We all have values. That’s true as individuals, households and communities. We elevate and hold up certain ideas over others, and if we are lucky, find others who can help us live them out.

After receiving input from The Branch community earlier this year, we’ve given new language to the building blocks of our life together. In many ways, the heart and soul hasn’t changed, but we felt that the words we use to communicate our values needed to be updated to reflect our changing world.

Each week we’ll look at one value — all of which fall under our vision of becoming a community united with Christ in the renewal of all things.

September 10 – Partnership

We cannot do it alone.
The problems of the world and our lives require the support of others.
We choose to live interconnected lives.

September 17 – Inclusiveness

Everyone belongs.
God is ever inclusive.
All are invited to fully participate in our life together.

September 24 – Purposeful Presence

God’s promise is to be with us.
We offer that same gift to each other and the world,
honing in on specific ways we can be a presence of love.

October 1 -Relational Grace

We will disagree.
When we do, our posture will be that of Christ’s: one of humility and grace.
We can hold our convictions and still be curious and kind.

October 8 – Courageous Creativity

The world is dramatically changing.
The way forward is unknown.
But in trusting God, we choose to take risks and try new things.

This weekend brings wonder and meaning.

Though we may have heard the stories surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus many times before, each retelling allows us the opportunity to integrate deep truths into our lives again: death does not have the final word; sacrifice is the gateway to life; hope endures.

Our time together on Good Friday (7:00-8:00pm) will create spaces for us to encounter God amid the sorrow and lament. We’ll retrace Christ’s steps and ask ourselves what his story means for our own today.

Easter tailgating is a tradition we look forward to each year. If it’s warm enough we’ll be outside – if not, we’ll move the party indoors. This year we are planning a cereal bar – so bring your favorite box or just come! We’ll have a number of boxes, lots of  milk (of all kinds – cow, almond, oat) and bowls and spoons.

Our gathering begins at 10. Joy. Music. Laughter. Learning. Hope. We look forward to embracing all these things together.

Sign up for a Group here.

Last fall, we felt that it was time to try something different. Not for the sake of being different, but because we wondered if the way in which we gathered didn’t need to shift given all that has happened in the world and in our lives the last two years.

The result was an every other week rotation between ‘normal’ Sundays and ‘group’ Sundays.

Normal Sundays were, well, normal in the sense that our gathering on those weeks looked a lot like it had previously.

Our ‘group’ Sundays began with all of us together for a quick time of connection and then we would head to the group of our choice. Each group centered around a wide range of topics and activities (we tried a bunch of things: Ultimate Frisbee, a reflective walking group, a group that made an art installation for Advent, a group that practiced silence as a spiritual discipline, and many more). What we found is that Group Sundays gave people more opportunity to connect relationally, try out a new skill or idea and look for God’s presence in what might seem like everyday, ‘non-spiritual’ activities.

We’re excited to be trying this again in the coming months.

Below is the schedule as well as videos describing the opportunities for the weeks leading up to Easter.

Sign up for a Group here.

• February 26: Group Sunday
• March 5: Worship Gathering
• March 12: Group Sunday
• March 19: Worship Gathering
• March 26: Group Sunday
• April 2: Worship Gathering (Palm Sunday)
• April 9: Worship Gathering (Easter)
• April 16: Group Sunday
• April 30: 5th Sunday Agape Feast
• May 7: Worship Gathering
• May 14: Group Sunday
• May 21: Worship Gathering

For all the information about GROUP Sundays (starting 9/18/22), click here.

For a description of each GROUP that will meet on the 1st and 3rd Sundays, check out these videos.

It is an enormous understatement to say that a lot has changed in the last few years. There is not an area of our culture (including religion and the Church) that is not in turmoil or undergoing a significant shift. 

With so much upheaval, it is understandable that we might want to try and keep things the way they’ve always been, but this is ultimately unhelpful (and impossible). 

What if instead of maintaining the status quo, we dared to dream — to experiment — to risk? What if we leveraged this moment to help us see in new ways and respond with fresh expressions of faith? What if this became a time of discovery and growth?

Sundays this fall we will be trying some new patterns and rhythms that we hope will meet us in this particular moment of time and help us connect and grow. We’re sure there will be some bumps in the road. We won’t get everything right. But we do trust that God will be with us and will work through our time together to transform our lives and world.

For all the details in our brochure, click here! You can also listen to a short podcast with lots of info here. You can also watch very short videos here that describe each GROUP we are offering.

We would love to have an idea of how many people to expect in each group. You can help by signing up here!

In the last few weeks, government agencies have revised their Covid guidelines. We have also seen a steep decline of cases and ICU hospitalizations in Kent County. Therefore, we too are adjusting our policies beginning this Sunday, March 13.

• In rooms with good ventilation and air filtration, masks will be optional.
  • This includes the sanctuary and Grade School room.
  • The sanctuary has recently installed continuous ionization filters (the same used in schools and healthcare facilities), has fans circulating the air and participants are spaced apart while seated.
  • The Grade School Room also has continuous ionization filters and children are spaced apart while seated.
• In all other areas we will continue to ask people to wear masks (except those under 2 or with a medical exemption).
  This includes bathrooms, hallways, the cafe and entry ways.
• Because vaccinations are not yet available to 4 and 5 year olds, we will continue to require all those in our Preschool Room to wear a mask while in that room.
  • We will reevaluate this policy once vaccinations become available.
• We will also be engaging in a conversation with parents who have children in our Nursery and Toddler Rooms to get their input on how and when we might reopen this room. Until it reopens, little ones are welcome to roam and run in the sanctuary or the balcony, as well as join us at other times we gather (like the groups meeting after worship this week). Seeing (and hearing) them gives us joy.

We are all hopeful that the worst of the pandemic is behind us. And yet, the last two years have required us to admit that the future is wildly unpredictable. Which is to say, our policies will almost certainly change again. And while we hope that those changes will only bring us closer to pre-pandemic routines, we will continue to evaluate and adapt our policies based health department guidelines.