Last Sunday was such a special time together. I was especially grateful for the Testimonio from our dear hermana, Sarahi Perez. If you wanna know about the barrio Jesus came from, you gotta hear her word! We’re also still sitting with the fullness of the message Rev. Bert Newton shared with us on a Theology of Land & Housing in our Scriptures – a reminder of what true shalom and prophetic Jubilee looked like. If you missed Sunday or just want to play it all back, you can check it out here.

Celebrating Our Graduates

This Sunday, we’ll be taking a moment to stop and pause and celebrate our 2023 Graduates! If that’s you–and you’re graduating in any way–we’d love to honor you and also give you a gift! Join us in service this Sunday and we’ll also pray a blessing over you as well!

A New Grant for Worship & Arts

We believe in reimagining worship on every level and we need your help! We applied for and received a $17,000 grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship to do just that! Our goal is to co-create spaces in our community to center the margins, our collective spirituality, and cultural expressions of all kinds and encourage them to flourish within the framework of the common lectionary. Each month will highlight a different group’s chosen expressions of the themes we provide. On Sunday you will get to meet the Collaboration Team heading this project and we’re so excited to be on this journey with you!

Phil Allen Jr. at Vroman’s…and at TCWHF

This Monday (6/12) at 7 PM, I will have the opportunity to be a conversation partner with my brother and TCWHF Board Member, Phil Allen Jr., at Vroman’s Main Store in Pasadena! We’ll be deep diving into his book, The Prophetic Lens. If you haven’t checked it out yet, Vromans has just stocked up! So you’ll be able to grab a copy (or two!) Monday night.

Also: Phil will be preaching at our church next Sunday, June 11th! It’s been too long since we’ve had our partner in the pulpit. So we’re excited to see what God has to share with us through Phil’s preaching on The Story of the Spirit!

Support Glendar’s Trip

Our beloved sister, Glendar Haskin, will be helping lead a worship and arts camp in Uganda this July! This will be Glendar’s first-ever trip to Africa! And she’s so eager and excited for this opportunity! We’d love to come alongside her as a church and help fund her journey. You can read more about the experience and also financially support her at the link here.

Reading back over this newsletter once more, I’m in awe of our Beloved Community! This is our church, y’all! Barrios and Theologies of Land and Housing and daring Graduates and prophetically creative expressions of worship and arts and book readings on “Black Moral Agency” and faith-filled trips to Africa to practice “true religion”. I’m so grateful for our faith familia! This is The Church We Hope For! See you Sunday!

Bobby