DLFF Newsletter – May 2025 In Joy and Gratitude

DLFF Newsletter – May 2025

In Joy and Gratitude

The church year has a similar cycle to the school year, and we are in the final month before summer kicks in. We continue to celebrate all that we’ve done before beginning the cycle over again.

Our Faith Formation Sunday on May 4 was a culmination of some of this. We welcomed 17 new members, heard a story by one of our youngest featuring a goblin, saw the development of a round of the game Telestrations, and heard our four senior high youth speak about the meaning of this community to them as they graduate and head off to their next phase in life. It was  full of wonderful music from the family choir and the regular choir, and a special Star Wars tribute on the violin by Enzo Wallin. Indeed, there is much to celebrate!

Last week, I wrote a Hats Off for all the volunteers in our faith formation program, and apparently I did a poor job of cutting and pasting before I sent it to be published. This resulted in my accidental deletion of Andy Donakowski from my kudos. My apologies to Andy – and to anyone else I might have deleted. Please know that your contributions are sincerely appreciated!

Our Young Adult group has really taken off this year, which has been wonderful to see. They began the year with a monthly gathering to play games and socialize, but it has expanded exponentially from there. They formed a communication avenue via the app, Discord, as a way to share joys, sorrows, memes, games, food, resources, and more. They also felt a need to meet more often, and have started Soulful Sunday, which is a time after Kinship Time to meet and have more meaningful conversation about the worship service. As if that isn’t enough, some of them have decided to start their own covenant group to do a deeper dive into our Soul Matters themes and other topics. Fair warning: they might approach you or a team or committee about ways to connect across the generations and be involved in the rest of the UCE community. 

For our younger members, our summer program begins on June 15. We will be doing an art-based program this year that we’re calling Artsy-Fartsy Summer. Kiley Korey and Grey Wiviott are helping me build and lead this program, which is so exciting! They have so many great ideas, it’s been hard choosing which ones to do. If you love to express your creativity, or simply love to see the creativity of our kids, then feel free to join us!

The Family Ministry Team is planning their last gathering in early June and a beach day later this summer, so look for the details soon. 

I will be travelling to the United Kingdom June 23-July 13 to celebrate my 40th wedding anniversary with my husband, Todd. This is our first experience travelling across the pond and we’re a little nervous but also excited. Wendy Drake will be stepping in for me on the Sundays I am gone, so please connect with her if you need anything.

Whether you’re travelling or not, have a wonderful start to your summer!

In Faith,

Kathy