Weekly Greeting - May 16, 2025
Greetings friends,
Millions of Christians and others around the world have been praying for the newly elected Bishop of Rome who has taken the name Leo XIV.
He was born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, Illinois. He became a friar in the Order of St Augustine as a young man and was ordained priest in 1982. He spent many years serving as a missionary in Peru and holds dual citizenship in the United States and Peru. He is the first American to be elected pope.
He has said that his choice of a name was inspired by Leo XIII who tackled the revolutionary changes of the 19th century. He sees the present moment as a time of revolutionary cultural change due to artificial intelligence to which the church should respond “for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.”
Let us continue to pray for Leo XIV and for unity in the body of Christ as we seek to serve God together and transform the world as the people of God.
Blessings,
Craig
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This Sunday is the fifth Sunday of Easter. We will also be receiving our confirmation class as members of the church as they affirm their faith in Christ. Dr. Steven Hoskins, who teaches church history at Trevecca Nazarene University and is an elder in the Church of the Nazarene will be preaching. His sermon title is “Walking the Way of the Saints.” The passage for the day is 1 Peter 1:13-16.
What a great time to be part of the Bethlehem family!