Dear Friends,
With three birthdays in our immediate family, May is a month of celebrations and can be exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. This May will be just that for First UMC of Torrance. We will begin with the celebration of communion on the first Sunday, after foregoing communion in April; the second Sunday we will celebrate our mothers, both by blood and by choice; the third Sunday we will celebrate as 19 youth and 1 young adult affirm their faith and take their vows as members in our church as a response to their three-month-long confirmation class; and on May 24, we will dress in red and wear our party shoes to celebrate the birth of the church on Pentecost with a special worship service and a luau-themed birthday party. Simply told, you do not want to miss a Sunday in May as God will be moving, we will be celebrating, and we will truly be the Body of Christ in Torrance.
Pentecost, literally translated as the fiftieth day, is the seventh Sunday after Easter when we celebrate the day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the believers and marks the birth of the Christian church. The tradition of the church is to wear red in honor of the Holy Spirit (represented by the image of fire) and to celebrate the church’s birthday. On the first Pentecost, the book of Acts tells of the believers all speaking in their own language, yet everyone understanding everyone else, a symbol of the power of the Holy Spirit and in the uniting of all believers. As a church we will be celebrating Pentecost in full glory this year on May 24. We invite you ta wear red and to help with this we will be selling red bow ties and red scarves the Sundays prior to Pentecost. In worship, we will celebrate with Spirit-filled singing featuring various languages of our congregation as well as scripture readings in various languages to celebrate our diversity and unity in one. After worship the youth will be hosting a church birthday party with luau-themed food, entertainment and games (a sign up sheet is in the Social Hall to help provide the food and items needed for the party). Let us celebrate the birth of the church that has changed our lives and our world. Amen, ameno and siya nawa!
Blessings, Pastor Stacy