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This week has brought two opportunities as your pastor that I want to share.

First, as you are probably aware, I was not in worship on Sunday at Haller Lake UMC because I was at Ronald UMC and someone from Ronald was preaching at Haller Lake. I received such a warm welcome at Ronald and met so many people who were excited for our time together. Many people came up to me and immediately talked about the people we knew in common. Some even introduced themselves as relatives of members of our congregation. You’ll see some of those pictures elsewhere in this newsletter. The experience of doing something new in a new place with different people wasn’t without hiccups, but overall I felt like they were genuinely excited for the chance to welcome someone they didn’t know. At one point, as the liturgist and I were talking about the service before it started, I heard a familiar voice from my past above the others say, “Laura?” I looked up and saw a young woman who I had first met when she was a five-year-old in my daughter’s kindergarten class. She had later become a student in my chemistry class, after which I also had her brother in class and have kept in touch with her parents. I didn’t know that she is now married to yet another of my former students and living in Shoreline. What started as an opportunity to be welcomed to a new community as a stranger quickly turned into a chance to renew a relationship and to hear the stories that I had missed in the lives of people with whom I hadn’t stayed as closely connected. The Holy Spirit was at work in bringing me to that place on that day for those connections to become real. I also give thanks for the ways the Ronald community reached out with warm welcome, showing up without guarantees that there would be good reason to do so, which set the stage for the Spirit’s work. I pray that you had similar experiences with our guest preacher and musician last Sunday and will again next Sunday.

Second, on Monday this week, our Faithland Team, including Carol, Jon, Doug, and I, made a presentation to the Sea-Tac District Board of Building and Location about our progress toward possible development of affordable housing on part of the parking lot. One of our consultants from LPA was also in attendance as well as two of the Superintendents on the Bishop’s cabinet. Overall, the presentation went well and their recommendations will advance us toward the goal of identifying a development partner who shares our goals and with whom we can design a future of mutual thriving.

They asked us really good questions that will take time to fully answer and gave us their recommendations for the next phase that we are entering into, of identifying a potential development partner for our project. Some of the questions they asked were technical and oriented toward specifics. Those aren’t the ones that were most thought-provoking. The more thought-provoking ones included:

  • What is the congregational capacity to manage a project of this magnitude?
  • How are the congregations in north Seattle planning for a future of bringing United Methodist witness to the community together and how does this project contribute?
  • What if you aren’t able to complete the project you design?
  • How will your congregation respond to set-backs, delays, and obstacles?
  • If the project succeeds, how will it benefit your existing faith community?

These are important questions that we need to wrestle with as we put the finishing touches on the Request for Proposals from interested developers and begin to hear from those who are interested in interviewing for the opportunity to partner with us. We give thanks for the wisdom and experience of those who serve on this board and in this way.