Trust and Esther

This week several of our youth traveled to United Church of Rogers Park in Chicago to help with their annual Summer Camp for neighborhood children. This mission ministry is a wonderful opportunity for our youth to share their faith, time and attention with a new generation.

Our scripture for this Sunday will be from the book of Esther. The story of Esther is a remarkable story tucked away in the Old Testament about how one women used her wits to outsmart a dictator who wanted to kill all the Jewish people in the land. I want to share this story in relationship to the dynamic of trust. Erik Erikson, a noted 20th century psychologist, underlined the critical role trust plays if a baby is to flourish later in life in his Eight States of Human Development. Erikson wrote that if a child is exposed to warmth, regularity and dependable affection, the infant's view of the world will be one of trust. This is another reason why the time spent by our youth at Rogers Park is so important.

Our worship services this Sunday will be abbreviated as we will hold our first Worship Cafés in the gym following both shortened 8:30 and 10:00 services. These Cafés are a follow-up to our recent worship survey and will consist of conversations regarding your worship experience at DGFUMC.

This Sunday we will also welcome The Burnett Sisters at both services. The Burnett Sisters, from Boone, North Carolina, are the granddaughters of church members James and Diane Mizener, who play and sing in the folk, gospel, bluegrass and Old-Time music traditions.

We hope you will join us to share in worship this Sunday.