Sundays like the one we experienced this past week are great days. The church was filled with excitement and teeming with anticipation. Both services. Baptisms and new commitments to church will do that. The wonderful part about Sunday's events was the way that history, tradition, and newness were blended to create a contemporary tapestry of the people of God we are becoming.

Ben Honeycutt's baptism reminded us of the history and tradition of some of the families that have long been associated with the ministry here. That ministry and those families have formed much of who we are. The new members who committed themselves to membership in this congregation Sunday represent the newness that God brings to the covenant community. Neither history and tradition nor newness is more important than the other. And neither are they mutually exclusive of each other.

The language that Paul uses in the letter to the Ephesian church is representative of the inclusiveness that must exist in Christ's church. "... until all of us come to the unity of the faith and to the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ ... from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love " ( Ephesians 4: 13, 16 ).

Ben's baptism speaks to generational connection in this community of faith. New members speak of the continued importance of our community branching out. Together they witness to the unity of spirit and purpose that is necessary for Christ's body to grow into a vibrant, healthy congregation of people who seek to be like Jesus.

Let us continue the march to embrace our future ? confident that God is preparing our way and is preparing us. Together. Joined. Knitted. New and old. One people. On the Way.

Grace and peace,

pastor Mark