This Sunday: June 25, 2023

Theme: Gender Identity and New Identity: More than expected!

In this message, I will share my family’s story about “G” coming out as gender-queer (aka non-binary), while reflecting on Jesus’ return to his hometown of Nazareth after he has begun preaching and healing people.

Please read Luke 4: 16-30 to prepare.

Pastor Paula Ulrich

Meet & Eat this week:

Join us for an Annual Conference preview this week — Tom & Ruth Ann Bever and Pastor Anna Lisa will be presenting. Come and learn some trivia about Annual Conference and some of the items on the business agenda. Find out who The Walking Roots are, and who from Beacon Heights is on the ballot!

The 2023 Song and Story Fest family camp co-sponsored by On Earth Peace will be hosted at Camp Peaceful Pines, in California, on July 29-Aug. 4.

The theme for this year’s Sierra Wildfire Song and Story Fest is “After the Fire…” (Psalm 19:1-3). The event is billed as an intergenerational camp for all ages, individuals, and families.

Director Ken Kline Smeltzer says, “This is the twenty-seventh summer in a row for these Song and Story Fests and marks our return to the place where we started, Camp Peaceful Pines.

“Just five years ago, the surrounding area was devastated by a raging wildfire, but Camp Peaceful Pines survived due to some prudent thinning of dead trees and the hard work of smoke-jumpers that came to the rescue! So, this Fest will be one of celebration, but also of contemplation, in a world littered with the scars of many fires.”

The schedule includes, in the mornings, intergenerational gatherings and worship followed by workshops for adults, children, and youth; in the afternoons, family time, recreation, story swaps, and music-making; and in the evenings, campfires, snacks, and concerts or a folk dance.

Registration includes all meals, on-site facilities, and leadership, and is based upon age–adults $370, teens $240, children age 5 to 12 $150, children 4 and under free–with a maximum fee per family of $1,000. Daily fees are available. Registrations after July 1 add 10 percent as a late fee. Register online at http://onearthpeace.org/song_and_story_fest_2023. Contact Rachel Long at raquellita.long@gmail.com if you need financial help. Additional information about Song and Story Fest can be found here: https://www.onearthpeace.org/song_and_story_fest_2023. More information about the camp can be found at www.camppeacefulpines.org. For questions contact Ken Kline Smeltzer, director, at 814-571-0495 or bksmeltz@comcast.net, or SongandStoryFest@gmail.com

Next Sunday: July 2, 2023

Theme: Rewarded Righteous

“Blessed are the persecuted!” Jesus preaches - and then later: “Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple -- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” Most of us probably aren’t here for a heavenly reward, we’re here because it’s meaningful to us to be part of a faith community that serves and cares inward and outward. We can count on Jesus to be provocative and paradoxical. Let’s explore *reward* today.

Please read Matthew 10: 40-42 to prepare.

Pastor Anna Lisa Gross

Published by Beacon Heights
Church of the Brethren

Editor: Melinda Long
Phone: (260) 482-8595
Email: office@beaconheights.net