Dearest Faith Community Near and Far-

Happy Saturday Night! 

Looking forward to seeing folks tomorrow. We continue diving deeper into the Gospel of Luke and Jesus’s gatherings around table as we explore what a bigger table can look like. Everyone is invited to bring a cup, mug, glass, or wine glass to represent your table from home and bring it help make our table bigger. Inside your glass, I would like to encourage you to write a note in there about what it means for you to create a bigger table. Put that in the glass and we will keep them on the table throughout our series. Then on Easter Sunday, we will create something unique to Wintergarden to represent a bigger table for our families and faith community. 

Looking forward to being with you this weekend. 

Things to remember…

Avenues to learn to Lent:

• Every day, there will be a question posted on Facebook to help us dig deeper into our theme “A Bigger Table.” We hope you will engage with us to go deeper into learning through these daily invitations. 
• Sunday after church folks are being invited to learn through a study called A Biblical Case for LGBTQ Inclusion. This study will go through the material a little slower than Wednesday night. 
• Wednesday night from 5:30-7:30, gather for a light dinner via potluck and the study A Biblical Case for LGBTQ Inclusion.
• Worship on Sunday mornings at 10am.

Also, if you want to talk more about where you are on this journey or even the struggles you are having with us even having this conversation, please reach out to me. I would love to take you out for coffee so we can just talk. Please know that where ever you are on this journey, there is no judgment, just love. 

Dates to Remember

• Sunday morning schedule: 8:30- Sacred Space, 9:30- Fellowship, 10:00- Worship
• Thank you to everyone who hosted a “Dinner (or Lunch) For More!” I hope everyone enjoyed this time together. Let’s explore more ways for fun and fellowship outside of the building.
• Updates: Our last Sunday of Sacred Space will be on Sunday, March 24. 

Making Headway

We’re making some headway on some more projects around the church. 

• Permit has been approved for the shower and laundry! Praise the Lord!!! 
• Also, Kymmie and I applied for a grant through Harry Chapin to help with our retail pickups. Prayers we are able to receive the needed items to help make retail pickups easier.  Grant writing is a huge part of what I work on every week and I have a few more that I am working on over the course of the next month. Praying more come through for the different areas of ministry we have going on here. 
• A newsletter change…we will move back to doing a monthly newsletter beginning in April. Then we will just send out Friday newsletters with info messages, the worship bulletins, and links for worship service and Lectio Divina. 

Blessings,
Pastor Devon

ps…Fridays and Saturdays are the two days I am taking off every week. This isn’t always working great, but I am really trying hard to take these days off each week. If I do not get back to you, please know I will on Mondays.

LENT 2024

Worship with Wintergarden
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Fifth  Sunday of Lent
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Sacred Space Meditation Service @ 8:30 am
In The Garden By The Fountain 
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Fellowship (light continental breakfast) @ 9:30 am
Worship following about 10:00 am
In the Sanctuary and on Facebook Live
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How to access the bulletin:
Bulletin HERE
How to Access Services Online:
Join us on Facebook for Worship Services
https://www.facebook.com/wintergardenpres
Remember, you don’t need a Facebook Account
to join us for worship. 

You can also click HEREfor the Facebook link.

SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE

Sunday, March 17, 2024
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Fellowship @ 9:30 am
Relaxed Traditional Worship @ 10:00 am

A Bigger Table: Beyond Theology
Psalm 51:1-12, Luke 14:25-33

Every Monday – Lectio Divina Every Tuesday & Friday – Wintergarden Bees @10am Every Wednesday Food Truck Delivery Every Thursday Food Pantry 12-4pm Every Wednesday in March-The Biblical Case for LGBTQ Inclusion Study & Dinner at 5:30pm Mar. 19: Homeless Coalition Meal 4:30pm Mar. 24: Palm Sunday Worship and Cantata at 10am

Mar. 29: Maundy Thursday Service at 6:30pm at First Presbyterian Chuch Mar. 28: CNS Care N Share (Every 4th Thurs) Mar. 30: Good Friday Service at Noon Mar. 31: Sunrise Service at 7am, Breakfast at 9am, Celebration Service at 10am, Easter Egg Hunt follows

UPDATES AND MARK YOUR CALENDARS

In order for us to do Sacred Space, we need some folks to show up by 8:15 to help with set-up. If we don’t have help with set-up, we will not be able to continue Sacred Space. In addition, we have been trying to get it online, but have had issues. We will keep trying. Thanks for your help and understanding. 

This Lent, everyone is invited into a journey to learn more about what it means to become a welcome, accepting, and affirming faith community. I hope you will join us on this journey of deeper understanding and love.

Everyone is invited to gather together for a meal at someone’s home. In the sanctuary, there is a table for folks can sign up to enjoy a meal together with folks you can get to know better.

ONGOING SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES AND EVENTS

We wanted to let you know our official office hours. The staff has made a few changes to the hours the church is open. We are working on creating some better boundaries for the staff with work. Here are some details: Monday- we are closed. If there is a pastoral emergency, please contact Pastor Devon directly on her cell phone.  Devon is working from home and attempting to work on sermons and worship planning on Mondays. The rest of the staff are taking Mondays off. On behalf of the staff, please try and honor their days off and not reach out to them. We recognize there are situations that arise, but most things can wait. Thank you for helping our staff to rest and have time away from work.  Tuesday-Thursday- The office is officially opened from 10-2. We are there before and after those hours, but those times are designed for us to be able to get more things done. Over the course of the next few weeks, we will also be instituting “power hours” when we will all be working with our doors closed so we don’t have to keep taking so much work home. More details to come in the next two weeks.  Friday- the office is closed.

FOOD PANTRY VOLUNTEERS NEEDEDPlease contact the church office at 941-743-5335 or email at foodpantry@wintergardenpres.org With the pantry cover completed and the weather cooling down a little, we invite you to come volunteer with us on Thursdays. Bring a friend to help!  Also, we need translators. If you know anyone who speaks Spanish, Ukrainian, or Russian, we need assistance.

Interested in joining our Garden? Garden of Eatin’ – Food Forest For more information click HERE.

At Wintergarden Presbyterian Church we’re eager to pray with you!   Please let us know how we can pray by submitting a Prayer Request online (link below). Prayer requests are emailed to Pastor Devon once submitted.

Prayer Request

Lectio Divina for March 18, 2024All are welcome to join us as we continue to engage in the spiritual practice of Lectio Divina together as a community. Maybe you can add Lectio to your New Year’s resolution list 😉 This Week’s Scripture: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Luke 15:1-2 We will gather via Zoom for an intentional time of listening, reflecting, responding, and resting in the Word of God. We will meet on Mondays from 8-9am.  Here are some details about Lectio Divina.  Lectio Divina, literally meaning “divine reading,” is an ancient practice of praying the Scriptures. During Lectio Divina, the person listens to the text of the Bible with the “ear of the heart,” as if he or she is in conversation with God, and God is suggesting the topics for discussion. There are four movements for Lectio Divina:  1. Lectio: (Listening to the Word of God or Reading God’s Word) 2. Meditation: (Reflecting on the Word of God) 3. Oratio: (Responding to the Word of God) 4. Contemplatio: (Resting in the Word of God) Here is the Zoom Link:  Join Zoom Meeting: Click HERE https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87832080869?pwd=TUxCRThUcEdRbTNTWmJ6emZRamUyZz09  Meeting ID: 878 3208 0869 Passcode: 396015 +16465588656,,87832080869#,,,,*396015# US (New York)