Views from The Ridge 09.18.2024
Sunset Ridge is a church that desires to follow Jesus, reach people, and radiate God’s love and hope to all.
This Week
Wednesday, September 18, 6pm Adams’ Baby Shower (meal train and registry)
Sunday, September 22
9am Worship in the Sanctuary (Jess Lowry preaching: Mark 9:30-37)
10:15am Classes for all ages
Adult classes in the Fellowship Hall: Bible Class; BEMA podcast discussion
Women’s “Listening To Scripture”: Chapel Classroom
Youth Group
Roots & Roots 456: PreK-3rd grade in Roots Room; Grades 4-6 in Rm 104
11am Worship in the Chapel (Jess Lowry preaching: Mark 9:30-37)
Upcoming
Thursday, September 26 De Colores Opening Reception (RSVP)
Saturday, October 5 Couples Wedding Shower honoring Riley Mankins and Megan Troyer
10:00am – 12:00pm Charis Park
Saturday, October 26 Charis Park Grand Opening 10:00am RSVP
Around the Community
We loved getting to know our neighbors last night as we gathered in the Fellowship Hall for the Terrell Heights Neighborhood Association meeting. There was tangible joy and connection among the community and gratitude for the park and the bells!
Our partner Sarah Clavieres of Talking Tree Farm announced the very exciting new Sunset Ridge Farmers Market that will begin in November in Charis Park. Stay tuned for more information.
A Message from the Trustees
With the opening of Charis Park, we are overjoyed to witness the vibrant community that is growing around it. This park has quickly become more than just a beautiful space—it is a gathering place where new neighbors meet, friendships form, and shared memories are made. We are excited to see how Charis Park continues to bring people together, and we are deeply grateful to be part of this journey with all of you.
Save the date for the October 26th Grand Opening Celebration!
You’re Invited
Jess Lowry, Executive Director, Sunset Ridge Collective
We’re throwing a party. Saturday, October 26th we will celebrate the official Grand Opening of Charis Park. This celebration is not the closing of a big project but the very beginning of a new chapter that we are all writing together.
After carrying around this dream for more than a decade, there is a temptation to mark a big check on the to-do list as if this special place is something to be finished. I’ve learned through this journey that this dream was never about a project or even a park, but has always been about the people who would become a part of it—who would shape it and mold it into the unique face of this neighborhood and our community.
Some of those faces were at Storytime in strollers on Saturday—they will grow up never knowing the space as an old parking lot, but always as a park where they meet new friends. Others carry the stories of the Red Cross building that was on the lot, the place where the church first started, or the time they spent teaching their children to ride their bikes on the asphalt. Each story is a thread that is woven into the DNA of this community space.
As a child that grew up in the glory days of the 80s and 90s where we spent every day running the streets of our neighborhood with our friends, unencumbered by hovering parents or worries of safety—I have longed for this kind of joy for my own children and thought it was an impossible dream. But in these few short weeks that Charis Park has been open, I see it becoming a reality as I watch my daughter play with a whole crew of new friends. Teens play wiffle ball, a dad and his boys play catch, a person lays on the hill and looks at the clouds, and strangers become neighbors.
There is a slower pace in the park, a pace that reminds me of my own childhood—a pace of wonder.
This Charis Park story is so much bigger and so much better than we could have ever dreamed, because you have brought your dreams to it, too. God’s dream for what will happen here is even greater still.
Let’s have a party to celebrate the beginning and all the joy to come. I can’t wait to see what we shape together—may it always be a place of goodness and kindness to one another and the earth.
I’ll see you Saturday, October 26th.
Love, Jess
Prayers & Praises
Shirley Hightower is in rehab at NE Methodist Hospital after being hospitalized for an infection. No calls or visits at this time, please.
Bill Jackson continues recuperating at home and is improving.
Meta Mancinelli is now home. She sent the following note:
“I am so thankful for the people who lifted me up in prayer to God for his help. Praise God for the progress I have been able to make.”
We express sympathy to Jean Lee and her family on the death of her husband, Steve Lee (son of the late Quincy and Estine Lee), on September 13. A memorial service will be held on September 21st at 2 PM in the Sanctuary at Sunset Ridge, followed by a reception in the Fellowship Hall.
