Worship June 2018
One of the best parts of the General Assembly week for me is often worshipping in a local congregation. On Sunday, June 17, I was able to worship with the PC(USA) certified Earth Care Congregation LoveJoy United Presbyterian Church.
We were transported from the convention center in downtown St. Louis to Wood River, IL to join this congregation for worship and for conversation over a delicious soup, bread, and salad meal. Worship was lively, creative, lovely, faithful and welcoming to children, members, and strangers alike.
While walking through the church halls, I also noticed the wonderful aspects of their creation care ministry, from recycling to fair trade coffee, to sharing eco-friendly cleaning supplies (homemade) to stocking their food pantry and having beautiful plantings outside.
Great thanks to God for this wonderful congregation and their ministry inside and beyond their church walls. They do indeed share Love and Joy throughout creation, and their story of being a number of congregations who intentionally decided to unite in ministry and community was an inspiring one. Thank you for the difference you are making in God’s world!
This Wood River Church is a pioneer. God bless them as they continue with this important task. Do they know about the Catholic ecology center in Godfrey run by Oblates of the Virgin Mary? The Oblates are doing the exact same thing, only world-wide.