Good morning church!
Today is the Sunday of Pentecost which connects Christians throughout the word, across all human divisions, such as race, gender, age and what not. The Holy Spirit of God knows no such dividing lines. We are celebrating this Sunday with our dear friends from Dorado. We met them two years ago after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. In 2018 we sent a small group to the island to help restore a Lutheran Camp that had been damaged and to work on homes in the community. The camp has since been used as a volunteer center for the recovery effort. We are still proud of the paint job we did to the main building. It looked like new after we left! During that trip, we found not only many good things to do, but most importantly, good friends. We went back the next year with a bigger contingent of people. We hosted some of our friends here in North Wales. And we had plans this summer to work together on projects in Philadelphia. We had to postpone those plans because of the pandemic. But this morning we bring to you a worship service that we recorded together yesterday, one of the big advantages of modern technology. The distance of roughly 1,600 miles between here and Dorado means nothing to the Internet. We hope you enjoy the service. As always it will be posted this morning on our website and on Facebook, no later than 9:00 a.m.
This Pentecost Sunday also brings a sad reminder that the big wound of racism in our country is not healed and was just re-opened by the events in Minneapolis. Please let us pray that the Holy Spirit, who bears fruits such as peace and self-restraint but also inspires a desire to seek justice for all, will bless people across the country. You may also want to read what our National Church and our bishops are saying about this. See below and take their words to heart.
ELCA Reaffirms Commitment to Combat Racism and White Supremacy
In a statement released Friday, the ELCA Conference of Bishops said that “the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) reaffirms its commitment to combating racism and white supremacy following the recent murders of Black Americans. Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Dreasjon (Sean) Reed, and George Floyd were our neighbors. … As the Conference of Bishops, we condemn the white supremacy that has led to the deaths of so many unarmed Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color in our country. We grieve with, pray for and stand in solidarity with the families and friends of all whose loved ones have been and continue to be victims of injustices run amok, racist violence and the insidious venom of white supremacy.”
As always, I am including my message and the script of the service to this email. Please DO NOT FORGET that this is the last day of our community-wide food drive. You can drop off food donations anytime between now and 7:00 p.m. at church. The donation bin is located in front of the Fellowship Hall. Keep it coming! This food drive will end tonight.
We thank you so very much for your ongoing support of St. Peter’s and your contributions. You can use the church envelopes and send them in or you can use the online giving option below, which is also featured on our website. THANK YOU!
Be safe and be well,
Pastor Andreas Wagner