Rest, Play, Wonder and Worship
Hi COTC,
We are less than two weeks out from Creation Care Camp (COTC's VBS). This will be our first time holding camp at our new building and we are so excited to see what God has in store. Briana, our director children's formation, has been working tirelessly to get things ready for the kids and she's recruited an awesome group of volunteers (thanks to everyone that's helping!). She wrote a portion of this week's e-news to help give us vision and prayer points related to Creation Care Camp. I love how Briana encourages us to pray for a week of rest, play, wonder, and worship. I'm praying these things for our kids at Creation Care Camp, but also for each you this summer.
As summer gets into full swing with Creation Care Camp, people traveling, and temperatures heating up, this also means that graduations have been happening. If you've recently graduated, we hope you'll be at church this Sunday, as we'll pray a special prayer over our recent grads.
Important update about music at COTC
Speaking of graduation, our director of worship, Andrew Del Rio recently graduated with his Ph.D. in Philosophy from The University of Texas! Prior to graduation, Andrew began a job search for university level teaching positions and he has accepted a position at George Fox University in Newberg Oregon. This is a super exciting time for Andrew and his family, but this change and saying goodbye also comes with sadness. COTC is endlessly grateful for the ways in which Andrew and Stephani have served our parish and the ways their entire family has been a faithful part of our community. We will miss them dearly, but we are also excited for them in this next season and praising God for his provision. Andrew's last Sunday leading will be 7/3 and the Del Rio's will head to OR later week. The Del Rios are traveling right now, but they'll back with us on 6/19. We will share information soon about a going away party!
Upon Andrew's departure, Krista Vossler will be stepping in as the interim director of music. Of course, Krista is not new to COTC, having been in this role before and currently serving as our musician in residence. We're thankful Krista said yes to filling this role and in the coming weeks, we'll share a reintroduction to help y'all get more familiar with Krista.
We ask that you join us in praying for the Del Rios in this time of transition and for Krista and her family as she steps into leading music for COTC.
With great joy and affection,
Kimberly+
PS- This Sunday is Trinity Sunday and we'll have another guest preacher, Brian Wallace, from Christ Church Austin.
As we as a church body prepare for Creation Care Camp, keep this verse in mind as you pray for the week of rest, play, wonder, and worship. This verse is a central theme for our week and it's the verse our kids will be putting to mind and practice.
Creation Care Camp is going to be a great way to engage kids in experiencing and better understanding God’s good creation. We will spend the week engaging with God and His glorious creation through daily devotions, nature study, and play, with the ultimate goal being that children will learn that all of God’s works are good and that they themselves are beloved creations. I hope this is a sweet revelation!
Creation Care Camp is 6/20-6/24. We invite you to join with us in prayer during the week. See below for a list of prayer points:
For kids to engage and leave feeling renewed
That new families find COTC through camp
That families have a renewed vision for what it is to care for God’s Creation
For volunteers to be energized through spending time with our kids
That children who attend, deepen in their understanding of who God is
Briana
Director of Children's Formation