Click WOODLAND’S HISTORY to read about Woodland’s history.

This Sunday is Woodland's 35th Anniversary. The church held its first worship service on the first Sunday of October 1989. Today we continue to try to live out the values of our founders by cultivating a community of faith where equality, liturgy, mission, inclusion, and ecumenism shape our life together. We still try to be a church where you don't have to "check your brain at the door." This was a favorite phrase from Woodland's past. You can read about Woodland's history by clicking on the "Woodland Church History" button at the bottom of this email.
We will celebrate our church anniversary with a picnic at 5 p.m. in the courtyard on Sunday evening. You have probably heard from a deacon (or 2) about this potluck celebration. The church will provide the chicken and we hope you will bring a dessert or side. 
DEACON ORDINATION
Also, this Sunday in worship will be a Sunday of movement and celebration. We will be ordaining 7 new deacons and welcoming 3 previously ordained deacons into service at Woodland. Deacons at Woodland are servant leaders who steward the congregation through pastoral care and spiritual maturity. I will give a short message that will focus on servant leadership and the calling of deacons at Woodland. It will be in the genre of a charge to the ministry that is often given at a minister’s ordination. After that message, we will move into the ordination time. 
I will invite any who wish to participate to come forward and offer a short blessing to each of the new deacons. The laying on of hands is an ancient tradition that is a little uncomfortable for many of us in 21st-century life. We ask that you gently lay a hand on the shoulder of the ordinands and say a blessing such as, "May God bless you as you serve our church." This is not a time for long speeches. And if you would prefer sending the ordinands a note instead of coming forward that is just fine. 
COMMUNION
I have been working with our deacons on a new way to serve communion. We are going to give it a try this Sunday. 
We will come to the front, where the deacons will hand us the bread and the cup (the little cups we usually pass); we will receive the elements and return to our seats. There will be 3 communion stations across the front. The choir will pass the elements through the loft. We will have deacons stationed in the aisles to help direct us. This is NOT intinction; don’t dip. You will be handed a cracker and a little cup of juice. There will be a place for you to dispose of the cups in wicker baskets before you return to your seat. There will be gluten-free communion bread available at the center section of the sanctuary. There's a picture and diagram of the "traffic patterns below." The diagram might look like something out of a complicated NFL playbook. I promise it's not that complicated, but it may take us a time or two to get this down.
The movement of getting up and moving to the front to receive communion denotes the excitement of moving toward the kingdom of God in expectant joy. Receiving and not taking from a tray reminds us of the great grace of this celebration. This is something given. The deacons serving reminds us of the kind of servant leadership Jesus modeled when he washed his disciples’ feet. The sharing, smiling, reverent praying, and holy chaos of this moment remind us of the great banquet that is the hope of restoration for all creation. It’s a moment symbolized in worship through communion and lived out on Sunday evening at the church picnic. 
There’s a reason churches have always loved a good potluck. It’s where communion leads us. And hopefully, the potluck will lead us to be a more generous, joyful community that seeks to feed the hungry and befriend those who are fed.

Grace and peace,

Garrett Vickrey