For the first part of 2026, we will be focusing on the three foundational pillars that shape Hope United Methodist Church's identity and calling: Inclusion, Connection, and Creation. These aren't just aspirational words on a page—they're the DNA of who we are as a community and how we live out Christ's love in the world. Each pillar invites us deeper into the transformative work God is doing in and through us.

Somewhere along the way, most of us decided creativity belonged to other people — the painters, the musicians, the folks with studios and talent and time. This Sunday we're reclaiming the word. In Genesis we're told we're made in the image of a God who dreamed up pelicans and thunderstorms and the smell of rain on dry ground. That image isn’t reserved for the few. It was given to all of us.

It's a fitting word for this particular weekend. We gather on the longest, most luminous day of the year, on the heels of Juneteenth — when the last enslaved people in America finally heard the truth that had always been true: you are free, and you were made for more than this. And it's Father's Day, when we give thanks for the men who taught us how things are built, fixed, sung, and passed down. Creativity, dignity, freedom, fatherhood — all of it woven together around one claim: you bear the fingerprint of the Maker.