Bread and More Soup Kitchen continues to serve a free to-go meal every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5:30-6:15.
Bread and More Soup Kitchen continues to serve a free to-go meal every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5:30-6:15.
Greetings church,
Today is the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, July 12. In planning the service with the deacons, we set aside this Sunday as our Children's Sunday. Not reflected in this on-line service is the recognition and thanks that were extended to our Sunday School teachers and the presentation of pins and certificates to the children. It made for a fine church moment, and certainly fit in well with prayer and praise to God
Here's hoping you'll take to moment to open you heart and worship where you are.
Call to Worship:
God's breath stirs the trees and rustles the leaves.
It drives the rain and fills us up.
Holy One, we sense your presence.
Thank you God for being here and always near.
God's voice speaks in the thunder and the surf,
in poems and prayers, and whispers in the silence of our days.
Holy One, we listen for your word.
Thank you God for being here and always near.
God's image shines in blooming fields and verdant pastures,
on shimmering waters and bright sandy beaches.
Holy One, we see your splendor and rejoice in your beauty.
Thank you God for being here and always near.
God's hands shape the mountains and the streams,
the painter's canvas, and the home-cooked meals.
Holy One, we praise your touch in all the world
Thank you God for being here and always near.
Opening Prayer:
Good and Gracious God, we give you thanks and praise for the gift of creation. We celebrate your presence in all our days. Your provision is endless, and your care is always abundant. You bring new life from the dry and dusty places, and you cause hope to spring from wells that have long grown dry. We praise you for moments of grace in all our days, for the delight of love and of children's laughter, and for gentle acts of kindness that shine with your Spirit. Holy One, fall afresh on us this day. Inspire our thoughts and tame all fear and doubt. Teach us to be stewards of your love, slow to anger and quick to bless. We pray that you augment our thankfulness and lead us into the joy of living. Guide us, O God, in this our worship and throughout our week so that we may transform our world into a more blessed creation you would have for all. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.
Hymn: For the Beauty of the Earth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTOfSKXkRa0
Our Scripture Lessons: (attached)
Isaiah 55.10-13, Psalm 104.1-9, 24, 35; 1 Timothy 4.1-10; Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23
Reflection:
I've been thinking a lot about the children over these past many weeks of our pandemic days. As churches and schools closed throughout the land, I thought about what they were missing. The basics of education -- reading, writing, arithmetic -- those I knew were being covered by home-schooling and on-line classes. But it was the other stuff that also brings important life lessons which I knew they were missing out. Sports, the clubs, school plays, field trips, dances, proms, a graduation day surrounded by classmates, parties, those were all being skipped. As I reflected on my school days, I knew it was those other things that filled out the important life lessons every bit as much as the studies, and that I knew was a huge loss. Of course, the lack of in-person church didn't help matters at all either.
As the news cycle switched to racial violence, Black Lives Matter, and riots and looting, all on top of our pandemic days, I couldn't help but shake my head and think what a world these kids are growing up in. And there was lots of finger-pointing, mean speech, and division. What a world.
I found it easy to go negative. It's easy to allow the head to move to lament and sadness, sadness for our world mixed with deep concern for quality living and the wonder of what a mess our kids are enduring and inheriting. Yes, the negative came easily.
But there was hope, there is hope to still be found. Neighbors reached out to neighbors, scientists and healthcare workers throughout the world united, people gave thought to the hungry and most needy in their midst. Many families grew closer, even in spite of separation and distance. People made masks and shared lessons of new ways of living. Murky waters and smog-laden air cleared. Reform and new progress, new solidarity, arose.
The children, I know, are learning through all of this. They've been taught about disease and the importance of science, of medicine and self-care. They've been taught about the earth, about our connectedness as a planet, about the danger of unsanitary conditions and pollution. They've been taught about prejudice and hate. And there is hope in those lessons, there is hope for our children, and for us and our world.
The United Church of Christ, our denomination, has an-going initiative called Three Great Loves. It focuses on the Love of Neighbor, the Love of Children, and the Love of Creation. Of course, as a church initiative the un-touted love that it's all based in is the love of God. If you go to the UCC website, you can learn more about it. It's a solid focus, for with God's love so expressed we can best foster hope in the world that's coming to be.
