Last Saturday, Nov. 15, I joined the third and final United at the Font: Partnering for the Future event at First UMC in Pocatello. We held previous United at the Font events in Moses Lake (Oct. 25) and Clarkston (Nov. 1). In Pocatello, 42 people from four denominations from Twin Falls to Star Valley gathered to build relationships, pray, dream, learn, and plan. Thanks to Wartburg Seminary’s The CaSTLE Project grant for making this possible.

Our goals were to foster relationships across denominations, deepen understanding of context, and discern next steps together. We began with Dwelling in the Word, using the body of Christ metaphor from Romans 12. We spent time talking about and listening to others explain what’s meaningful in our denominations’ practices. We mapped our contextual realities. In the afternoon we spent some time telling faith stories. We then returned to our mapping to discern themes and start thinking about deeper collaborations. We ended in the sanctuary with Affirmation of Baptism.