WE’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR ANNUAL GATHERING TO HONOR THE WORK OF OUR CUB SCOUTS, BOY SCOUTS, AND GIRL SCOUTS… AND MUTUAL APPRECIATION FOR OUR PARTNERSHIP. Join us for a Zoom service broadcast from the sanctuary, and prepare for the treat of their participation in the service. Note: I’ve decide that we will not share…
That timeless verse is on a big sign you see as you enter (and leave) the retreat center where I spent nearly a week in Frankfort, IL. The Portiuncula Center, affectionately known as “The Port,” has been a special place for many years but I had never stayed in the hermitages before. Simple little places…
An Eden Collage of Mission The season of Lent is a time of particular self-examination through the practices of fasting, prayer and giving. Each year we invite our members to consider whether some form of one or more of these might draw us closer to Christ’s heart and a deeper trust in the path we…
“How to protect your church in a time of civil unrest.” From our denomination’s insurance board. Wow, if that was not a sobering moment…. I passed on to council and trustees, and there are some nuggets about preparedness and organizational operations that will be relevant and helpful to us. These material matters… matter. We’ll be…
With our “own eyes” we have seen a tragic display of despair, bravado, violence and division play out in our nation’s capitol this week. I am in shock, as you may well be. I understand secondhand that this has not happened since the British invaded the capitol in 1814. I’ve been too busy to research…
We pray a beautiful Christmastide for you all. Here’s a link to a YouTube Christmas music collection I’ve been enjoying all week. And here’s a wonderful internet excerpt Fritzi Fleck found and shared, a meditation on the conjunction earlier this week: “In the year when Jesus was born, there was violence, chaos, political and social…
On Wednesday night, Duane and I attended week two of the “Zoom Study” on Chronicles of Narnia with our friends from St. Peters’ UCC (Thanks to Rita for promoting!). One thread that came up – the necessity of our “moral compass” and the sad reality that not all who name themselves Christian may actually be…
Such a timeless cry. We could hear it as God calling US to comfort. Or, us calling upon God to comfort our people. Us. No shallow comforts will do. We need the deep and wise healing of our lives, our nation, our pandemics-stressed social fabric. I’ve been practicing saying pandemics in the plural because there…
Grateful. Spinning. Centered. Diversely directed. Worried. Trusting. Connected. Solitary. Yeah, pretty much everything. In the midst of great planning needs, a simple song broke through to my personal worship this day. “His Name is Wonderful”. Do you know it? If not, check out this video. It invites me to go deeper into what I really…
May the meditations of gratitude for all those who have served our country, with hopes to support its best ideals, be honored. We are mindful in this past week of veterans specifically. As you think of all those in your circle who gave in that way–maybe including yourself–may the work, sacrifice, and long-term cost be recognized. May…