Our texts and our focus of the day fit in nicely with the themes of children, creation and neighbor. The lesson from Isaiah speaks clearly of creation. By God's word, the earth is renewed. It gives sprout and nourishment, and the mountains and trees rejoice. Beauty comes from the wastelands. The earth celebrates the newness that God brings.
The great thing about our children who grow up in this area of ours, surrounded by farms, fields and forests, is that they come to understand that for the earth to yield and rejoice, it takes our care and keeping. They learn that the food in supermarkets doesn't just magically appear, but is tended and grown. And many of us have taught our children to garden and to grow. They've learned at home and here in church, through our plantings and our gardens, to care for the planet. Matthew's Eagle Scout focus on the wilderness and osprey nests is a prime example of how they're learning and reflecting such care. There is hope.
Through church and home, or so I trust, our children have also been taught about the love of neighbor. Through our food drives, their shopping outings, and our soup kitchen, they have learned the importance of caring for those in need. And we teach respect and love for all, regardless of any -ism that may divide us.
This is the fertile ground for the sower, and you help in all you do, in what you teach by example, in how you live. Our teachers, our ministries, our families, provide fertile ground for our children to learn the truly big lessons of wellness for our world. There is hope, and hope in abundance.
The epistle lesson from 1 Timothy speaks of importance of the continuation of such teaching. We all need to keep at it. We need to keep them clear of demeaning and hateful speech and actions. We need to continue to teach love for neighbor, to teach deep respect for one another of all shades of being. We need to continue to teach care for the less fortunate and compassion for all. We need to continue to teach about our earth and the importance of its care and keeping.
Through us, our children and grandchildren, there is hope. Even in these pandemic days, hope lives on, and our call to make a difference for our world in the lessons we teach each other, that we teach our children, have rarely been so important. Let us teach well, so others may learn well, and together we will create the world that God intends for us.
Hymn: In the Bulb There Is a Flower
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDpByzZqeQ4
Prayer:
Gracious God, we ask your blessing on your church throughout the world that it may long remain a faithful witness to your love. Help us tend well all the sheep of your pasture, and to raise our children well.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Teach us to see our interdependence with all of your creation. Help us to respect each other and build up one another in love. Break down the walls of prejudice and hate, and give growth to a truly caring community.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Pour out your Spirit on all those in authority that there might be justice and kindness in our government and communities. Tend the divine spark within each of us and draw us close to you. Increase our sense of your presence so that all our thoughts and words may reflect your will.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Holy One, heal the sick, comfort the dying and those who grieve, help the poor. Strengthen the weary, bring peace to the fraught and fearful, hear the prayers of all who call upon you.
Lord, hear our prayer.
Gracious God, we pray for the ourselves, each one, for our families and all we hold dear to our hearts. Watch after them and keep them safe, comfort them in their times of need. We pray for the many on our prayer list and the sick and the suffering throughout our world. Help us to navigate well the days ahead, Dear Lord, and lead us in the way that we should go. We ask these things in Jesus' Name who taught us to pray saying, "Our Father who art in heaven...."
Benediction:
Go forth into the world to serve God with gladness;
be of good courage;
hold fast to that which is good;
render to no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted;
support the weak;
help the afflicted;
honor all people;
love and serve God,
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Be blessed by God. Amen and Amen.
JUNE 21, 2020
Today is the Third Sunday after Pentecost, June 21. Happy Father's Day to all! We had a nice, although a bit warm, outdoor service this morning. Here's hoping you have also enjoyed the day so far, and you find God shining brightly in your heart.
- - Pastor Sean
Call to Worship:
A new day has risen upon us,
and we have reason for thanks and praise.
Thanks be God, a loving parent to us all.
God our Creator surrounds us with beauty,
and fills our world with caring hearts and helping hands.
God our Redeemer reaches out to us afresh each day;
our God saves us and leads us on.
God our Sanctifier has blessed us with life and love,
with celebration and song, with friends and family.
