Today I just want to review what mental illness is. (From A Mental Health Overview published by MyQuietCave.org) " A mental illness or disorder is a condition what affects a person's thoughts, emotions and behavior. Mental disorders negatively impact a person's daily life including work, school and relationships." "Mental disorders can be tricky to diagnose and we do [...]
Thank you to the Denver Service Learn trip participants for sharing their stories in worship yesterday. The trip took place on July 10-17, 2021. Those who participated worked with various inner-city social service agencies and had an incredible week serving, learning and growing together in faith! Youth and leaders who attended the trip were: Claire Arveson, Nick Egly, Sophia Grant, Erin Green, Evalyn Green, Andrew [...]
This Sunday, January 23, we will bless and celebrate the completion of The Living Room. The following people gave generously of their time on the Youth Room Remodel Task Force. This group met bi-weekly for several months in the beginning of 2021 and truly led the process from start to finish! Today we thank all of them for their time, along with so many other volunteers (too many to name!) who made this project a [...]
Fifth Sunday Offering for January – People Serving People in Minneapolis Our Fifth Sunday offering for January will go to support People Serving People, the largest and most comprehensive emergency shelter for families experiencing homelessness in Minnesota. The 99 hotel-style emergency shelter housing units for children and families experiencing homelessness include a bathroom, beds, basic furniture, [...]
While God could have chosen a variety of ways to bring goodness, faith, hope and love to this hurting world, He chose to be about the heart of that work through the Church —through the sometimes unlikeliness of people like us. As we step into this new year, some things have not changed. There are still hurting people to minister to (and one might argue those numbers are growing), and you and I are uniquely [...]
Your Healing and Wholeness Committee wishes you all God's blessings in the New Year! We're starting out 2022 with a month spent praying together: privately, as a family, and as a congregation. The theme for January will be "31 Days, 31 Ways 2 Pray 4 Families," from author Catherine P. Downing. She writes from her strong base of Christian faith and a mother whose son has a chronic and [...]
Caring for others is a gift of love and sometimes a calling. We may work in a caring profession as a social worker, medical professional, teacher, counselor, pastor and others. We all become caregivers of family members. So often we are caring for so many people at once it can become overwhelming. Or maybe we are caring for someone over the long haul with a chronic or debilitating condition. [...]
Giving is a spiritual discipline! Much as we think about praying, for instance, as an important ingredient in our faith walk, generosity is right alongside it. We give because we've been given much. We give because we see that it is an act of love. We give because we are part of something bigger than ourselves. We give because we want to do our share. We give because it is in our best nature to do so. And, of [...]
Beloved Creation. While it might be tempting to focus upon and care about only upon that which is near to us -- our families, our church, our immediate community -- the reality is that we are a part of a global family. As well, we know that God's creation--the earth, the land, the air, sea, animals--all of it has so powerfully been entrusted to our care. We are not called to care about or [...]
The Healing and Wholeness committee at LOC hopes to continue offering support, resources, prayer and encouragement to those experiencing mental illness. We hope our Caring Corner can provide that. A very difficult challenge in life for some people is co-occurring substance abuse along with mental illness. A substance use disorder (SUD) is a mental disorder that affects a person’s brain and [...]
On October 24, 2021 a Special Congregational Meeting was held for the purpose of holding a vote, hoping to gain congregational approval on the financing and construction of a Columbarium and Memorial Garden at Light of Christ. The Columbarium Committee is grateful to share that the vote to move forward on this project was passed – almost unanimously. The Committee has now moved [...]
“In Our Own Voice” - Saturday, November 13th at 10:00 am - Your Healing and Wholeness Committee is excited to invite you all to this special event. We will be hosting a NAMI Minnesota program called "In Our Own Voice" to help bring awareness to mental illness, break the stigma associated with having mental illness, and share the good news that once correctly diagnosed, a person with a mental [...]
