by Kent French, September 28, 2023
This autumn, our worship follows our Church School curriculum, Seeking Peace Together. We are learning in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. Throughout his teaching and preaching ministry, Jesus used lots of metaphors to explain what it means to live a faithful life, connect with God and bring about the realm of heaven: sowing good seed on fertile soil, the exponential growth potential of a mustard seed, light shining in the darkness, separating sheep and goats. Sometimes these metaphors are so strong, clear and durable that I wonder how we can improve upon them or understand them any better… Read More
by Kent French, September 20, 2023
This autumn, our worship follows our Church School curriculum, Seeking Peace Together. We are learning in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. There’s a wonderful, enigmatic figure who crops up in our scripture reading from time to time: Nicodemus. A leader of the Pharisees who came furtively to Jesus after dark to find out what this guy was all about (John 3:1-21). In the past, I’ve referred to Nicodemus as a closet Christian. He’s longing to know something about Jesus, but he doesn’t want others to see him associating with him. Jesus tells him that he must be born… Read More
by Christine VanDeWege, September 14, 2023
This is my first blog as United Parish’s Sabbatical Pastor, covering for Associate Pastor Amy Norton while she is away. I am looking forward to offering my first sermon at United Parish this Sunday. I am also excited to get to know you, the members of United Parish, and warmly invite you to reach out to me. I’m happy to take a walk together, chat, or go for coffee, and I am always ready to pray with you. As a reforming Type A person, there’s a sense of peace that I seek and find while on a body of water…. Read More
by Kent French, September 07, 2023
Worship at 11am in the Sanctuary! (This Sunday’s worship will not be streamed live, but will be recorded and posted later on YouTube*). The last few years of global pandemic shook up a lot of our assumptions about in-person gatherings and brick-and-mortar institutions. Working from home and telecommuting are now much more viable options. So much of commerce has continued to move online. We see more street-level retail going empty or becoming a bank or a cannabis dispensary. And yet, we also got it at a gut level that certain human, social interactions cannot be fully re-created or that fulfilling… Read More