Thanks be God, a loving parent to us all.
We give God thanks for this day and this time,
for the blessing of prayer, the comfort of our faith, and gift of love.
We open our hearts anew this day and worship our God,
for God is good and God's mercy is everlasting.
Thanks be God, a loving parent to us all.
Opening Prayer:
Good and Gracious God, on this Father's Day, we give you thanks and praise for the many ways that you have shown yourself to be a loving parent to us. We give you thanks for your provision, for the gift of the earth, and bounty we enjoy. We thank you too, for courage and strength in times of struggle, and for the ways that you have shown yourself to us as we have overcome our hard times. Creator and Creating God, continue to grace us with eyes of faith. Help us to see the good and to keep hope glowing brightly even in times of trouble. Help us to embrace life as your gift to us, and enable us to live with gratitude that conquers fear and doubt. Send us your light to illumine our path, and teach us to be your children of joy and peace. Be with us in this time, O God. We worship you and give you thanks. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.
Hymn: This Is My Father's World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3ZVLOLMRMw
Our Scripture Lessons: (attached)
Genesis 21.8-21, Psalm 86.1-10, 16-17; Romans 6.1b-11; Matthew 10.24-31
Reflection:
All of a sudden it's Father's Day. The dark days of Lent, the struggle of Holy Week, and even the journey through Easter Tide have all faded with time that marches on. We've missed some good celebrations together, and even today we're missing the good Father's Day meal that the women of our church have prepared in years past. Yet in spite of the struggle that was, and the struggle that still is, hope continues to shine bright and there are still ways and days of celebration for us all.
Our Old Testament lectionary reading today is a tough one for Father's Day. Instead of lifting high the blessings of fatherhood, even of a good "Father God," it captures one of the "ugh" moments of scripture. Abraham gives into the pleading of his wife and dismisses his concubine Hagar and her small son, the unnamed Ishmael of our passage. He gives Hagar bread and water and then sends both of them off into the wilderness. It's certainly not what we know a loving father should do.
Yet the lesson has been preserved for us within the annals of Scripture and even within the embrace of the lectionary to again give light on our God who can and does turn around tough situations, to God who illumines our eyes to see a new ways of doing and being in the world. In spite of the harshness, the lesson is still filled with promise -- "for I will make a great nation of him" -- and with hope -- as the boy grows to be an expert with the bow and takes a wife.
Still, those of us who were blessed by a loving father who didn't abandon us, one who was there to teach us and help us grow, are grateful such was not the case the for us. We can and do celebrate this day with thankfulness for our dads, with thankfulness for the gift of fatherhood known in and through the burgeoning life of a child.
I am aware that some will not really celebrate this day, but that doesn't mean their days are or have to be without celebration. I am aware that even we who have been treated in the past to Father's Day celebrations with the kids at home will not celebrate that way this day. Yet there are still celebrations to be had, and celebration is a key part of life for it fosters joy and hope.
This is and has been Pride Month. Not all celebrate it; many, especially with cancellation of the parade and festivities, aren't even aware of it. I get that. It's not their celebration. Friday was Juneteenth. For many of us, this was the first year we've ever heard of Juneteenth. Yet in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, that day of Juneteenth, over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed into law, when the slaves of Galveston, Texas, finally heard they were free, has become a new celebration for many; and now it'll be an annual one. Not all will celebrate it. Yet although the observations and celebrations of the end of structural homophobism and of structural racism are hard for all to celebrate, they rightfully have their place, as does Father's Day.
On this Father's Day, my hope is that you can truly celebrate the gift of fatherhood in your life. And even if this celebration is elusive for you, I hope that you can discover other days and other ways to celebrate the gift of life God has given to us all. Celebrations bring joy and hope. Especially in these times of a global pandemic, we need more of them.
When the world has you feeling down, when you feeling more like Hagar and Ishmael than like Sarah and Isaac, my hope is that you'll set your sights on the wellspring of hope that is. Find cause for celebration in your life, and renew the joy of living. God is good, and as the Gospel reminds us, God's eye is on the sparrow, and you can be sure God's eye is watching you. Be blessed by God. Amen.
