Loss and Loyalty

This week, we gather a little differently. Naomi has lost everything—her husband, her sons, her home country. She tells her daughters-in-law to go back to their own people, their own gods, their own chances at a future. It’s a reasonable thing to say. And Ruth refuses. “Found Family” is our 2026 Pride series, a five-week journey through Ruth and Esther—two stories about building family from the wreckage of what was lost. It begins here, in Ruth 1. But this first Sunday isn’t a reflection; it’s a guided study. We’ll open the text together and let the conversation belong to the room—asking what loss does to loyalty, and what it costs to say where you go, I will go. We’ll still sing: the song that will carry us through the whole series. Then we’ll settle in and read closely. This is an in-person gathering—no livestream this week. Bring your questions. There’s room for you here. We begin at 11:00 AM Pacific.