Between Sundays: Becoming a Courageous Community
This week, in the middle of a world that can feel noisy and uncertain, we are choosing to celebrate something steady and hopeful: who we are becoming together.
As a congregation, we continue leaning into the call to Love Boldly, Serve Joyfully, and Lead Courageously. And this Sunday, we get to see those words come to life in some very tangible, beautiful ways.
During Family Time this past Sunday, we explored what it means that each of us is wonderfully unique. Using simple materials and bright colors, we watched separate pieces slowly connect, blend, and grow into something even more beautiful together.
It was a small moment, but it said something big: our differences don’t divide us, they deepen the beauty of the whole.
That’s the church.
Not uniform.
Not identical.
But many lives, many stories, many gifts, held together by God’s love.
And this Sunday, we’ll witness that truth in two powerful ways. We will celebrate baptism, the moment we remember who we are and whose we are. Before we say a single word or do a single thing, God has already claimed us as beloved. Baptism reminds us that belonging comes first. Grace always comes first.
And we will place Keepsake Bibles into the hands of our 3rd graders, a milestone that marks their growing faith and curiosity. There is something sacred about watching a child receive Scripture for the first time, knowing that these stories will shape their hearts and imaginations for years to come.
Water and Word.
Belonging and becoming.
These are the quiet, faithful ways God forms a courageous community. Because courage doesn’t usually begin with grand gestures. It begins right here, at the font, around the table, with a Bible in small hands, with a community promising to walk alongside one another. In a world that often feels divided, these practices root us again in what matters most: love that lasts, service that connects us, and faith strong enough to grow together.
Thank you for being part of this story. Thank you for showing up, praying, serving, and loving one another so well. I can’t wait to celebrate with you this Sunday.
Until Sunday and all the days between,
Dr. Hutton