August 2022: T is for Turtle
Dear Friends,
Greetings, at long last! We are so excited and grateful to begin this adventure with you all.
Earlier this week, on our first day as your co-ministers, one of us encountered an unexpected welcome on our way to church. As the car wound through the canopy of summer green along Route 2A, the humble line of morning traffic slowed to a standstill. Something was blocking the way. What first appeared to be a piece of debris in the road turned out to be, on closer inspection, a turtle wiggling her way across the pavement.
She took her time yet seemed clear on where she was headed. She had a certain gravitas. A passing cyclist dismounted to accompany the steady traveler safely across. Later, we couldn’t help but laugh at this omen, reminding us in our first-day jitters to trust the pace of the process.
In “onboarding” into any new position or season of life — be it prayerfully chosen, like a new calling or relationship, or imposed suddenly, like grief — adapting to a new situation can be overwhelming. Learning new systems can feel like drinking from the firehose.
At the same time, we’re trying to remember there’s no need to rush or master everything all at once. We have plenty of help from lay leaders and colleagues, and plenty of time to get to know one another, find our way to where we are going, and help one another cross safely.
As we wiggle into this shared ministry, let’s ask lots of questions, listen deeply to one another and the Spirit among and beyond us… and know that we’re on the way, steadily, together.
With love,
Kit & Nate
Summer Check-ins with the Co-Ministers
Your new Co-Ministers are excited to begin connecting with you and to hear what’s on your hearts and minds! If you’re around this month, here are a few opportunities to join Kit and Nate for an informal hour of conversation. To help guide our discussion, you’re invited to bring along a short piece of writing (a few sentences from a newspaper article, book, or poem) that has been interesting or inspiring to you recently. We’ll go around the circle and take turns sharing.
Friday, August 12 at 4pm with the Ladies’ Tea
Location: Under the pines at Pierce Park in Lincoln (weather permitting).
Bring along a short piece of writing (a few sentences from a newspaper article, book, or poem) that has been interesting or inspiring to you recently. As is our custom, we’ll go around the circle and take turns sharing. In case of rain, we’ll be on zoom.
Meeting ID: 867 1665 6358
Passcode: 594436
Tuesday, August 16 from 7:30-8:30pm on Zoom
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/98988338297?pwd=Z0ZuL2RwQnJkQ2JYcXNITnRRVjRMdz09
Thursday, August 25 from 12-1pm
Location: Stearns Room or rainbow chairs, weather permitting.
Bring your own lunch if you’d like!
Emails and Summer Schedules
Kit and Nate can now be reached individually at kit@fplincoln.org and nate@fplincoln.org. For joint communications, we also can be reached at ministers@fplincoln.org. Thanks to Silvia for getting us set up.
As we await our new offices we’ll be in and out of the Parish House and Stearns Room, but available Monday – Friday throughout August. Please do be in touch to set up a visit; we’d love to hear from you. We’re planning to attend the August 14 worship as well. (Stay tuned for more about our plan for office hours in the fall.)
Follow Us