Beyond the Pulpit 2.15.26

Good Morning Crozet UMC,

Have you seen someone living out our vision to Love, Grow, and Go? I would love to hear about it! You can email me or share a note in the offering plate on Sunday. One of our priorities for 2026 is to more fully embody and live out this vision. Our Lay Leaders and I hope to gather stories and examples of how you see this happening in our church and community. We’ll share these stories to encourage one another, inspire faithful action, and help our whole community reflect God’s love more fully.

This past week, I was more out in the community for a variety of events.

On Monday morning, I joined Joanne McDaniel at the Crozet Small Business Collaborative monthly gathering at Bar Botanical (see image below). This is an energetic group of small business leaders in our area. CUMC received a great shout-out from Joe Fore and the Downtown Crozet Initiative for agreeing to host their DCI Community Meeting later this month. I encourage you all to attend this gathering in our Fellowship Hall at 6pm Tuesday, Feb 24th at 6:00pm. This will be both an informational meeting on the continuing development of the Crozet Square/Plaza AND they are seeking input on signage possibilities for that are part of this new development. It’s a great opportunity to learn and share your input!

On Thursday, I gathered with our IMPACT Charlottesville partners and joined our sister-organization RISC, at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Richmond for negotiation training. This was an opportunity to learn positive and effective ways to work with community officials to bring about meaningful change and help create a more just community. Our Crozet Justice Ministry Network members will be commissioned on Sunday in worship as we prepare for the upcoming Nehemiah Action Assembly, where we will be asking area officials to respond to specific requests (which they know about ahead of time) in the areas of public transportation, affordable housing, and neighborhood safety. Please mark your calendars and consider attending this community-wide event at 6:30pm, March 24, 2026 at Charlottesville High School.

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Christy