The month of May has been full of fun new beginnings and starts at Emmanuel. Quite literally, Emmanuel Farm is full of starts. Go down and wander through to see all the future veggies. The peas are already producing. Another start down at the farm has been some volunteers from UW Bothell, joining us through the new partnership that we have started with the UW Community Engaged Learning Program. Join the fun on Saturday mornings in the farm.

On May 31st, we had a Growing Deeper Lunch after church with 7 folks who are newer to Emmanuel and interested in growing deeper in community and possibly membership. Elders Dawn Cook, Chris DeKay and Steve Colwell attended as well and shared about community life and the history of EPC. It was a wonderful time spent getting to know one another a bit more.

Finally, at session, we have started to take time to think about our values, vision, and mission together. Our goal is not to change who we are as a church. We are doing this work to celebrate and recognize who we already are and what our superpowers are for one another and for our community. In short, we are seeking to notice, name, and nurture the gifts of the Spirit that God has given us as a community for connection with God and one another. At our May session meeting we identified love, kindness, and welcome / belonging as core values along with Hope, Refuge and Service.

At our June session meeting we did a vision activity, which you all can participate in as well. A vision statement is written as a picture of a hoped-for future: vivid, hopeful, and specific. It should feel like something worth devoting your time and energy to help it flourish.

Vision Activity— Letters from 2035

Purpose: To imaginatively inhabit the future God is calling Emmanuel into and to surface the specific hopes and longings each of us carries for this congregation and community.

This activity invites you to step ten years into the future and look back at who Emmanuel has become. The imagination is a theological tool—the prophets used it, and so did the apostles. We are not predicting; we are praying with our pens.

INSTRUCTIONS
Take 8–10 minutes to write a short letter—just a paragraph or two—in one of the following voices. Choose whichever feels most natural to you:

Option A — A letter from a longtime Emmanuel member in 2035, writing to a friend about what the church has become over the past decade.

Option B — A letter from a newcomer who found Emmanuel in 2035, describing what drew them in and what they found that has caused them to stay.

Option C — A letter from a neighbor or community member in 2035, describing what Emmanuel’s presence has meant for the neighborhood.

Write freely. Don’t edit yourself. Let yourself hope on paper.

SHARE
I would love to hear your letter. Send it to me via email, mail it, or drop it off in my box in the office. Then I can share it with the session as we continue to seek God’s face by noticing, naming, and nurturing what God is doing in our midst.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Patrick