Behind the Series: Tending the Soul — Grow Where You're Planted
A look at the planning, scripture arc, and music behind the upcoming Tending the Soul series at McPherson First UMC.
This is a planning preview shared before the series begins. Sermon focus, scripture, music selections, and worship elements may be adapted or revised as the series develops. Pastors and worship planners are welcome to use and adapt this approach for your own context.
In a world of constant noise, our souls need tending. This three-week series invites us into ancient practices that create space for God — like a gardener creating conditions for growth. We explore three questions that can transform how we experience God and one another: How is your faith journey going? Where do you see God at work? What challenge do you need to give to God?
Rooted in Wesley’s vision of Christians watching over one another in love, this series invites everyone into a new rhythm of honest community called Grace Groups.
Visual Theme
The series uses earthy, organic garden imagery with a hopeful, growing-season feel. The color palette features deep greens, rich soil browns, and soft floral accents of lavender and soft coral. Photography-style images of hands in soil, seedlings emerging, and mature blooms aim for working garden authenticity rather than overly polished imagery. The typography feels warm and accessible, not formal.
The altar design is a living garden installation that grows throughout the series. Week 1 features soil and seeds in terra cotta pots. Week 2 brings small seedlings beginning to emerge. Week 3 displays blooming plants ready to be given away. The congregation participates in planting during Week 1 and takes plants home after Week 3.
Congregational Resources
Seed Packet Take-Home Cards: Each week, a designed card resembling a seed packet contains the week’s Grace Group question, the scripture reference, a simple daily practice, and a QR code linking to Grace Group sign-up. By the end of the series, people have collected all three questions.
Grace Group Taste Experience: A 15-minute experience after services during Week 2 or Week 3 — small circles practicing the three questions together. A low-commitment way to experience the format that feeds into summer pilot or fall sign-ups.
Week-by-Week Overview
Week 1: May 31 — Checking the Roots
Scripture: Psalm 1:1-3 (CEB)
Sermon Type: Formation | Primary Promise: Prayers
Special Focus: Trinity Sunday; Series Launch; Introduce Grace Groups concept
On Trinity Sunday, we celebrate a God who exists in relationship — and invites us into that same life-giving connection. Like a tree planted by water, our souls need regular nourishment to thrive. The first Grace Group question asks simply: “How is your faith journey going?” This isn’t about having the right answers but honest reflection on where we actually are with God. Just as a gardener checks the roots before worrying about blooms, spiritual growth begins with honest assessment. This week we learn to tend the soil of our souls.
Hymns / Organ
“Morning Has Broken” (UMH 145)
“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (UMH 400)
“Breathe on Me, Breath of God” (UMH 420)
“Be Thou My Vision” (UMH 451)
Contemporary / Praise Team
“Good Good Father” — Chris Tomlin
“Build My Life” — Pat Barrett
“Goodness of God” — Bethel Music
“Great Are You Lord” — All Sons & Daughters
Week 2: June 7 — Noticing the Growth
Scripture: Mark 4:26-29 (CEB)
Sermon Type: General | Primary Promise: Witness
Special Focus: Learning to notice God at work; Prepares for “Gospel on Stage and Screen” (seeing God in stories)
The farmer in Jesus’ parable plants seeds and then waits. Growth happens mysteriously, often invisibly, until suddenly there’s a harvest. The second Grace Group question trains us to notice: “Where do you see God at work in your life?” Most of us rush past God’s activity because we’re not looking. Like a gardener who learns to spot the first green shoots pushing through soil, we can develop eyes to see divine movement in ordinary moments — in relationships, struggles, unexpected grace, even in movies and stories. This week we practice sacred attention.
Hymns / Organ
“Open My Eyes, That I May See” (UMH 454)
“For the Beauty of the Earth” (UMH 92)
“This Is My Father’s World” (UMH 144)
“Hymn of Promise” (UMH 707)
Contemporary / Praise Team
“Open the Eyes of My Heart” — Paul Baloche
“Way Maker” — Sinach
“Do It Again” — Elevation Worship
“Great Things” — Phil Wickham
Week 3: June 14 — Releasing to Grow
Scripture: John 15:1-5, 8 (CEB)
Sermon Type: Decision | Primary Promise: Presence
Special Focus: New Member Sunday; Grace Group sign-up emphasis; Final week before “Gospel on Stage and Screen”
Every gardener knows the counterintuitive truth: pruning produces growth. Cutting away actually creates abundance. Jesus uses this image to describe our spiritual lives — the vinedresser removes what hinders so we can flourish. The third Grace Group question invites us to name what needs releasing: “What’s one challenge you’re facing that you need to give to God?” On New Member Sunday, we celebrate people saying “yes” to deeper connection with Christ and community. We’re all invited to release what holds us back and commit to growing together.
Hymns / Organ
“Abide with Me” (UMH 700)
“Take My Life, and Let It Be” (UMH 399)
“Here I Am, Lord” (UMH 593)
“Blest Be the Tie That Binds” (UMH 557)
Contemporary / Praise Team
“Living Hope” — Phil Wickham
“No Longer Slaves” — Bethel Music
“I Surrender” — Hillsong Worship
“Who You Say I Am” — Hillsong Worship
The Arc of the Series
Tending the Soul follows a natural gardening rhythm: check the roots, notice what’s growing, prune what needs releasing. Each week introduces one of the three Grace Group questions, building a complete practice over three Sundays. The movement is inward (honest self-assessment), then outward (noticing God at work around us), then upward (releasing our burdens to God). By the final Sunday, the congregation holds all three questions and is ready to practice them together in Grace Groups.
Grace Groups Launch
This series is the launch pad for Grace Groups at McPherson First. A summer exploratory group (June 17 through July 22) tests the format with 6-8 committed participants who will become advocates and leaders for the full fall launch. The format draws on Wesley’s class meeting tradition, Central Christian’s Grace Group experience, and spring confirmation groups. Three simple questions. Honest community. Souls tended together.
Inter-Series Connections
Tending the Soul sits between Fresh Start and The Gospel on Stage and Screen. Where Fresh Start explored how unexpected turns become new beginnings, Tending the Soul asks: now that you’re on this new path, how do you grow? Week 2’s emphasis on “noticing God at work” directly sets up the next series, which practices seeing God’s story in film and theater. The series also establishes the Grace Group rhythm that will sustain community throughout the summer and beyond.