A Word from Pastor Nathan

After 20+ hours of airport delays, I’m back in Ohio and in the church office! Thanks be to God! Travel always feels liminal to me. For example, over the holidays, I seemed to have one foot in Texas and another in Ohio. The beginning of a new year is also liminal. We’ve left 2022 and are entering a new year full of promise and possibility. Liminal space has something to teach; it can be transforming.

Washington Avenue Christian Church is also entering a new year, fiscally speaking, as our financial year follows the traditional calendar year. Since November, our standing committees and elders have been hard at work discerning budget requests that will empower our ministry as we witness to the future God wants and ultimately will have. The Stewardship Committee culled the numbers and developed a budget that was presented to the Board at its December meeting. Following worship this Sunday, January 8, we will have a congregational meeting to affirm the very good work of our lay leaders. As we enter this new year, we find ourselves on a liminal landscape: We hold with us all the ways that we have been church in the past as we strive to be a faithful and faith-filled congregation in an age of change and doubt.

Tomorrow (Friday, January 6), you will receive an email from the church with a link to a YouTube video that the Stewardship Committee created along with the help of many lay leaders. You’ll hear about our aspirational budget and see the summary. This video is transparent about our financial realities and shows forth a commitment to live within our means and be sustainable for future generations.

Though we face certain challenges, my heart is full of hope. The tension between challenge and hope is liminal space. What a transforming witness we will continue to have from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth as we continue to embody the very best, most beautiful, gospel-good news of Jesus Christ.

Peace abundant and every good wish,

Pastor Nathan