Dear Christ Church,
In a nutshell, here’s the good message of Christian faith: “God is love; the love that is God is crucified love; we are called to friendship with the risen Jesus; we cannot love God if we do not love each other; and we live out our love from the community created by the Spirit” (from The Love that Is God, by Frederick Bauerschmidt).
Do you see the centrality of loving relationships to our entire faith? It starts with the very definition of God and ends with loving others in and from community. On August 27th we will hold our annual Fall Kickoff, highlighting excellent opportunities at Christ Church for group life. Leaders and information will be available to tell you all about their groups! This is the “bread and butter” of community life at Christ Church; I invite and encourage you to join a small group this fall to grow in friendship with the crucified and risen Jesus, love for others, and life in community created by the Spirit.
On another note, our youth have been immersed the past week in “Love Where You Live,” a week of spending their days in the heat of Austin serving our city, church, and neighborhood, and having loads of fun along the way . . . from belly flop contests, to blessing our neighbors experiencing homelessness under the bridge and praying with them (some of whom are parishioners who worship with us), to cleaning up around the neighborhood and serving at the neighborhood Baptist Community Center, to pickleball breaks on our church basketball court. We have an amazing group of youth!
Lastly, registration is open for the Women’s Retreat, coming up soon on Labor Day weekend! Join with other women of Christ Church for a time of growth and friendship, a great way to meet new people, make new friends, and deepen old ones.
Peace,
Cliff+