A Message from Pastor Chad: Pentecost & New Church Ministry
This Sunday, we celebrate Pentecost, which is the day the Spirit came upon the church with wind and fire, filling ordinary people with extraordinary courage and inspiration to share the Gospel. As Acts 2:1 says, “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.”
Pentecost is often called the birthday of the Church, but it began long before that. The word Pentecost comes from the Greek word meaning “fiftieth,” referring to the harvest festival that took place 50 days after Passover. On this particular Pentecost day, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and transformed and empowered a Spirit-filled movement of hope and love that would spread across the world. We point to this moment as the Church’s birthday.
Today, we remember that the same Spirit still moves in our world now empowering, stirring, and surprising us along the way! We see it in our own congregation in the ways we serve, our prayers, the joy we experience in worship, and quiet acts of compassion. The Spirit is alive in our midst, reminding us that the Church is not a building or a moment in history, but a living, breathing people guided by God’s presence in the here and now.
Disciples of Christ Pentecost Offering
I also want to give thanks today for the way the Spirit is moving through the New Church Ministry, a vital part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), which supports, equips, and empowers pastors who are starting new congregations across the country. I have been coaching new church pastors since 2021 and these faithful leaders are doing amazing things while planting seeds of grace in creative and courageous ways. When we give to the Disciples Pentecost Offering, the funds directly support these ministries of new beginnings. Your gifts help nurture communities where the Spirit is blowing in fresh and exciting directions. Please see the description below and consider giving this Sunday!
Let us celebrate Pentecost not only as a remembrance of the past but as a commitment to keep following the Spirit’s lead today. May we continue to listen, trust, and go where the wind of God blows us together. Looking forward to being with you in worship this Sunday!
Peace in Christ,
Chad
GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND
It’s all about layers.
God breathing life into dust. Moses leading people out of slavery into freedom. Hagar calling on God to remember God’s covenant.
Layer after layer.
Mary saying yes. Jesus breaking bread. Young people seeing visions. Elders dreaming dreams.
Our ancestors building a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. Going above and beyond church as it’s always been. Beyond borders and barriers. Beyond us and them. Building layers of community and color, spirituality and vision, justice and joy. Proclaiming the good news that the Spirit is still breathing new life and breaking new bread, and God’s people are still seeing visions and dreaming dreams.
Your participation in the 2025 Pentecost Offering lays down another layer, going above and beyond what’s been done to what God’s spirit is doing next.
Half of the gifts made to this Special Day Offering remain in the region in which they are collected to support its new church movement. The other half goes to support the efforts of New Church Ministry, which trains, equips, and assists emerging and affiliating communities of faith and their leaders across the U.S. and Canada so that they can become movement initiators. Make a gift on June 1 and June 8 to ensure that new places of worship are created, and God’s word is spread far and wide. Be a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.
