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Hello Beloveds,

A hunger that many of us live with is the hunger for meaningful, genuine engagement; that kind of deep exchange with a person or a topic or a place that doesn’t leave us where it found us.  When I think about the word engagement, I think of really taking hold of something, unpacking it, getting to know it; really turning it over in my hands. 

Our mission at St. Peter’s is to share and seek the love of God.  It’s a mission that has engagement at its core.  Our work isn’t passive and it doesn’t happen in a silo.  Our work is the work of engaging the world around us, in search of God’s love in action, sharing God’s love through our action and presence.

Covid has had an impact on us that makes us hesitant to engage with one another.  But in these recent months, I have felt a shift and a desire within the congregation to go out and build relationships that engage God’s love in the world.  Here are a few of the ways I’m seeing us meaningfully engage with the world around us:

This past month, our Racial Justice Taskforce brought together leaders from Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in La Mesa as well as All Souls’ Episcopal Church to make a plan for how we might work together to co-sponsor a refugee family here in San Diego, which would be a one year commitment to accompany and befriend a local family who has refugee status.  We’re venturing out beyond ourselves and getting wrapped up in the lives of others.

Scott Walls has convened a group of folks to discern how we might respond to homeless people in our community of Ocean Beach and Point Loma.  There don’t appear to be many services available here and yet the population of homeless people is ever present.  Scott and this group are committed not to a quick fix but to deep engagement with the experience of homelessness and poverty and to deeply engaging with the OB/PL community - calling church leaders, social services, speaking to the homeless themselves, and exploring what is called for in this time and place?  All of this came about because a homeless gentleman came to us and we got involved in his life.  In the last few months our congregation was able to accompany him from living on the street to living in a home, resourcing him with EBT benefits and helping him locate services that he needs.

In August, our church was full of the delightful sounds of kiddos for VBS who took hold of daily themes, songs, and a new found little community of friends.  We had wonderful volunteers and it was so good to see church members and community members, kids and adults getting to know each other here that week.

This fall, I will be beginning a bible study to engage with the scriptures more deeply. Join us on Wednesdays at 7 pm on Zoom as we study the Gospel of Luke.  This bible study will go through Sept, Oct, and Nov. and you are invited to join as you are able!

On Sept. 11th, we will celebrate God’s Work, Our Hands Sunday which is a day for getting our hands dirty and diving in to acts of service on behalf of our community and the wider world.  Plan to join the festivities!

I give thanks for all the ways this congregation engages the world around us and pray that as we venture out and get mixed up in these new relationships, we would find the love of God already out there, waiting to meet us!

Peace,

Pastor Bekki