Sanctuary Columbus

Help us bless our community through our Local Partners being the hands and feet of Jesus in Central Ohio.

1️⃣Grab an ornament with an individual or family need from one of our Local Partners.

2️⃣Take it home and shop for the requested item(s).

3️⃣Return with the assigned gift no later than Wed., Dec. 20.

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

If you are interested in family preservation, please join us for the My Village Ministries informational meeting tomorrow, Sun., Dec. 3, after 11 a.m. service in the Community Room.

🔹My Village Ministries comes alongside families in crisis by doing things like placing children with host families for a short time, providing training and coaching for parents, and welcoming those who are isolated into Christ-centered community.

Ultimately, this ministry is focused on preserving families 👏before👏 foster care becomes a significant option; this informational meeting will equip you with the knowledge you need to decide how you may want to come alongside of them in this work -- whether that's by becoming a host family, a prayer partner, or a childcare provider.

👉To take a closer look at My Village Ministries, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEMSGcT9s0A

Advent at Sanctuary begins tomorrow (yes a week early, we just can't wait!🥰) - join us for our new sermon series "Repeat the Sounding Joy," and learn more about events for all this holiday season.

Someone said today's a big shopping day? 🤔

Don't forget Sanctuary Swag for Framily in your life! T-shirts available on Sundays in the lobby, and sweatshirts and hat online at sanctuarycolumbus.com/swag.

Two things can be true: we can celebrate Thanksgiving -- our loved ones, good food and beloved traditions -- AND we can mourn the loss, the inequities and the true history of our country that is often swept under the rug.

🔸Native man, Mark Charles, co-author of "Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery" with Soong-Chan Rah, has wisdom to share with us this Thanksgiving season on the "myth of Thanksgiving" and how we can collectively move forward.

🔹Charles says, "The myth of Thanksgiving helps a nation that stakes its reputation on freedom and equality for 'All' to forget that the founding fathers actually had an extremely narrow definition of who was and who was not human.

🔸The myth of Thanksgiving is why we call it 'racial reconciliation' when in actuality the healing our country needs would better be termed as 'racial conciliation.' For when you understand this history you realize that we are not restoring, or rebuilding a previously harmonious relationship. We are settling disputes, dealing with injustices, and just maybe paving the way for the initial building of healthy relationships."

🍂Happy Thanksgiving, Framily.🍂 As you contemplate gratitude today, we wanted to bring us back to dayenu (die-AYE-noo) prayer -- a contemplative practice we've engaged in during our most recent series, "Echoes of the Minor Prophets."

🙏This prayer is a song traditionally sung during the telling of the story of Exodus at the Jewish tradition of the Passover seder. The song's stanzas list a series of kindnesses God performed for the Jewish people during and after the Exodus and concludes each section with the Hebrew word dayenu meaning, "it would have been enough."

🙏The prayer encourages us to push back against our infinite capacity for desire and brings us into the realization that God truly does give us immeasurably above all that we ask or think.

🍂This Thanksgiving, we invite you to practice coming up with your own personal version of the prayer, and maybe even practice with your family or friends today.

Our friends at the Anti-Racism Resource Guide have several works for our review as we take time this month (and beyond November as well!) to learn about some of the experiences of First Nation peoples.

[READ it here ➡️ https://www.antiracismresourceguide.org/indigenous-studies]

Please consider 📚reading a book or article, 🎧listening to a podcast or 📲following an Indigenous person or organization's account on social media to seek to listen and understand more deeply.

Indigenous Studies — Anti-Racism Resource Guide Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference, And The Pursuit Of Justice For Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls by Jessica McDiarmid  (white author)

Pull up a chair, Framily, Aaron Epting is teaching tomorrow, and is sure to help us dig down deep into Scripture as he closes out our "Echoes of the Minor Prophets" series. [🎥Watch the whole series here: tinyurl.com/yc7t5672]

🌀Echoes has been chock-full of learnings, helping us become more transformed by Jesus. What's one thing that has stuck with you as a result of this series? Or one thing that God has spoken that you needed to hear? Share in the comments ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Learn with us from Mandie + Lydia as they share about their journeys as transracial adoptees in this Table Talk - "Voice of the Adoptee". [Thank you to these leaders 🙏]

🎥 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ibEldflwJs&t=164s

This National (adoption) Adoptee Awareness Month, we're hearing from often unheard voices of foster care + adoption.