Hymn: His Eye Is On the Sparrow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTiIHLfuzxc
Prayer:
Gracious and Loving God, for the many ways you continue to come to us and care for us, we give you thanks. For our daily bread, for our homes, our beds, our families and friends, we give you thanks. Time and time again, you have rescued us from danger and saved us. You have taught us your way, and given us the gifts and strengths of the Spirit. We are thankful. And yet, O God, we have the concerns of our hearts, and the worries of our days. Even as so much of the world has come together, there is still so much that separates us. We pray for peace and renewed understanding. We pray for greater acceptance, tolerance, and most of all love.
Bless us, Dear Lord, each one. Heal us in all our sore and broken places. Bless our families and friends and keep them safe. Bless all the fathers, the mothers, the children of the world with renewed hope and peace. We pray for a cure, for a end to our pandemic days. We pray for a end to all the -isms that so divide us. Lead us, Gracious Savior, into days of true compassion and care. Holy God, you know the concerns of our hearts, and we lift them up to you. Do bless those who serve, those who save, and those who suffer. Do bless us, each one, O God. We ask these things in Jesus' Name who taught us to pray saying, "Our Father who art in heaven...."
Benediction:
May the Lord our God, the Loving Father of us all, embrace you with genuine love this day. May God comfort your hearts, ease your burdens, and sprinkle your days with joy. Be bless by God and filled with peace. Amen and Amen.
EXCITING NEWS: This Sunday, June 21, the plan is for a parking lot service at 10:00am. The Thrift Shop porch will serve as the altar area. PLEASE wear a mask. People can gather around, maintaining a safe distance, or stay in their cars with the windows down if that is preferred. Pastor Sean will use a microphone with a speaker. Although the service won't be a long one, you can also bring your own chair if you want. If it's raining, bring an umbrella! After the service, you can take the hymnal with you -- consider it a loaner -- and then bring it with you each Sunday.
For those who continue to be uncomfortable with gatherings, or for those who are away, I will continue to post a service online as I've been doing.
June 14, 2020
Greetings church! Here's hoping this finds you well and enjoying the days.
Today is the Second Sunday of our new season of Pentecost, June 14. This comes a bit later as it follows today's outdoor service. With many thanks to God, the morning was absolutely beautiful. Several people brought their own chairs and even those who stayed in their cars were able to hear. I am grateful that it was well received. Although we had a good crowd, we missed you who weren't there.
Here's worship for those who missed it (and even for those who were there). May you take a moment and be blessed.
- - Pastor Sean
Call to Worship:
A new day has dawned and the beauty of God has risen upon us.
We open our hearts and worship our God the designer of the universe.
Thanks and praise to our God of all Creation.
God's ear is inclined toward us.
We give thanks to the Lord who hears our prayers.
We are grateful for the grace in which we abide.
The Lord has led us safe thus far and we are blessed.
In moments of silence and of song, God's voice falls fresh on our ears .
In solitude and togetherness, we sense the loving touch of God.
God bears our burdens with us. The Holy One lightens our load.
We release our concerns and embrace the hope that our God brings to us this day.
Thanks and praise to our God of all Creation.
Opening Prayer:
Good and Gracious God, we celebrate this day with a newness of prospective. With you comes assurance and healing, hope born anew and love that sustains. We thank you for eyes to take in your glory, for hearts to sense your presence, for moments of peace and prayer. We give you thanks for your Living Word that brings wisdom and nourishes our soul. Spirit of all holiness and compassion, fall afresh on us. Help us to truly hear your voice more clearly than the static of our days. Lead us in our worship, in our day, in the journey of our lives so that we may always know that you are with us. Bless us and fill us, Holy One, for we need your help. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.
