Organic Faith

NYC Mission Trip

We are less than a month away from the Annual Organic Faith Mission Trip.  This year we are traveling to New York City in a Mission Trip that is simply titled: "This is Church" 

We will be helping in a wide variety of places and situations and all the while we will be expanding our understanding of what it means to be the church.  

There are still spots open, so if you are interested, please sign up! We'd love to have you!  We even have a fancy registration form that we're asking you to fill out. Here's the link (There's also some more information about the trip on the website):

http://firsttrinity.com/nyc-mission/

 

Organic Faith Holy Week 2012

Yesterday marked the beginning of Holy Week.   Holy Week is the last week of the Church season of Lent where the Church takes time to remember the last week of Jesus' life.  This involves going to church a lot: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday.  And then, next Sunday, is of course, Easter, when we people go to Church, again, to celebrate Jesus' Resurrection and ongoing victory over death and decay.  

Here at Organic Faith, we are going to observe Holy Week in our own unique way.   This Saturday, we'll be making bread and soup, and then handing it out to people at the downtown Greyhound station.  Join us at 12pm at 700 Lexington Avenue Buffalo,NY to help with the soup making.  A little after 1pm we will pack everything up and head downtown.  If you want to join us earlier in the day, we are going to begin making bread around 10am.  Feel free to join us then and help out. 

We're doing this as our Holy Week/Easter celebration because this is what resurrection looks like.  New life is possible in this world when we care for those in need, when we bring joy to joyless places (like a Greyhound bus station).  

Reflecting on Chicago by Chris George

A reflection on our Chicago Mission Trip written by trip co-planner Chris George: 

On March 31st we all met and had a great sense of community as we made tacos and played Hoopla [A boardgame], and had a great opening devotion on the roof of Holy Trinity.  What we didn’t know was what the heck we were going to experience while on this trip, and for some it was an adventure from the start for this was their first trip to the Windy City.  We trekked our way through the fog you couldn’t see through, wand what seemed to be countless hours driving through Ohio, but when we saw that CHicago Skyline it was all worth it.  We had made it to the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago (after switching to the GPS) and were moved into our new home, ready to do some service. 

“...just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” - Matthew 25:40

This whole journey we were on while in Chicago will impact the rest of our lives -- it is written on the mind and hearts of all that went.  Those minds and hearts were impacted in some amazing ways.  They were impacted by the places we walked through, from the affluence of downtown and certain neighborhoods, to the poverty and despair of neighborhoods literally a few blocks down the street.  They were impacted by the people we encountered: from the men and women we served and helped out at the rest shelters, to the people we met and helped with taxes and on the scavenger hunt.  This trip also impacted us in ways that made us think about how this happens.  How does a person with a master’s degree, or a veteran end up homeless?   How can we help the injustice in the world, and help people to be treated the ay people should be treated?  This trip helped us to open our eyes to something completely different then some of the things that we don’t always see every day, and for me, I am even more grateful for what I have been given and all of this keeps me motivated to help out whenever I can. 

 

 

Destination: Chicago

Organic Faith is just 2 weeks away from its Mission Trip to the Windy City.  We have 10 confirmed participants for our service trip and we are all really excited to spend some time together in service, prayer, and conversation.  

While we are still shoring up a few of the details for our trip, the important pieces are in place: a spot to stay at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, several vehicles to transport us to Chicago, and 10 people in their 20s, ready to serve. 

I'll be sure to post a recap blog upon our return. That's a promise.

The Super Bowl of Generosity, Saturday February 5th

(Click image to enlarge)

New News

Over the course of the Fall Organic Faith has been turning its focus to developing a life of worship together. The Late Service has been gathering every Sunday night for a unique expression of worship together. We are continuing to develop the artwork, the music, and the gathering itself and are always looking for new ideas, or creative people who are excited about crafting a creative and communal worship gathering.

Long ago the leadership team discussed our hope for Organic Faith as a whole. We developed a vision statement that read like this: “We are a worshiping community. We are honest about our limitations. We are made new in Christ.” Tied up into that long conversation about our vision was an image of Organic Faith as a stool with three legs. One leg that we as Organic Faith would stand on would be worship (hence the development of the Late Service). The other two legs to complete our stool are Community and Mission. Our hope is to have all three legs of the stool interplay with each other, and in a way, this has already begun in a way as we have a missional focus in our communal worship gatherings.

The Late Service will continue to develop and grow but the Organic Faith Leadership team has determined that it is time to develop the second “leg of our stool” so to speak. In the months ahead we will seek to develop a new gathering for Organic Faith, a gathering that can develop the community portion of our stool. What do you think?  What would you want your church community to do to strengthen the trust and relationships within the community?

Feel free to email in your ideas or better yet, join us on November 20th from 10am-2pm for our monthly Think Tank Retreat!