Dearly beloved,

This Sunday is Pentecost, often viewed as the birthday of the Church. It began on the Jewish festival of Shavuot. It is both a festival to celebrate the first harvest as well as the giving of the Torah. It falls 50 days after Passover. Pentecost is the Greek translation of this festival and as we hear in Acts 2, the disciples and many others had gathered in Jerusalem for this celebration.

As Christians, we celebrate it as a different kind of harvest – as the Spirit of God moves through these early disciples, the harvest of faith is gleaned and shared with others. Gods Spirit is God present with us in this moment. The Spirit moves among and through us to share the Good News of Gods love and grace. We share these fruits of the Spirit with a world that needs to know and experience the presence of God.

This Sunday, we celebrate the ways that God is working through our church. We will witness the affirmation of faith by three of our young people: Solomon Bettcher, Zachary Duben and Jonathan Sciarra. You are invited to wear red (or flame-like colors) as a sign of the Spirit.

Join us in this celebration of faith!

Peace in Christ, Pastor Jen