Category: tapestry

at tapestry we save the back row of seats for our guests.

i know this sounds a little odd but you need to understand the setup of a typical sunday evening with us. we try to set our chairs up in such a manner that conversation is encouraged. this means our chair set-up varies from a semi-circle to completely in the round. while i love our setups i also recognize that they can be a little intimidating for a guest.

our setup can be all the more intimidating for a guest when you consider the natural tendency of people to not sit in the first row (some claim this is because i tend to “spray” people when i preach but i personally seriously doubt this). we typically set up 6-8 chairs total for the front rows (total is for both sides) and there are usually only a few people who sit in them. other rows might fill up but the front row never does. this means that the most obviously open spots are also the most intimidating chairs for someone to sit in. so we work around this by setting up 4 chairs on the back of each side of the room that we save for guests. these are the easiest chairs to get into and out of. you can come in late and leave early if you want to. these chairs are saved for our guests in an attempt to make them feel welcome. who would have thought the back row could do such a thing?

of course, if you attend a church regularly then you probably know that the back row is usually the first to fill up. church people like the back row. we’re a little different. we save these seats as a gift for those who are our guests.

so if you come to tapestry for the first time and see 4 chairs set up in the back please know that you can sit anywhere you like but we have saved everyone’s favorite seats for you.

if you would like to read a wonderful perspective on why i love easter with tapestry you should jump oper to my wonderful wife’s blog and read this post. she sums it up pretty well.

i’m too tired to type much but i want to say that i love the way the threads of tapestry participate in holy week. each year we try to do an act of service during the week and then do a simple tenebrae gathering to remember CHRIST’s curcifixion. this year we fed at place of peace on thursday and then held our tenebrae gathering at the encore room in the uwsp university center. we had so many people at the place of peace that we had to take turns working because there wasn’t room in the kitchen for the 20-something people we had there. i love the fact that the church i am a part of gets super excited about serving people made in the image of GOD.

just a reminder to everyone that instead of tapestry’s normal weekly gathering at washginton elementary school we will be watching the game together at our house (3311 arbor vitae lane). the church will be providing jambalaya and drinks. everyone else is asked to bring a heavy appetizer – you can figure out for yourself how heavy. we’ll do a devotion at 5 p.m. this is the third year that we have done this and it is always a blast.

pam pointed this out to me last night and since it made me smile i thought i would share it. the first song eric lead tapestry in singing last night was “sing to the KING.” there was a large group of threads that would not have been able to truthfully call JESUS their KING before this past year. when they sing now it is more than just a song, it is a statement of their faith.

some threads from tapestry are going back to nicaragua in january. this will be the 4th trip for people from our young community of faith. we’re going to change our plans a little this time and participate in building a house for a family. well we’re actually not going to be the ones in charge of building it. you see a while back the nicaraguan CHRISTian outreach figured out that we could build a house for a family for around $1,800. so starting last year several groups went down and built houses. i think we have four houses built now. in the past the gringos have been building the house with the nicas watching.

in august i was being told about this by moises, evelyn, and claudia and on a whim i asked them about the idea of paying for nica labor to build the house. i thought we might could help the local economy a little more. there response was that it would actually help two guys within kilumbo get more experience with a third guy who was a house builder and thereby help them get more jobs. in other words, we would be helping the local economy, giving these guys the pride of leading their own job, and furthering their training in a trade that can help support their family. the additional cost for the labor? $200!

yep we can build the house, pay three nicaraguan workers, and then work along side them as their assistants for a grand total of $2,000. so that’s what tapestry is trying to raise money for now. last CHRISTmas we gave up receiving offerings for the church so that all the money could go for a fresh water well. this year we are going to try and give $2,000 on top our normal offerings for the support of the church ministry. it’s a big step for our small group of people.

if you are interested in being a part of this you are welcome to do so too. if we have extra we’ll either save it for another house next trip or use it for more pressing needs in diriamba.

for a few years i have been sending out a prayer email to a group of people who have been praying for tapestry even before tapestry started up. here is the november 2010 prayer email.

i started using mail chimp last month to enable people to subscribe/unsubscribe to the email on their own. i’m really loving the free membership that mail chimp offers to small organizations like tapestry. it is a great little system and i can see why larger organizations pay good money to use it.

if you would like to signup for the prayer email you can do so now by going to this link (http://eepurl.com/7-wo). if you received a copy of the prayer email earlier today then you are already on the list.

a big THANKS goes out to everyone who prays for tapestry.