Dear Hot Metal Community,

I hope you will join us on Sunday at 10:30am as we celebrate together my last Sunday as your pastor. Serving you all over these past years has been hard and beautiful and life-changing. Thank you for being a place where I have seen God clearly at work and where I have heard, seen, and felt the good news of God's love for me and the world. 

In the spirit of the greats of late night, I want to leave you all this week with the Top 3 Things I've Learned at Hot Metal:

3. The Best Ministry Happens When You Say, "Sure, Let's Try That!"  Hot Metal has always embodied the key improv principle of "Yes, And," being open to ideas that help us live into our hope and ideals. This way of being and engaging in new ideas and ministry will come to fruition on Sunday as we dedicate our Community Fridge, which started as an idea from former Table Coordinator, Karl Casey, and which so many have stepped in to support and make possible. We'll thank the generosity of the Emma Munson Foundation for donating the Fridge and the Katz School of Business at Pitt for the ways in which their students helped research and fund the project. Saying "yes" to opportunities to serve have yielded really beautiful places for God's love and abundance to be shown in unexpected ways. Thank you for being a place where we say "Yes" easily!

2. Amen for the Queers! Yes, this is a line from Spencer LaJoye's "Plowshare Prayer," a song that has become so dear to my heart and I know to many of yours. I'm thankful for the ways in which our worship life has helped me explore the ways in which music beyond the mainstream "Christian Worship" model can be empowering and moving. AND this line encapsulates my deep gratitude to the LGBTQ+ community that has enlivened our community and ministry over these past few years. Thank you for helping us all see the great diversity and joy of God's children and creation. Thank you for helping me grow in my allyship, and for forgiving me when I fall short. I'm so proud that this community has cemented our collective commitment to welcome and celebration of the Queer community as beautiful and beloved of God. (REMINDER: Sign up to Volunteer for Sanctuary: Art + Honors below to continue showing our support for safe spaces for all people!) 

1. Kids are Listening - and Are Alright. Thank you to all the families that have formed this community over the years, and who have joined in my time here. I know that many parents have come with the question, "How do I raise my kids in the church without the baggage I experienced?" I am so grateful for Makayla (and before her Candace), who have prioritized creating a Sunday School environment where the main message is that the kids are loved, and encouraged in their joy and creativity. I'm also grateful that the whole community has created a space where kids are free to be fully themselves, and to own the space as where they are safe and cared for. Griffin just recently started calling Hot Metal "My Church," and it warmed my heart that even at 3, he has known the Body of Christ to be for him. I've also loved watching how our kids show us how to be church for one another, and the ways in which they embody the curiosity and joy I hope is at the foundation of any life of faith. Thanks for bringing your kids, thanks for loving the kids that are not a part of your family, and thanks for allowing me to be a voice they might listen to, even as they teach me. 

There are so many more lessons I have learned over these past years, but not enough time to write them all down. I hope to see you all on Sunday to be able to share more lessons and memories and gratitude, and to end our time with breaking bread and fellowship together as we go our separate ways. You will always be dear to me and I'm so blessed to have loved and cared for and with you. 

In Christ, 
Pastor Erin