1 Year Birthday of Urban Acacia

As you may or may not know, Urban Acacia is coming up on its one year birthday in a few months, and with that we celebrate one year of partnering with St. Luke’s!With this celebratory occasion, I want to thank you all so very much for the wonderful conversations, the rich ministry and the life-giving partnership we’ve shared in so far!  And, looking ahead to the next few months of our continued partnership, I also wanted to tell you a bit about what we’ve been up to and we we’ve got coming up so we can continue walking together in the years ahead!It is Urban Acacia’s mission to create authentic and accessible spaces to encounter God and one another.  In our first 10 months we have enjoyed these authentic spaces in a variety of different shapes and places from weekly small groups in our apartments, to monthly volunteer opportunities, a Habitat for Humanity build, and monthly karaoke/bowling/whirly ball events (not all at the same).  These events have not only been productive in bringing people together, but they’ve already begun to foster a strong sense of community and fellowship that has definitely brought us into closer communion with God and one another.  Hosting Holden Evening Prayer during advent, and a contemplative service during Lent have also provided wonderful opportunities to worship God and uplift local expressions.In less than two weeks, sixteen of us will be headed to Haiti for one week as we partner with a community near the coastal city of Jacmel, Haiti.  We are thrilled to engage in ministry there as we work with our Haitian brothers and sisters in building a flood reservoir and a Mill.  Please pray for us as we travel and serve!You will see another Messenger article for me right before we leave on May 17^th, along with a link to our trip blog so you can read about our experience and see our pictures!This summer we also plan on partnering with a handful of musicians from around the city to create a series of Thin Spaces.  You might remember me preaching on “thin spaces” a few months ago.  Thin Spaces come from a Celtic tradition that suggests “the space between Heaven and Earth is three feet, but in the thin spaces, its even less.”  The Thin Spaces we host will be half hour micro-liturgies of contemplative prayer, meditation and Taize.  They will be held once a month in differently locations around the city.  The first Thin Space will take place Wednesday, June 4^th at 8pm at the concrete stepson the beach where Fullerton ave. hits the lake.  The the for that gathering will be Pause.  More information to come.Thank you again, St. Luke’s from the bottom of my heart for your support and fellowship.  I thank God for our time together, and look forward to what’s in store!Blessings, and hugs, and please reach out if you have any questions or just want to hang out!Dan Beirnedanbeirne@urbanacacia.com(630) 346 8555urbanacacia.com