by Amy Norton, January 26, 2023
Dear Ones, For the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, we continue to follow along with the Church School curriculum and read a story from the Gospel of Luke. This story is a parable that Jesus tells at a dinner party…about a dinner party. A little pointed, no? The parable introduces a banquet host, who, upon discovering that all his invited guests have bailed at the last minute, instructs his servant to go out and invite anyone he can find, but especially those who would never expect a dinner invitation from anyone: the poor, the disabled, the outcast, etc. Where do we see that… Read More
by Iuliana Mogosanu, January 19, 2023
For the third Sunday after the Epiphany we continue to follow along with the Church School curriculum and read a story from the Book of Nehemiah. Have you ever been a part of a six-hour communal Scripture reading? Would you want to? Does it sound like drudgery or intriguing? (Nehemiah 8) The story that we will read is about the Jewish community in the 5th century BCE Jerusalem after their return from the Babylonian exile, learning and understanding God’s word as part of their gathering to renew the covenant with God. We will imagine participating in an almost six-hour communal Scriptural… Read More
by Kent French, January 12, 2023
Howard Thurman, former Boston University professor and Dean of Marsh Chapel, was considered the theologian of the Civil Rights Movement. His writing and spiritual counsel had a profound effect on the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior — who reportedly kept his dog-eared copy of Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited nearby throughout his justice work. Thurman wrote: When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flocks, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To… Read More
by Kent French, January 05, 2023
It wasn’t easy bringing the Christchild into the world. As beautifully as we present the story on Christmas Eve, with candlelight and touching music, as sweet and contained as our crèche scenes are, the truth is: it was a really stressful beginning for this young, holy family. On Sunday, we will retell the story of how the Magi, these mysterious, regal astrologers from another land came following a star, presenting precious gifts to this child. After that, it gets complicated. These visitors get caught up in a political tangle with the wicked puppet king Herod and outwit him. The young, bewildered… Read More
