Cultivating Conversations Around What Matters

A good conversation can inspire, heal, provoke, change, soothe, renew, reconcile, redirect, reveal. The list goes on. Perhaps this is one reason why Jesus said “where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.” Mt. 18:20. We find the face of Christ and hear the voice of Christ in one another. This past Sunday, I invited people to write down conversation topics about things that matter, things that they’d like us to explore as a community.  Are you curious what your neighbor three seats down was scribbling on that little piece of paper?

Some of the questions were theological….

“What lenses are we using to read and hear our scriptures?”

“What’s the dealio with hell?”

“Speaking in tongues, what WAS that all about?

“The movement of the Holy Spirit and the supernatural work of God in our lives – how do we partner with that?”

Some were deeply spiritual…

“What does it mean to truly walk towards the Well?”

“What to do when you don’t know who or where God is anymore?”

“When our faith is under deconstruction, and parts of our faith is outgrown or has died, what to do?”

Some named elephants in the room that need our courageous attention…

“Technology, air travel/consumerism/climate change, toxic masculinity.”

” LGBTQ membership/leadership”

Some focused on our relationship with the denomination…

“How can we find a creator rather than a victim posture with our denomination?”

“What does our future relationship with our denomination look like?”

Some focused on our relationship with one another…

“What does friendship look like at Southpoint?”

“Why is it hard to grow spiritual friendships at church but easier elsewhere?”

“How can we better support each other without using lack of time as an excuse?”

“How do we balance being a low program church with making sure we are engaging with one another?”

Some focused on our vision, identity, and sustainability as a church…

“What is a realistic “dream” of the church we want to be?”

“Let’s have conversations around  finances, involvement, leadership, burnout.”

“How can we encourage more volunteerism?”

We are exploring ways to hold space for these questions. If you would like to suggest a question, curate a conversation around one of these questions, or host a conversation, please contact Anne.

Ride for Refuge

Tim Emanuels & I have signed up to ride 50km to help vulnerable youth, with a fundraising goal of $2500!

The ride is Saturday, October 5 and you can sign up to ride/walk (or donate) right here: https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant /TeamFundraisingPage.aspx?teamID=874853&langPref=en-CA

Thank you for helping us reach our goal!

Jen

Volunteer Opportunities

Please consider the following ways you could be involved in the lives of our children and youth:

– teach our younger Saplings class 2 times this Fall (grades 1-4)

– teach our older Saplings class 2 times this Fall (grades 5-8)

– be a helper in our Sprouts class (age 3-6)

– invite the grades 5-8 kids over for a games night or our for mini golf once this Fall

At Southpoint we are a low programmatic but we really value relationship.  This doesn’t happen without intentionality.  Please consider investing in one way with our youth and children this Fall.

Please talk to Angela (angneufeld@gmail.com) if any of these areas seem do-able for you.

Thank you.

Fall Sunday Calendar

9/15 – The Void
         Gen 2:1-25

9/22  –  Hope  
         Eph 3:14-21 

9/29 –  Freedom
         Gal 5:13-26

10/6 –  Friendship
         Prov. 27:9, 17

10/13 –  Defense Systems
         1 Thes 5:6-11

10/20 –  Vulnerability
         Colossians 3:12-14 

10/27 – ALL OUT –

11/3 –  Actions
         1 John 3:16-24 

11/10 –  Responsibility and Accountability
         Gal 6:1-6

11/17 – Inspiration
         Romans 12:9-21 

11/24 – ALL IN: Christ the King Sunday –  Joy
         John 15:1-17

Have an Announcement?

If you have an addition you would like included in this newsletter, please send a prepared announcement as you would like it to appear to: office@southpoint.ca by Tuesday and we will get back to you.

Prayer

If you have a need for prayer that you would like to pass on to the prayer chain, please contact John Hardy.
johnandwendyhardy@gmail.com