{"id":8572,"date":"2025-04-15T13:03:53","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T17:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/?p=8572"},"modified":"2025-04-22T16:19:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T20:19:04","slug":"your-invitation-to-the-time-machine-our-all-ages-message-series-for-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/your-invitation-to-the-time-machine-our-all-ages-message-series-for-may\/","title":{"rendered":"Your invitation to “The Time Machine” – Our All-Ages Message Series for May!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A few years ago we started a new tradition at WellSprings: all of our Sunday services in May are \u201call-ages\u201d services. That means instead of heading off to YouthSpirit, our younger friends stay with the adults for the whole morning \u2013 and together, we create a worship experience that is more participatory, engaging, and accessible to our friends at every age and stage of life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This May, we are hoping to create as many opportunities as possible for younger WellSpringers to participate, on these Sundays \u2013 so in an effort to coordinate their interests with their parents\u2019 schedules\u2026 we\u2019ve created a sign-up sheet that families can access here<\/a>. This is open to both children and teens, and there are lots of different ways to participate: light the chalice, greet at the door, share a song, write and read a short reflection, and more. This year, we have a special way for adults to take part in service: we are seeking volunteers to speak about what it was like growing up in a specific decade (1940, 1970, 1990, 2010) discussed during that service. Families, if you or your child would like to participate, we ask that you sign up for the Sundays you\u2019re interested in no later than Monday, April 28th<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every single one of us is a \u201cformer child\u201d \u2013 and, all of our congregation\u2019s children are \u201cfuture adults,\u201d too. Each of us shapes the world that today\u2019s children grow up in\u2026 and in our congregation, we have an even greater opportunity: to shape one of the actual communities in which our own, our friends\u2019, and our neighbors\u2019 children are raised. So many parents tell us that they come to WellSprings because they want their children to be surrounded by loving adults outside of their family, who will reinforce their family\u2019s values beyond the walls of home \u2013 and, who will support and care for them, as they grow. Our May message series is just one opportunity to do that \u2013 for all of us to share in worship together, to learn from each other across the generations, and to show our children (\u201cfuture adults,\u201d remember?) what it looks like when we truly welcome each other into beloved community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So\u2026 during our May services, all you \u201cformer children\u201d may be invited to do things you haven\u2019t done in a while\u2026 to hear stories, or engage with hands-on activities; to listen closely to quiet, nervous voices; or to join in loud, boisterous laughter and play. In the process, you will get to meet some of the coolest people at WellSprings (our kids), and we hope you won\u2019t pass up that opportunity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our theme for this year\u2019s all-ages series is \u201cThe Time Machine,\u201d and each week\u2019s service will be centered around a decade people have grown up in. You can read more about the series theme, and the list of books and activities we\u2019ll be sharing, below: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Time Machine<\/strong>
Time is universal: we\u2019re born, we die, and we get older in between. Yet time also makes something of us \u2013 something special and particular.\u00a0The times in which we live, our stage of life, the ways we spend our time\u2026 all of it works like a machine, to make us who we are.<\/strong>\u00a0In our all-ages series this May, we\u2019ll explore how things change over time \u2013 what goes and what stays, what dies and what endures \u2013 by listening to the insights and wisdom that every generation has to share.

May 4<\/strong> – The 1970’s
Book: One Upon a Time There Was and Will Be So Much More<\/em> by Johanna Schaible
Activity: Timeline creation
Preacher: Rev. Lee Paczulla
May 11 – <\/strong>The 1940’s
Book: Catching Time<\/em> by Rachna Gilmore
Activity: Artistic depiction of self as a different aged person
Preacher: Kathleen Higgins
May 18 – <\/strong>The 1990’s
Book: Time is a Flower<\/em> by Julie Morstad
Activity: Self-portraits
Preacher: Nick Sanchez
May 25 – <\/strong>The 2010’s
Book: TBD
Activity: Time Capsules
Preacher: Rev. Lee Paczulla<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you all for taking the time to think about how you might want to participate in \u2013 or just show up and enjoy \u2013 our all-ages series this Spring. For our younger friends and their families, a reminder that if you plan to sign up<\/a>, please do so by Monday, April 28th<\/strong>, so we have time to connect with you and make plans for your service! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few years ago we started a new tradition at WellSprings: all of our Sunday services in May are \u201call-ages\u201d services. That means instead of heading off to YouthSpirit, our younger friends stay with the adults for the whole morning \u2013 and together, we create a worship experience that is more participatory, engaging, and accessible to our friends at every age and stage of life.  This May, we are hoping to create as many opportunities as possible for younger WellSpringers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellsprings-news","ctfw-has-image"],"featured_image_urls":{"medium":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Time-Machine-300x169.png","large":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Time-Machine-1024x576.png","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Time-Machine-150x150.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Time-Machine-768x432.png","1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Time-Machine-1536x864.png","post-thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Time-Machine-720x480.png","saved-section":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Time-Machine-1680x1050.png","saved-banner":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Time-Machine-1600x400.png","saved-square":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Time-Machine-720x720.png","saved-square-large":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Time-Machine-1024x1024.png","saved-square-small":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Time-Machine-160x160.png","saved-rect-medium":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Time-Machine-480x320.png","saved-rect-small":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Time-Machine-200x133.png"},"appp_media":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8572"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8590,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8572\/revisions\/8590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}