Dear Ones of St. Columba's,

A few years ago we made a video called "St Columba's: Church at the Crossroads." We named our little promotional video this way because St. Columba's is located at the crossroads of four cities:  Kent, Des Moines, Auburn, and Federal Way. Chances are good, that if you are reading this and a attend regularly you live in one of these four cities. (And, we love and value our Seattle, Burien, and Renton members too!)  So we chose this image of a church at the intersection where four cities meet.

Now, three years later, we are at church that is still at the crossroads. Only now we are at the crossroads of more than just four cities. Now we sit at an intersection where people with different skin colors, different countries of origin, different political views, and different economic realities all come together to make, be, and serve our community. This is a rare and beautiful thing. This is also a challenging thing, and sometimes it is frustrating.

Last week in our gospel lesson we saw Jesus name out loud (in a rough way, even) the intersection of ethnicity and power that he found himself in, with the gentile woman asking for his help. She responded with honesty and courage, and her daughter was healed. 

As we celebrate the beginning of a new program year, of new school years for our children, and the beginning of the colder, darker part of our calendar year I am hoping that we will also find the courage to name all the joys and challenges at this intersection of identities, experiences and dreams that is our church community. I also pray that as community we will continue to stand and serve our neighbors who struggle with homelessness, addiction, and food insecurity through the ministry relationships we have forged over the past several years. 

And so, as our prayers of the people for the coming weeks say, let us begin again. Begin again to host our homeless neighbors, begin again to meet each other in worship, service, learning, and prayer, begin again to discover in ways new and old how our God meets us at every intersection in our lives and offers us hope and challenge, healing and relationship.

I am so glad to be at this crossroads with you.

with care and gratitude,

Alissa