Dear Aldersgate UMC and Friends of Aldersgate,
It is a good and gracious thing to be back in Juneau after nearly two weeks of travel. I have much to share from my travel seminar to Cuba last month, where I visited Havana, Santa Clara, Camaguey, and Santiago. I will plan a workshop after Eastertide (with a potluck, of course) to share more details. For now, I give you thanks for your support of this opportunity. I was able to be in worship, study, and fellowship with many new friends and learn so much about the unique culture and struggles of the Cuban people.
I want to take a moment to celebrate the music ministry of Aldersgate. Hannah and Susan have engaged and welcomed a diverse, multigenerational choir of women and youth that have blessed our worship services with rich vocals! We are looking forward to longer days with more singers and more song! I love to see our children participating and playing instruments. I am still smiling from having 10 children at worship yesterday.
We have started planning for Bishop Bridgeforth’s installation at Aldersgate on Saturday, May 20th. This event will be by invitation from the Greater Northwest Conference. There will be opportunities to meet and greet the Bishop and members of the Cabinet from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest on Friday and Sunday of the same weekend. We are so lucky to be able to host this important celebration in the life of the United Methodist Church! Look at God!!
I want to thank our Trustees for their hard work in painting the preschool rooms and sprucing up our church spaces. There has been a fantastic turnout for work parties led by Kimberly, and we are grateful! Our Mission District Task Force for the Alaska Conference has made great strides with Strategic Planning, which are aligned with our work at Aldersgate. I will be working on our goals with our laity this month. Stay tuned for those details.
With Gratefulness and Peace,
Pastor Kristi