June Is Bustin' Out All Over!

With our second Artist Week onsite this week, the rhododendrons are in full bloom as beauty, inspiration, and creation are busting out all over.  Summer is nearly upon us with June and July bringing some new and important ministry opportunities for light and love at Rolling Ridge.

Steve Garnaas-Holmes has been a friend of Rolling Ridge for decades.  With the release of his first book of poetry, we have the privilege of being the first place he will be offering a reading of his work, talking about his writing process, and signing copies of Unfolding Light: Poems.  Join us in-person on Tuesday, June 11th at 6:30 pm, with an optional dinner with Steve.  Copies of the book will be available for purchase. We will be offering an online opportunity to listen in to the session if you are unable to join us onsite.  The event is free with a minimal charge for the optional dinner.

June is Pride Month and for the second year in a row, the Ridge has partnered with Havurat Shalom to host a Pride Shabbat on Friday, June 7th at 6:30 pm.  We will gather on the grass field near the parking lot and picnic tables at Rolling Ridge with a Tot Shabbat and pizza at 5:30 pm. Shabbat means sabbath and the Jewish service of welcoming in the Sabbath on Friday nights is one that Havurat Shalom has always treasured as a part of their tradition.  We are grateful for their inclusive embrace and support.  Rabbi Karen Landy will be leading the service with local interfaith clergy participating and a speaker from Keshet, the National LGBTQA Jewish organization.  All are encouraged to attend to celebrate our inclusive family while being able to experience some of beautiful Jewish traditions.   

Along with the Pride Shabbat, Rolling Ridge invites the community to join us for our first Pride Family Picnic on Saturday, July 6th from 12-3 pm. With a delicious lunch, games, music, vendors, and resources, we plan to celebrate the diversity of how our Creator God has made us. And for United Methodists, our Family Pride Picnic is also an invitation to party and celebrate the diversity and inclusion affirmed by the General Conference just weeks ago.  We encourage families to join us as we create a welcoming community at the Ridge and learn to fully embrace the beauty of each member.  It will be a day of fun and celebration. There is no charge to join us for the day, but we need families to RSVP so that we can provide food for everyone. All are invited!  
 

Our Pride Family Picnic intersects with our first Trans Families Together: A Weekend of Connecting at Rolling Ridge from July 5-7.  Trans Families Together is a weekend retreat for families with a trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming young person. Through educational programming, listening spaces, and fun activities, we intend to create safe and sacred space for families to know that they are not alone in the coming out process.  Under the direction of Rev. Adam Randazzo, who parents a trans young person himself, we have assembled a gifted team of compassionate queer leaders who will companion the families through the weekend.  

You might not be a family with a trans young person, but you may know one.  We are asking our Rolling Ridge community to share information about Trans Families Together with those in their circles -- with their churches, schools, friends, families, civic groups, et al.  As Adam writes, "Some 82% of trans youth have considered suicide, and as many as 40% have attempted it. The breakthrough comes when young people can be accepted just as they are. It’s not too much to say that you might save someone’s life, simply by sharing this information with your church." 

And there's still time to register for these two June events this Sunday:

From poems to pride (with some emerging spiritual heroes and heroines in between), the summer is bursting with new opportunities to be present to the beauty of each person as a child of God, embraced by the unfolding light of love.  We hope that you will join us as we celebrate this season.