Pastoral Note, from Garrett
The re-opening of the sanctuary is getting closer and closer. We have our punchlist walk-through next Monday. June 7 is set for the soft-opening. We are planning the opening choir concert for June 21.
June 7 is also the beginning of our Adult Sunday School teachers’ Sabbatical. This year Dr. John G. Lewis will be teaching a combined class in Maresh Hall during Sunday School. John is Director of the Iona Center (iona.ssw.edu) and Lecturer in New Testament and Spirituality at Seminary of the Southwest.
On June 7 we will have “Celebration Tacos” in Maresh Hall from 9 to 10 a.m. At 10 a.m. we will begin Sunday School with Dr. Lewis. He’s an engaging speaker and will be teaching on the writings of Paul. He has an interesting take on Paul’s writings, and I think you’ll walk away from these lessons inspired.
“Every living thing” has needs. That’s the theme for our Family Fellowship nights this June. We’ll have food, games, and music. There’s a short lesson each night to go along with an activity. There are a lot of ways to be involved with this— Monday nights June 1, 8, and 15. More info below.
Spurs chat. This is the follow up to my last Spurs playoff chat before the start of round one. This has nothing to do with the church calendar… except that most of the church is going to be watching these games in some way or another.
The Spurs face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the NBA playoffs, starting tonight at 8:30 p.m.
The Timberwolves have been a streaky team all season. Sometimes they look like a title contender, and sometimes they look like the Mavs (self-own there). They just closed out the Denver Nuggets without their best player. They are very injured right now.
Anthony Edwards (the Wolves' best player) is supposed to play tonight. However, he has been injured the past few weeks and has not looked 100% in a while. Ayo Dosunmu will miss tonight’s game. He was acquired midseason in a steal of a trade with Chicago. Ayo is a stout defender at the guard position who scored 40 points in a first-round game against the Nuggets. Dante DiVincenzo tore his Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the first round, so the Wolves will be without their best shooter.
Still, the breakout star of the playoffs so far is Jaden McDaniels. He’s a lanky 6 ft 9 inch forward who is a great defender and has been an efficient scorer so far in the playoffs. He talks a lot of trash and will probably be the most hated person in San Antonio by the end of the week.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Wolves have McDaniels guard Wemby and use their center, Rudy Gobert, to double him. Gobert is a 7 ft 2 inch center from France who knows Wemby well. He’s a very good rim defender, so it will be interesting to see if they have him chase Wemby all over the floor or use him to double Wemby when he’s near the basket.
Julius Randle is part of the reason the Wolves are so hit-or-miss. He’s an enormous and strong forward who can overpower 90% of the league. But most of the time, he forgets that. The Spurs don’t really have anyone to match his strength. If he starts playing bully ball, he could steal a game.
But the Spurs should roll, especially with the Wolves’ depleted roster. They should close this out in 5. But it will probably go 6 games before the Spurs move on to face OKC. Injured wolves can be dangerous. The Spurs need to take care of business.
Grace and peace,
Garrett Vickrey
Senior Pastor