Church friends and family,

I pray that you are enjoying the sacredness and joy of Lent this season. This weekend, we are entering the fifth Sunday of Lent. I’ll be preaching on John 11. As always, I want to encourage you to read the whole chapter aloud. Readings aloud is similar to the way the early house churches shared Scriptural letters from one faith community to another.

For bonus points, you can also read Ezekiel 37:1-14. For both passages of the Bible, you can learn more by reading Sanctified Art’s daily devotional. If you don’t have a copy, feel free to reach out to the church office office@fwumc.org.

Here are some ways to stay connected with our faith community…

Clothes Donations

Meredith Hill Elementary is in need of extra

children's socks, underwear and sweatpants for

their health room In case of accidents. There will be a box in the gathering place where you can place your donations.

Thanks for supporting our students in need!

Soup suppers

During Lent, we have soup suppers and a program. The last one this year is on Thursday, March 30. Please join in for dinner and conversation during the last 2 opportunities of this year.

Tomorrow, the first of two services will be held honoring the life of Jan Crews. This first one will be held in Arizona and a livestream is available. The second will be hosted by our church on June 17th.
Please find the livestream link for this Saturday's service below.
vimeo.com/event/3187984/d09db27a62

Below, I’m sharing Hannah Garrity’s artwork and her statement she released with it.

unbind him

by Hannah Garrity

Inspired by John 11:1-45

Paper lace over oil paint on linen

As I met with this text, I was drawn to Jesus’ call for Lazarus to be unbound. To represent the fabrics used in preparation for burial, I wrapped a canvas in linen. You’re not really supposed to do that. The canvas was already stretched and gessoed. It was ready to resist the oil paint medium I was applying. However, the texture of the binding cloth matters for this tactile text. I began to scrape the paint onto the woven strands. The linen fabric absorbed the paint as I scraped it on with a palette knife. In the final image, the linen shows through the paint and the paper lace design, representing the bindings.

Jesus’ call for unbinding also includes the community. The foreshortened hands of the community, tasked with unbinding his body, reach in toward Lazarus. They reach through the concentric binding lines so that he can go free. Can these bones live?

In the strength of community, they can. The community made up of Jews, Gentiles, Samaritans, and others all joined one another at the tomb to grieve for Lazarus that day. They came to support Mary and Martha. Jesus arrives as the community mourns together. Jesus cries in his grief. Their collective tears create the backdrop for this paper lace design. This diverse and neighborly community is who Jesus calls on to do the unbinding. Jesus makes sure that the community knows about this miracle so that they can share

the news. Can these bones live? Lazarus lives, and Jesus’ miracle lives on in the telling.

—Hannah Garrity