Hymn: My Hope Is Build on Nothing Less
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVE-xXFDOwg
Our Scripture Lessons: (attached)
Exodus 19.2-8a; Psalm 100; Romans 5.1-8; Matthew 9.35-10.15
Reflection:
These days of living in the new age of a global pandemic have certainly been challenging. They've required lots of adjustment, new ways of thinking and doing. Yet so far so good. Lessons have been learned. Through inconvenience and discomfort growth has been promoted. As we've been challenged, we've also managed to rise to above all of the latest rules and regulations to successfully manage our social distancing, masks and cleaning rituals. It's sparked a new sense of togetherness that has held firm in spite of our separation. And we're still learning, inventing and discovering. There is much for which to be grateful.
Faith, too, at least for some, has found new avenues to be explored. Many of us have discovered God more deeply, where we are, where we live. Prayer for people of faith comes more readily, and the stabling and strengthening gifts of God have been embraced. Paul's words to the Romans speak well of this for we know "that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit."
However, even as we pat ourselves on the back for having come thus far, even as we can relax and breathe easier (at least without the masks), the battle is not yet over. We're still faced with a deadly virus around us. People are still getting sick and dying. Vigilance, caution, wise action, is still needed.
Our Bible tells us that God gave Moses basic rules for life, for successful journeying and survival. To follow the rules was to continue in blessing and victorious living. As our first lesson tells us, Moses came down from the mountain, summoned the people and set the commandments of God before the people. We read that they all answered as one: "'Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.'"
The 10 commandments didn't seem that tough. Yet in spite of their ready acceptance, as life got easier, they got lax. Then it was an idol here, a idol there, and forgetfulness. The more they ceased to follow the commandments, the farther from God they strayed, and that eventually brought about their downfall.
We've been given new laws, new commandments for continued blessing. There are ways to help ensure successful living. Masks, social distancing, and the regular washing of hands are among them. The challenge is not to bend the rules or stray from them. We can only hope and pray that together we'll continue to be responsible, and that we will set the example that will followed by all.
When Jesus sent the apostles out into the land, he gave them what seems to us to be some pretty radical instructions. They were to go out without gold, silver or copper or any ready provisions and were to rely solely on the kindness, the benevolence, of others. Their survival was entirely based on the generosity of others. They had to rely that others would do the right thing.
So too with us. In order for us to survive and thrive, to live well in our land, we have to do the right thing, all of us together. Jesus summed up the laws of Moses with a new commandment that we are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves. Unfortunately, there are a bunch of people out there who are seriously having a hard time with that. The hatred, violence, and prejudice of our days has got to go. We're in this together. Thoughts and actions need to be reformed. We're to take care of each other, respect, love each other. The same is true for living in these days of pandemic. New ways of thinking, being and doing need to replace the old ways of the once normal. If we get too relaxed, too lax, in our approach, we like the Hebrews of old, put ourselves and others around us at risk. There are no guarantees, but there is much we can and need to do for the benefit of all. It's only by taking care of ourselves that we can take care of others. Follow the rules, stay close to God, and give thanks, for God is close to you. Together, faithful and responsible, we will overcome and continue to discover the blessings of God in new ways for these new days. Be blessed by God. Amen.
Hymn: For the Fruit of All Creation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbBUFSOkbdM
Prayer:
Our God of all Creation, we thank you for the beauty and bounty of our days. We thank you for safe journeys thus far, for hope that is blooms with each new day, and for your loving Spirit that fills us. Gracious God, our world continues to be fraught with pain and grief, with illness, division and rancor. We pray afresh for your healing touch for we need your help. We pray for peace, peace in our hearts, in our communities, in our nation and world. We pray that the evil that divides us, the thoughts and actions that poison us, and the negativity that hold us back, will be replaced by your love and the strength of your Spirit that heals and unites us. Holy One, we pray for our own selves, each one, continue, Dear Lord, to grace us with your compassion to renew our understanding and to reshape our way of being in the world. Bless the many we know in need of your help this day. Comfort the grieving, and guide the lost to places of genuine salvation. With your wisdom, your peace, and your presence, we can and will be renewed for holier and healthier living. Bless us, one and all, we pray. We ask these things in Jesus' Name who taught us to pray saying, "Our Father who art in heaven...."
