2023 Fall Season
Harbor is cozying up with a new Fall Curriculum that gets us asking questions.
Read below to learn about it and all events we have planned to ease us into the mindful and communal theme of the season.
Harbor will walk through an 8-week study series that gets us to ask questions of ourselves and each other. Every two weeks we will sit with a different larger prompts that will allow us to explore how we can connect to each other in more meaningful and present ways.
Be sure to pick up a Study Devotional Journal from the Sanctuary! This material will be used on Sunday Gatherings, weekly group meetings and in special events over the course of the series.
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Harbor's Fall Events
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All Hallows' Eve Karaoke & Slumber Party
All community welcome to join us for Halloween themed karaoke, dinner and a movie in the Sanctuary. Children & youth welcome to a sleep over - please contact Pastor Janette for any questions or more details: pastorjanette@harborchristianchurch.com
Ancestor's Feast
You are invited to join us for ancestor's feast in the sanctuary November 5th at 5:00 p.m. Please bring a dish for the potluck that connects you to your ancestors in some way.
Read the whole and moving invitation below by expanding the text using the ( >) symbol.
An invitation from Elder Chair, Caroline C Kauffman
Ancestor's feast is an opportunity to remember and celebrate those who came before us during the time of the year when the veil between the living and the dead becomes very thin. We give thanks for the lives that created ours. We give thanks for their strengths, their vision and the burning fire of God's love that led them through their lives, that we might get a chance to live on this plane. And we know, as we strive to create God's kingdom here on earth, that those fractures that were not mended by our ancestors reside in us. We actively love our ancestors to more perfectly learn to love ourselves. We rely on them to help us through our struggles because we know that they struggled in many of the same ways. We trust that they are dedicated to our success and that they are our greatest allies in our work of following Jesus' example for liberation for all.
We invite you to take stock of your ancestors. Your parents, grandparents, great grandparents and possibly even great great grandparents. This is a time to remember those distant relatives of note, those you know and those whose names are forgotten but who's immigration to this country changed our family's lives forever. While many of us were born here, we are a nation of immigrants. We know that the seeds of our families were planted in other soils. Other landscapes, other cultures and other languages. Different religions, some similar and some unrecognizable from what we understand God to be today.
Anyone who has shaped us and has passed over is to be remembered on this night. Those ancestors of your spirit and mind are as holy as those of your blood.
We will take stock and we will remember. We will bring pictures and stories and foods that remind us of those ancestors or help us to know them in a new way today. You are invited to join us for ancestor's feast in the sanctuary November 5th at 5:00 p.m.
Heavenly Parent and all of our ancestors, of our blood and our hearts, We know that you led your lives seeking Liberation, connection safety and abundance for us. We also know, as you know, that some of the ways in which you pursued those very human goals were coming from a place of woundedness, limited perspective and were ultimately damaging. So now we are atempting to do what has not been done in time memorial, heal from our separation from the land and spirit and form a union that reflects that wholeness. With your love support and inspiration, we seek to be fully ourselves, as we nurture others to be fully their own selves in all of our diversity of expression and needs. We know that each of our expressions is an expression of Gxd and therefore holy. Our needs are Gxd given and therefore holy. We seek real health for our spirits and bodies and for the Earth that is an extension of ourselves and of You. We heal with your help, all the way forward and all the way back. Amen and Blessed be.
Sallims & Harbor Thanksgiving Potluck
Join us following Sunday service for a Thanksgiving Potluck with Sallims Church. Bring your favorite traditional thanksgiving potluck dish to combine with traditional Korean food for a unique and special seasonal celebration.
Visio Divina Bible Study
We hope you’ll join us after worship on October 22 and November 19 to share in a study of the art from our curriculum series, I’ve Been Meaning to Ask. We will gather in the Ackelson Room after worship and Pastor Sadie will lead us in this contemplative study. On October 22, we will look at the following art pieces which can be found in your study guide: Four Rivers of Eden by Hannah Garrity Come & See by Lauren Wright Pittman Seen by Lisle Gwynn Garrity Medical Miracle by Hannah Garrity
On November 19, we will look at the following art pieces which can be found in your study guide: Break Open by Lisle Gwynn Garrity Paul in Prison by Lauren Wright Pittman Flow of Humanity by Hannah Garrity Ever Wider by Lisle Gwynn Garrity
Thanksgiving Vespers Special Service
This year, we are trying some new things! Join us tonight for a special Thanksgiving Vespers Service where you will be led by Pastor Sadie and Elder Chair, Caroline Kaufman in a creative worship experience. Come ready to experience new things. Come ready to share your love and gratitude with the community. Come ready to enjoy yourself! We will gather on November 20 @ 6-7:30 pm. We won’t have a meal, but we will have cookies and warm apple cider to share.
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Community Call
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Reminder to bring a photo with you for Sunday Gathering of any Saints from your life you wish to honor on All Saints' Day.
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Holiday Greens Fundraiser
From Caroline C. Kaufmann
If by chance you think you would enjoy festive winter holiday greens in your home or work this December, please consider buying them through Hazel's school as a fundraiser. I'm very involved at her school and feel passionate for the pedagogy. The county recently granted our petition for a TK through 12th grade charter making us the first public Waldorf TK through 12th grade charter School in the nation!
Please use the link below to buy your winter greens. They are always fresh and beautiful and they would be delivered directly to you. Thank you so much for considering this request!
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Luminary Mason Jar Call
Many of us at Harbor are used to seeing our walkway aglow with candlelight each Christmas Eve. We are asking for donated glass, transparent jars beginning now so we can truly set the mood for our special service.
Bring any jars you have available each week to the back table near the tithes and offering plate where they will be collected each week. Thank you!
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Thank you for reading our 2023 Fall Newsletter!
If you were reading in the recommended order, this is the last article.
If you would like to read more about Harbor, please feel free to explore other posts on our main Blog page.
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