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I have two very different things to share with you this week.

First, I want to share a little joy based on the worship community at Aegis that has been forming over the last six months or so. There are several people who worship regularly both on Wednesday at Aegis and on Sunday at church, some who trade off worship days, many who have visited Aegis from church and now one who has visited church from Aegis. I especially want to share with those who worship at church and have never visited worship at Aegis this week, though, to give you a glimpse of the impact that this new ministry is having. During one of our worship services at Aegis earlier this month, we were telling the story of Jesus’ baptism together in an ecumenical group, including people from Lutheran, Pentecostal, Baptist, UCC, Greek Orthodox, and Methodist traditions. Most had been baptized as babies but one as an adolescent and she told us about her baptism and the witness she gave as a 16 year old at her baptism. Another told us of visiting a church where a baptism was being observed by full immersion and the joke that his neighbor made when he said he was sprinkled, telling him he was “dry cleaned” at his baptism. Then there was one person who hadn’t been baptized, telling us that she’s a new Christian and still learning what baptism means and thinking about whether she wants to be baptized. It was such a holy conversation with laughter and honesty and excitement to learn about each other’s traditions. We talked about how John Wesley described baptism as a means of grace and we all felt that it was indeed in that moment an opportunity to be touched by grace. My reason for telling you this story is so that, even without visiting, you are aware that the ministry at Haller Lake is shaping a new ministry, and that that new ministry is also shaping me as your pastor and others who will also shape worship back at church as well. There is a reciprocity through God’s grace that is holy.

Second and much less spiritual in nature, I want to remind you to always be suspicious about emails you receive, especially if they are from me directly to you, asking you to do something unusual without explanation. In recent weeks, several people in the church have received emails like the one below that looks a little like it is from me, but it is not. Please delete these and do not reply or click on them. You can tell it’s not from me because my email is wrong. Anything that’s really from me will be from pastorlaura@hallerlakeumc.org. Also, the ending of the where a signature would go is not my normal signature. Finally, I rarely start my emails with a prayer. If something looks off, it probably is. If in doubt, call my cell phone using the number in our church directory.