Benediction:
May the Lord our God, the Fountain and Foundation of all that is good, bless you and strengthen you. May God keep you in the awareness of God's loving care. And may you be led in ways of peace, of compassion, and genuine responsibility for the good of all of God's creation. Amen and amen.
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June 7, 2020 Greetings to you church. Here's hoping the day finds you feeling well, and that you'll take a moment to give some thanks and praise to God for the blessings that have come your way. Take a big deep breath and take in the Spirit of God that is in your midst. Open your heart and let us worship together.
- Pastor Sean
Today is Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost, June 7. We've turned another page on the calendar, and we know that as we do so we're closer to the end of these viral days. Yet patient hope is still needed. Meanwhile, we take a hold of this day, of this week, and give thanks to God for the gift of Creation and for the gentle journey of our days. There is goodness all around. Let us attune the ears of our hearts and the focus of our gaze to perceive the gifts of the Spirit that God is bringing our way. Know that no matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, God is welcoming you into this time of worship.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God , and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. (2 Corinthians 13:13)
Call to Worship:
How majestic is God's touch in all the earth
We see God's glory in all of creation.
The landscape is adorned with the beauty of the Master's brush.
Every living thing reflects God's goodness and grace.
We are created in the very image of our God.
God's light and love shines within us and around us.
God blesses us in this time with all we need.
The Shepherd of our souls leads us to green pastures.
We lift our hearts, and take a breath, to experience the Holy One.
We open ourselves to the ways God is being revealed to us.
Praise and thanks to our God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things.
We rejoice in the promise of the Holy Spirit, our God with us.
Opening Prayer:
Holy and Majestic God, how wonderful are your works that fill our days. Bounty and beauty surround us and the song of birds brings melody to our hearts. We give you thanks and praise for the gifts that are ours in this new day. For love that shines, for hope in the bud, for peace that passes all understanding, we thank you. Holy One, fall afresh on us this day. Help us to experience your Presence in gentle breezes and warming rays. Help us to see you at home in our homes, to sense you at home in our hearts. Lift us up to your realm of amazing grace and bless our sight to behold the wonder of your love in all we have, in all we do. Guide us, Good and Gracious God, in all our days. Keep us in the protective shelter of your fold, and teach us to be the people who you would have us be. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.
Hymn: Spirit of the Living God, Fall Afresh on Me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BagH-zTfnsQ
Our Scripture Lessons: (attached)
Genesis 1.1-9; Psalm 8.1-9; 2 Corinthians 11-13; Matthew 28.16-20
Reflection:
Things were going so well. In the beginning, it was all good. By the time the acts of creation were over, on the sixth day, we read that "God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good." Of course, that was before the Fall, before the Flood, before the plague, before the wild winds of fierce storms that decimate neighborhoods, before riots, looting, murder, and long before Covid-19. It was once so clearly, so profoundly, all good. And now?
Today is Trinity Sunday. The lessons of our Revised Common Lectionary have each been selected to reflect our God in three persons in action, in word and deed. The Hebrew word for "wind," used in the Creation account's second verse, "while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters," is ruach. It loses something in translation as ruach can be translated as Spirit, Wind, or Breath. The King James Version, as well as several other Biblical translations, opt for Spirit. It's likely a better call. With Spirit, we can clearly sense the fullness of God over all creation. "Wind" is too commonplace, even atheistic in a sense -- that is if we fail to sense the Spirit of God in the wind. And so often we do. The Trinity is much clearer in the other lessons as each Person is named.
But as clear as the Trinity is for us to perceive with today's eyes, such wasn't the case for Biblical writers. It took centuries for that theology of the Trinity, a bedrock and unique theology of our Christian faith, to develop. Even after the Trinity was introduced to and initially grasped by leading theologians, it took even longer for the Trinity to be fully explored and understood to be THE definition of our God. Time for development, for teaching, for wisdom of new eyes of faith was needed.
Apparently, Christians also used to greet one another with "a holy kiss." Although we certainly have known cultures that were or are more "kiss-y" than ours, a kiss upon greeting has long lost any true Christian sense. And it certainly ain't happening these days. Times change.
