Dear Friends, This Sunday marks the beginning of Advent, a season that starts not in bright lights and carols, but in the dark. It begins with tremors and shadows, with stars falling and the ground beneath us shifting.
“Keeping Watch In the Dark” Read More »
‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink?’ Matthew 25:44 It occurs to me that some of the most caring and generous people I know don’t understand how unusual they are. They go through life with a natural sensitivity to what is going on around them. And not responding to an opportunity to give, seems unthinkable to them.
“When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones …Jesus said, ‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another.'” Luke 21:5-6
That’s not a great lectionary text to show up as we’re celebrating the start of the big roof project! But it is another reminder that it’s not our lovely and quirky building that matters, but the vital work of love that the building makes possible.
“Serving the City” Read More »
“Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question…” – Luke 20:27-28 Friends, Long before I was a pastor, I had a job that involved working alongside lawyers as they navigated lawsuits and prepared for depositions and trials. My role often involved drafting examination questions about the financial issues of the case, based on the reams and reams of documents we had reviewed and analyzed.
“Questions of Faith” Read More »
I’ve been thinking this week about the ‘cloud of witnesses’ who have been part of my life, and the life of this church, over the past decades. So many beloved friends and family members who have died, but are still with me in an almost tangible way. And I’ve been feeling very grateful.
Friends, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about silence lately – and wrestling with my yearning for it at a time when silencing seems to be the objective of so many authoritarian powers. Like most things, silence isn’t good or bad in and of itself. It can be both generative and destructive, both holy and sinful.
Finally, the season has come! I’m not thinking of the lovely Autumn weather that has indeed shown up, after a sizzling September and a too hot early October. And I’m not talking about the election season, God knows.
I’m speaking of the beloved annual pledge season, celebrated this time of year throughout Christendom. At this season, church communities all around the world start thinking and planning about the coming year, and figuring out how to meet whatever new challenges or opportunities may await.
So much of life depends on how we show up for one another, and just as importantly, how we allow others to show up for us. This week in worship, we’ll reflect on what it means to live that kind of mutual care: to lend what we can, to ask when we need, and to trust that God’s abundance flows through our shared courage.
“Abundance in Borrowed Jars” Read More »
This Sunday, in honor of the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, we will celebrate a Blessing of the Animals during our 11am service. It’s a rare Sunday when we are not joined by a furry friend or two, but we hope this week to have many!
“Our Part In the Story” Read More »
At a desperate moment in the life of his nation, the prophet Jeremiah gets a strange message from God: ‘Buy a field in your hometown.’ This at a moment when the Kingdom of Judah is about to be overrun by the armies of the Babylonian Empire, and Jeremiah himself is under house arrest for saying things that are critical of his own government and rulers. A strange time to invest in real estate.
“Hope As an Act of Resistance” Read More »