In 1978 Brian Wren wrote the hymn, “This Is a Day of New Beginnings.” In the hymn we sing, “Christ is alive, and goes before us to show and share what love can do. This is a day of new beginnings; our God is making all things new.”

Wren wrote this hymn for a New Year’s Day service in England. Wren says that while the New Year is an arbitrary convention, faith in the really new events of the Christian story can make any day or month a catalyst for transformation.

This hymn, found in our United Methodist Hymnal, speaks to the season of life we find ourselves in as the people of Lovely Lane United Methodist Church. We have spent the last seventeen months separated because of a global pandemic and building construction inside and outside our church building. We are now ready to come back together. In-person worship services resume on Sunday, August 1, at 10:30 am. We will also continue our live stream worship on our YouTube Channel. Starting September 12, we will move to two services at 8:30 and 10:30 am, with a Christian Education hour at 9:30 am.

As we return to in-person worship and life inside our church building, we gather as a people who have been impacted by the events of the last year and a half. To varying degrees, we come together with a different perspective on life. This is all understandable. As we return though, might we reconvene with a renewed energy to keep doing the ministry we are called to do!

I encourage each of you to recommit to our discipleship pathway, Worship + 2. We want to make worship a priority. We also want to participate in two groups in the church. One group should involve a focus on spiritual development and a second group should be service in nature.

Furthermore, we want to continue to have a strong focus on welcoming all people. At Lovely Lane, “all means all.”

I look forward to seeing each of you soon. This is an exciting time!

Blessings to You, Scott