A Letter from Lindy

Hello Pilgrims,

You know that joke about humans planning and God laughing, well my well organized Labor Day weekend to get projects done around the house before the Fall church calendar ramps up into high gear didn’t unfold quite as expected. It seems God wanted my schedule cleared for other reasons than chores.

My mom had a series of falls over the weekend that brought her to the hospital, so my Sunday sanctuary became the ER at Duke Regional. And like many of you have shared, we ended up parked there for an interminable amount of time before being admitted to an actual hospital room. As of the end of this week, she has now transitioned to a skilled nursing community for rehab for an undetermined amount of time, as she builds back strength and capacity. I covet your healing prayers for her. I am so deeply grateful for Richard Whitaker’s presence and word with you, not sure what I would have done otherwise!

Amidst the hospital swirl, I received an email from Claudia Fulshaw gently nudging me that she had wondered a few weeks back whether Pilgrim women were ready to gather anew for our annual retreat, with a foretaste of a one-day Advent retreat. Well of Mercy, which had been the site of our postponed then canceled 2020 retreat, has been graciously holding the dates of March 24-26, 2023 for Pilgrim women to experience the beauty of their property as we nurture each other and replenish as community. Claudia has been holding the Stable for a December 3 retreat. Retreating with you in a beautiful setting feels like heaven right about now. An opportunity to rest within the embrace of Pilgrim women as we explore and share the God nudges in our lives feels like a holy encounter. It's why we thought two might be in order.

As Felix and I looked at Pilgrim’s calendar from September through December, we were reminded that we are a busy church. From homecoming to the congregational meeting to Pride, to our Leadership Retreat, Aerobic Social Saturdays and the Fall Education series, let alone our budget and stewardship processes, our Autumn weeks are full. After Thanksgiving, Pilgrim’s Advent rituals, which we hope to return to in all their in-person beauty–Hanging of the Greens, Alternative Giving Market, Cantata, Longest Night/Blue Christmas Service, Children’s Pageant, in addition to Christmas Eve falling on Saturday and thus Christmas Day on Sunday–there is much to plan for. Many beautiful, wonderful opportunities to open ourselves to the Holy. Knowing this, we made the decision to take Pilgrim Women’s Advent retreat off the calendar.

Yet we pray that in so doing, as we step into 2023, Felix and I can channel energies into planning for Pilgrim’s Women’s Retreat. We thought it important, as a first step, to assess bandwidth from our community, so as to respect Well of Mercy’s gracious welcome with our deposit. Their capacity, given their adjustments through the pandemic, is 18-20 participants for a communal retreat. Without having a specific cost for participation quite yet (we have just begun running the numbers), I seek your feedback to a few questions.

Would you let Franklin know via email if you would be interested in participating in a women’s retreat that March weekend. Would you also share whether a 48 hour retreat (Friday-Sunday) or 24 hour retreat (Saturday-Sunday) feels preferable (based on your specific competing life demands and possible cost). We don’t know if a 24 hour retreat is possible for Well of Mercy, but we thought it beneficial to learn what feels most doable from Pilgrim’s perspective. If cost is a concern, but participation is desired, please let us know, so we can build our scholarship capacity.

With your responses, we hope to create sacred time within the sanctuary of Well of Mercy.

I look forward to hearing from each of you.

Pastor Lindy (she/her) why pronouns matter

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