Let's take an Honest Look at Foster Care in Ohio. Recent 2022 data shows, on any given day in the Buckeye State…

🔍 15,000 children are being cared for away from their parents
🔍 4,000 of those are placed with a relative or family friend
🔍 8,500 of them are living with foster parents
🔍 The remaining children are in residential care or another placement setting
🔍 3,400+ children are waiting to be adopted

How should you respond?
🔸You might consider fostering.
🔸Maybe you’ll offer support to current foster families.
🔸Perhaps you’ll become trauma-informed in the areas you’re currently working
+ serving.
🔸Maybe you’ll attend our MyVillage Ministries family preservation meeting 12/3.

In the meantime... PRAY for...
🔹Children in foster care now
🔹Children who will be in foster care soon
🔹Children who were in care but are now back with their families
🔹Teenagers who have aged out of foster care
🔹Parents and family members of the children in foster care
🔹For God to heal and redeem what is broken
🔹For more good foster homes

📆We invite you to attend our interest meeting for MyVillage Ministries 12/3 after second service, where you can learn more about your role in supporting family preservation.

👋 🤝We'd love to have you come out to Meet Sanctuary this Sunday after the 11 a.m. service. Whether you've just started attending, or you've been here awhile, you're welcome! Ask questions, grab a snack and meet some new people.

It's almost here, Framily... ✨Advent season at Sanctuary✨ We have a special devotional coming your way soon, as well as fun events for all. Be sure to check sanctuarycolumbus.com/events for all the details.

Mandie shared part of her story as a domestic transracial adoptee, and we're grateful for her emotional labor and willingness🙏🏿

📺 Watch the clip here: https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxeF972CFD0dfWtF9pmnbWl4gTOvD3o?si=ozr0oX_L0td83Xjb

She said has been a helpful guide as she has built community as an adoptee. Mandie referenced Angela Tucker's episode on Red Table Talk in which she shared the complexities of sharing openly about her adoption narrative.

🙏🏿Mandie said, "You'll find with adoptees a lot of us have a mindset of we have to be excellent, we have to be the best, we have have to have an attitude of gratitude and we have to make sure we work hard enough for our family to love us and for us to stay.

🙏🏿To hear someone [Angela Tucker] say 'I want to talk honestly about this but I know I'm going to hurt someone, but I have to do it anyway' was freeing in the sense of this is what I've been waiting for, almost this permission to be honest about my experience."

Thank you both for being teachers for us to listen to and learn from, as we pursue justice in this important conversation and life experience.

We're honoring National (adoption) Adoptee Awareness Month on Sun., Nov. 12.

Adoption and foster care is incredibly complex. No two stories are alike, no two situations are the same.

Adoption and Foster Care is a triad, or some say, a constellation, of roles. We most often hear from the adoptive and foster parents but this Sunday, we will dedicate our time to the often unheard voices -- birth parents, foster youth and adoptees.

We hope you can open your hearts and minds to hear these perspectives and allow them to help guide as you learn and unlearn about adoption and foster care.

Join us in-person and online at 9 + 11 a.m.

Happy Veterans Day and ⭐️THANK YOU⭐️ to those who've served our country.

Do you have a veteran you're celebrating today? Brag on them in the comments⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

It’s no coincidence that we are studying ancient texts in our "Echoes of the Minor Prophets" [🎥Watch the series here: tinyurl.com/mvfexxz5] series in this season, and we find ourselves witnessing a modern war in the same geographical location.

🌿This land is called by many names: Canaan, Israel or Palestine. So if you’re not picking up what I’m putting down…beloved, these minor prophets are relevant to current events!

🌿The late Karl Barth, one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century, said “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.”

So how can we, as Christians in this corner of the world, have a spiritually formed response to the Israel-Palestine War? Pastor Rich offers 4️⃣ ways to invite you to consider...

📆Mark your calendar, Framily! This Sunday will honor the voices in the adoption + foster care triad, giving us a chance to learn, engage + act. We hope you'll join us.

We've also got Framsgiving this Saturday, Meet Sanctuary 11/19, and so much just ahead for the ✨Advent season (go ahead and check out some of the Christmastime dates you won't want to miss, we know some of you already have your tree up anyway 🤣🎄)

Don't forget to Fall Back tonight, Framily!

(Even though your phone's automatic, don't let that microwave clock evade you!😉)

We'll see ya tomorrow morning at 9 or 11 a.m.!

🥶Welcome, November.

It's chilly outside, but we have some events this month to warm your soul with learning + connection. First up, this Saturday is our ⚡️Covenant Partners Class⚡️, where you'll have the chance to take a deeper dive into our values, ask questions and connect. There's no pressure to join the church, but we welcome you to do so!

