restoration will host a night of Silent Soaking Prayer in the Fellowship Hall. It’s an opportunity to enter into a quiet, restful space where you can be still and prayerful before the Lord.
If you’ve never been to an evening like this, you’ll notice the lowered lights and soft, instrumental music in the background. There will be chairs set-up around the room in addition to mats and blankets on the floor. You can sit wherever is comfortable. You may want to bring your Bible or a journal. And if it’s helpful, you may write your confidential prayer requests on a note card we will provide and set beside you. Four or five prayer ministers will circulate the room, praying silently for individuals.
To feel the presence of another near you, praying for you, but not be distracted by their audible words has been an incredibly holy experience for me. Instead of trying to understand what they were praying and if they really understood my needs, I was, instead, able to open my heart and ears to what the Lord was saying to me in the depths of my soul. It’s healing and restorative.
I hope you’ll consider coming,
Beth
Posted by Beth Tipps on Jun, 13 2019 | 1 comments
The Matthew 25 Gathering Video Re-Cap
Hey Restoration,
Remember those snowy days back in February when we hosted a bunch of Anglicans from around North America who are doing works of justice and mercy? You all were incredible hosts. You served and served and served- praying, driving people around, putting people in your home, cleaning up, setting up, showing up. I am still so grateful. I think about you doing what you did and I break out in smiles. Thank you again.
The Gathering was 4 months ago and lots has happened since, but it is a 2019 highpoint for me- especially when I think about the joy I had as we rolled up our sleeves and partnered together.
One of our good friends created this video summary of the Gathering. It will be shown next week at our Anglican Church in North America Provincial Assembly. Thousands of people will get a chance to see what happened here in February. I wanted to give you a sneak peak and to say again, thanks.
With you in it,
David
Posted by David Hanke on Jun, 13 2019 | 1 comments
I will pour out my Spirit
June 9, 2019 – Bishop John A. M. Guernsey
Acts 2:1-18, Psalm 104:24-31, John 20:19-23
