With gratitude and sadness, we announce that our talented music director, John Lewis, will be leaving our church to pursue a new opportunity at Newtown United Methodist. John has served our church for the past year and a half, and during this time, he has enriched our worship and strengthened our community in countless ways.
Even during my short time here as your pastor, John’s gifts have blessed my own time of worship here at Berwyn, and I am sure he has done the same for you through skillfully directing our choir, playing the organ beautifully, and using his talented voice to sing modern worship music during our special music time. He has also brought in other musicians to share their gifts and bless our worship, making our services even more special and memorable. John’s passion for music and dedication to our church have been evident in all he does. In addition, he has been an excellent leader and mentor to our choir members, encouraging them to reach their full potential and inspiring them to share their love of music with our congregation.
As we say goodbye, we want to use this time as an opportunity for reflection and renewed evaluation of our worship and music ministries. We want to evaluate our current practices and explore new possibilities for our worship. We are excited to see where this journey takes us and look forward to sharing our progress with you in the coming months. In the meantime, we are talking with organists that have played for us in the past to guide our worship music and ensure potential fits of their gifts and our future plans.
During the summer months, many of us travel, and our schedules are more flexible, which gives us the perfect opportunity to explore new possibilities for our worship. We will experiment with different music styles, locations, and worship styles to see what resonates with our community.
Some of the ideas we are exploring include holding dog-friendly worship services in our outdoor worship space, having a dinner church where we gather around a meal and share our faith, hosting a hands-on sensory worship experience called “messy church” and incorporating contemplative worship practices into our services.
As we embark on this journey of experimentation and discovery, we ask for your prayers, attendance, support, and feedback. Of course, not everything we try will work, and not everything that works will work right away, but as we prayerfully step out in faith following the Holy Spirit, we know that we will experience God working in our midst in new ways.
There are two direct actions that you can take as we embark on this summer of experimentation. First, as we offer new worship styles, invite your friends, family, and neighbors. This could help to grow the community and help new people experience the presence of God. Second, there will be various new opportunities to serve during worship, including setting up and tearing down, greeting people in new ways, and providing refreshments. Watch for emails and our website for upcoming worship and serving opportunities.
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This post was orignally published in the May 2023 of the Lighted Cross. Please use the links below to view the full newsletter.
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