👉More events for November and beyond at sanctuarycolumbus.com/events.

If you're enjoying trick-or-treating tonight, have fun and stay safe, Framily!

🧡Still scrolling through some of our favorite costumes from Fall Festival, and it has us all 😍👏🏾🧡

Need a chili recipe for this upcoming fall weekend? It's the perfect time in the season.

Our 2023 Chili Cook-Off winner, Chanel Durio, was so gracious to share her recipe with us! You know she's a real one when she has her recipe all in her head 👑 Here's the ingredients list, but you'll have to put in some time to figure out how to get it to her level!

🥄Grass fed ground beef
🍅Bob Evan's zesty italian sausage
🧅Tomato sauce
🥄Tomato paste
🍅Brown sugar
🧅Onion powder
🥄Cayenne pepper
🍅Garlic powder
🧅Salt and pepper
🥄Kidney beans
🍅Black beans
🧅Roasted jalapeño (broiler, air fyer)

Thanks for sharing, Chanel, and congrats! -- It was the sausage and jalapeño for us!

Sweet happenings this season at Sanctuary!

🗞Are you signed up for the Mid-Week News? Sign up at sanctuarycolumbus.com for all the latest on events + more!

Fall Festival is THIS weekend, Framily! We can't wait to see you and yours in costume, voting on chili, playing games and connecting.

🎉We could still use some help with trunks, chili, greeting and candy! Check out the sign-up at sanctuarycolumbus.com/events, and peruse our other upcoming events, too!

In her message, "Just Leadership," Pastor .marie.morgan reminded us that "Just leadership requires that we first accept that regardless of our status, God has entrusted us with impacting the world around us."

❓What does this look like in your life, Framily? Consider these reflection questions:

🔶 What painful leadership situations do you need healing for?
🔶 Do you see yourself as a leader? If not, what lies keep you from seeing yourself this way?
🔶 In what ways are you leading the way of misphat (justice) in your everyday life?

📲 Watch the message at sanctuarycolumbus.com/sermons

Chili+candy+costumes = Sanctuary Fall Fest!

Just ✨ONE WEEK✨ from today, Framily, and we need your help!

We'll have trunk-or-treat for the kiddos, a chili cook-off, games and more!

There are several ways to volunteer, whether it be 🍫donating candy, being a 🚗trunk-or-treat vehicle, setup or tear-down, or 🍽️chili cook-off participant (who can beat 🤴🏿Joe Jenkins from last year??)

🎃Sign up at the event page via sanctuarycolumbus.com/events




https://www.sanctuarycolumbus.com/events/fall-festival--281/2023-10-21

🕊Sanctuary Columbus Church affirms our denomination's -- The Evangelical Covenant Church -- sentiments as we pray for the Middle East and seek an end to war, violence and inhumanity.

“As we cry out for justice and pray for peace, we condemn these acts of violence,” Tammy Swanson-Draheim, president of the Covenant, said. “The tensions in the Middle East are long-standing and complex. We pray earnestly for a peaceful movement forward and solutions that honor all affected in this region.”

For more details and guidance, read the article: https://covchurch.org/2023/10/11/covenanters-strive-toward-piece-in-the-middle-east/

The Mid-Week News is out, and we want to make sure your 👀👀 are seeing all the great opportunities to connect!

🙏Pastor Appreciation - all month long in the lobby!
👩‍🦽🏃‍♀️5K to benefit young moms - 10/14
👋Meet Sanctuary - 10/15
🍂Fall Festival - 10/21
🍁Woven Fall Gathering - 10/29

Get all the details at sanctuarycolumbus.com/events

"God calls his people to be a socially just in public and private. Social Justice is a Christian Tradition, not a Liberal Agenda." 🎤⬇️

Pastor Rich was preaching again!

Join us this Sunday at 9 or 11 a.m. 👥in-person or 🖥online for the next message in the "Echoes of the Minor Prophets," where we'll take a look at the prophet Jonah. Buckle up, Framily!

Are you new at Sanctuary and looking to get connected? Or have you been around a while and excited for our next event?

We've got all the details for ya for this October!
➡ ➡ ➡

This National Hispanic Heritage Month, our denomination, The Evangelical Covenant Church, is featuring the contributions and presence of our Latina churches in our fellowship, which help shape the multiethnic mosaic ministry that is the Covenant Church.

