Church and Life

Things have been great so far at Lincoln UMC. Everyone was so welcoming on our first Sunday and the bilingual service, whose flow it will take me a bit to get the hang of, was really nice. After the service, we shared a meal and a welcoming cake for us and for Jessica, a new member who joined the church that day.


I spent most of my first week visiting with people and learning more about the church. I met kids at the free lunch program and joined the adolescent girls for part of their sport-oriented program (both programs put on by the community center housed in the church), and I wandered a bit around the neigborhood. On Wednesday, it seemed that every other street was closed off for a block party, and kids rode bikes while parents cooked on the BBQ. One of the veteran members (she has been there over 60 years!) had me over for coffee and shared about the history of the church--and about her own life. I showed up to help unload boxes from the depository for the food pantry Friday, but the church van had broken down and distribution had to be cancelled for the week. It's a small congregation that is doing a whole lot in the community. For a church with only 40-some members, it's amazing that they have a half-time pastor, a Deacon and an administrative assistant, and house a community center with two paid staff.

We are very excited to move down to the Pilsen neighborhood, which is predominantly Latino and is full of energy and life. If you want to read a bit more about what it's like, check out this website.

We'll be posting more as we continue to learn more about our new church community and neighborhood. We plan to move out of our apartment and into the parsonage on Monday the 16th.

This past Tuesday, we celebrated Diane's 30th birthday at the Hopleaf, a beer-lover's Mecca (it's still cool for those of us who don't like beer). Wonder Woman and friends. Lisa was really excited about something here.


Julie (so patriotic) and Carrie.


Typical Goose face on the bus.


Walking home from the bus.


On the 4th, we cooked a fabulous dinner with Lewis, then Andy came down and we played Euchre and watched baseball before heading to the roof to catch the Evanston fireworks.



Lots of folks were out on the beach all day (and into the night).




Goose posing with all of the things around the kitchen table that match his shirt at lunch today: