Pastors' Blog
This Sunday is the Day of Pentecost, when we remember that stunning moment when the Holy Spirit descended on a diverse crowd of believers and seekers, giving them the ability to understand one another despite language and cultural differences. The movement increased by about 3,000 people that day. Afterwards, God performed "many signs and wonders" through Jesus' apostles (Acts 2).
In...
During this Eastertide (April 9-May 27), we have been reflecting individually and collectively about our money stories: Remembering (April 30) what about our personal history has shaped our relationship with money, Releasing (May 7) what attitudes or feelings about money get in our way, Reimaging (May 14) how our money story can be different,And this Sunday, we look at Restoring (May 21, Consecration Sunday), how we can come into greater...
Beloved,
We're halfway through our Stewardship season, are you ready to talk about money some more? As we've dived into the exploration of Our Money Stories, we've prayed, sung, and reflected on themes of Remembering and Releasing, and now we arrive at an invitation to Reimagine. A word of warning: reimagining can be dangerous- revolutionary, even, because dreams are powerful: just ask Joseph, of technicolor-dreamcoat fame, or Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Nevertheless, God...
On Easter Sunday, Amy and I reminded all of us that we are called to be Resurrection people -- people who see possibility and hope even in seemingly impossible situations. People who have the audacity to dream and work and live into a better future. We are currently in the 50 Days of Eastertide (April 9-May 27) in which we especially remember what it means to live into a Resurrection mentality and soul-ability.
At United Parish, Eastertide also coincides with our annual Stewardship...
Stewardship Season: Our Money Story
Week One Theme: Recommit: to Remember
This fourth Sunday of Eastertide, which is also my farewell Sunday of my role as a seminarian at United Parish for the academic year, we’ll begin our stewardship series by remembering what we were taught or how we learned about money and how it influences our relationship with money in our daily lives. The Bible talks about money and includes many stories that aim to teach us how to think about resources...
Greetings to you, and peace, from the One who is, and was, and is to come!
My favorite class in seminary was called "God and Money," taught by professor emeritus, Harvey Cox. He was using the class to workshop ideas for his book The Market as God (which I absolutely recommend - it's written for the layperson so no need for a religion or econ degree to understand it). A brief description of the...
Dear Ones,As I sit on my porch writing the blog on this unseasonably warm Thursday, I'm noticing the buds on the trees, the returning green of the grass, the soon-to-be-lilac flowers emerging... signs of resurrection all around. On this second Sunday of Eastertide, we remember the story of disciples unexpectedly encountering the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus.
Our guest preacher for this Sunday, United Parish...
It is a week of ups and downs, fear, betrayal, denial, prosecution and execution. And it culminates in Resurrection. We tell this story again, starting with Palm Sunday, going through Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, remembering that joy is not automatic. Rebirth and resurrection don't happen all at once. We often have to go through pain and hardship before we get to the sunrise of a new day, a new creation. And we do it together.
The Easter story reminds us that the core of the...
During this season of Lent (February 22-April 8), we are immersing ourselves in the rich poetry of Psalms to explore how it can deepen our spiritual lives and connection to God. You may recall that on the last two Sundays we focused on hard and unpleasant emotions: anger and lament. On Palm Sunday, we’ll focus on a more upbeat emotion: praise. But praise is ambivalent too. Matthew 21:1-12...
Dear Ones,
When was the last time you "ugly cried"? Screamed in your car? Visited a rage room? What if I told you that all of those activities could be incorporated into a spiritual practice? This Sunday, we're diving into the concept of Lament.
Lament is an action word, not an emotion; it's how we use our bodies to express and metabolize emotions such as grief or anger, and it's how we share those feelings...
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