We appreciate the ministry of sister church, Oasis de Salvacion ECC, in Colorado.

An Emerging Oasis “Be Strong” is a slogan printed on a Covenant Church Planting t-shirt that my husband, Oscar and I wear often. This simple statement reminds us of the strength needed to move forward with the emerging light in the world, that is Oasis de Salvacion ECC. It has not been easy, but in Joshua 1:9 we ...

Pastor Rich shared a powerful message on justice this past Sunday, and we're still ruminating this challenge:🎙"God calls his people to be a socially just in public and private. Social justice is a Christian tradition, not a liberal agenda." Woowee!

So how do we Christians operate as socially just in public? One way is to confront the death penalty.

No Death Penalty Ohio and Ohioans to Stop Ex*****on (OTSE) have organized Faith Week this week, culminating in a 🙏24-hr. prayer vigil at the Statehouse on Mon., Oct. 9.

➡️ Read these capital punishment myths + facts and consider how you'll respond as a Jesus follower committed to justice in public.

God is gracious and compassionate.
Slow to anger.
Abounding in faithful love.
And relents from sending disaster.
Joel 2:13b

🥁Drumroll please... our next Servant of the Week is Gregory Brumbaugh!

⭐️Undoubtedly you've seen Gregory drumming away with our worship team on Sundays, using his gift to bless us in musical worship. And some of you have the opportunity to be led by Gregory and his wife Cheri, in their community group.

⭐️Gregory has been part of Sanctuary since the beginning of 2021, and when asked what he loves about Sanctuary, he says, "I really love the different viewpoints you get from a multiracial church that you wouldn't get in a homogeneous place." (We agree!)

⭐️This drummer and leader also says, "I also really love how people seem to genuinely care about each other and do their best to check in on each other."

Gregory, we're grateful for who you are and for all the ways you serve -- thank you!

Our teaching team answers, "Why learn about the Minor Prophets?":

⭕️ The Minor Prophets reveal the character of God who is holy and just
⭕️ They speak into the present sufferings of God’s children and confront our sin
⭕️ They provide wisdom, comfort and encouragement that leads to renewal

🖥Access all the "Echoes" messages at sanctuarycolumbus.com/sermons or YouTube.com/sanctuarycolumbuschurch

Join us Sundays this fall at 9 or 11 a.m. 👥in-person or 📺online

It's mid-week... time for the news!

Have you registered for the 👟CHLOE 5K yet? Visit chloeinc.org/chloe-5k to do so.

Be sure to mark your calendar for 🧡Fall Festival🧡 10/21, from 4-6 p.m., and let us know how you'd like to volunteer -- a trunk, pot of chili, candy... all hands on deck for this fun fall event.

➡️For more news and event details, visit sanctuarycolumbus.com/events.

CHLOE Inc is our Local Partner supporting young pregnant + parenting women and their kiddos.

We encourage you, Framily, to run, stroll or donate!

🏃🏼‍♀️🏃🏾‍♂️Race Day: 10/14
📍Creekside Gahanna
📲 chloeinc.org/chloe-5k for more deets + to register

Tomorrow we welcome our Lead Pastor, Rich Johnson, back to the pulpit after summer sabbatical, ready to learn from this beloved son of God.

❓Prior to sabbatical, Pastor wrote the congregation saying his primary question was, “How can regular rhythms of sabbath restore my soul while serving in this pastoral work?” We're ready to learn and to reflect along with you, PR!

Join us of our next message in the new "Echoes of the Minor Prophets" series 🖥online and 💒in-person.

Happy Weekend, Framily!

Celebrate by enjoying one of these delicious local spots for Latin American food in Columbus 😋

tinyurl.com/2rk9bhhp

Tasty Latin American food in Columbus A Yelp collection by Yelp Columbus O.

🎈So much to celebrate as we welcome Pastor Rich, Shalla and kids back to the Framily!

We're looking forward to great connection and worship opportunities in the coming weeks, like 🙏Contemplative Prayer Night next Tues., Sept. 26 + more!

☝week from tonight -- mark your calendar for a special night of prayer.

Our contemplative prayer night is a collaboratively-led experience that provides space to practice both individual and collective prayer.

We hope you'll join us as together we become more transformed by Jesus.

United in Service.

We'd love for you to consider serving on one of our Sanctuary teams -- a great way to meet people and practice our value of being united in service. Openings include:
👋 Connections
👑 RCK
📸 communications
🎥 production
🥁 worship

Take a step at sanctuarycolumbus.com/serve.