Since the time of Christ, we've also been taught to baptize, but even that, at least for the most part, is on pause. Denominational leaders are asking us to only baptize these days "in emergency situations." But that's changed not because of understanding, but because of situation. The day will surely come when that will change again.
Reform and change, they've long been a part of life. Some come for good reason, others just seem to happen with the passing of time, but ultimately they all come with an adjustment of vision and understanding. And, of course, the hope and prayer is that the changes are God-led. We've arrived yet again to a pivotal point of change, of a new way of being and doing in the world. And it's not easy. We resist it, and communal understanding is again slow to take root.
This past week the chair of the Board of Trustees and I attended a zoom meeting with our New York State Conference denominational leadership. The focus was on re-opening of our churches. Changes for best practices in our churches were taught; directives were given. All were based on research, on what we've learned to date about Covid-19, and on what has happened in other settings.
We basically got a whole lot of No's and Don'ts. Some of the instructions came with little surprise: No communal worship until Phase 4; no one should attend worship without a mask; no congregational singing; no touching; all household units, individuals or groups, must sit at least six-feet apart; no communion or coffee hour. Yet others were a bit shocking: No children's class; no responsive reading; no choir; no spoken unison prayers, including the Lord's prayer; no Bibles or hymnals in pew backs; no fans or air-conditioning (!). Case studies back up the directives. And all was couched within the caveat of "until there is vaccine readily available." Frankly, I'm still struggling to get my head around it.
Reform. Change. New ways of seeing things, new ways of doing things. Most of us have been doing well with the adjustments we've been compelled to make in our own lives so far. Yet resistance and impatience still run high. And yet we have to keep in mind that new infections are still happening, people are still being hospitalized, people are still dying. We can't cease to build on the progress we have made to date.
The Trinity did become a bedrock theology for us. Communion and baptism became the two sacraments of our tradition. We learned to worship together, to have church, to be the church. We're learning still. The aim is to be sure the change that comes our way continues to be God-led and truly reflective of the will of God at work in our lives. God and us, we'll figure it out, and we'll continue to be church to the glory of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, mother of us all. Amen.
Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln-km29p7Io
Prayer:
Almighty and Merciful God, we celebrate this day that you have set before us. We thank you for the beauty of your creation, and for the many ways that you continue to work with us and with those around us. We thank you, O God, for the progress we have made to date and for hope that still shines bright. Lead us, Holy One, in ways of justice and peace, in security and safety for all, in ways that reflect your love and grace in all our world. We do pray for peace, peace in our hearts, peace in our communities, in our nation, in our world. We pray for those who suffer this day, for the hungry and homeless, for the addicted and afraid, for the abused and the abandoned. We pray for the many who are ill and seek your healing touch. We pray for our own selves, our families, and friends, protect them, help them, heal them.
Lord Jesus, we know with you all things are possible. Bless us afresh with new eyes to see and the ability to receive with grace and peace the changes and adjustments that come our way. May our first steps be met with joy and celebration, and may we again be able to stride with the confidence of genuine faith in your profound goodness. Instill in us the Spirit of holiness we need to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
We pray these things in Jesus' Name who taught us to pray saying, "Our Father who art in heaven...."
Benediction:
May our God, in the fullness of the Trinity, our God above us, our God around us, our God with us and within us, bless you and keep you. May God's face long shine upon you, may the Shepherd of our souls lead you, and may the Holy Spirit continue to encourage and strengthen you. Be blessed by God. Amen and amen.
G
We're biblical, traditional, yet progressive.
We honor and take pride in our
Congregational roots.
We covenant with one another and with God,
as revealed
in Jesus Christ through the illumination of
the Holy Spirit.
We endeavor to walk humbly with God and
strive for justice and peace.
My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.
Isaiah 56.7
We are an open and affirming congregation in which all persons regardless of race, ethnic background, economic status, gender, age, or personal ability, are equally affirmed into membership, leadership and employment
and joyfully welcomed.
All activities are currently suspended. Our church office is open for phone calls at 631-727-2621. Pastor Sean will return your calls. Our secretary, Henza is in the office most Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
All activities are currently suspended. Our church office is open for phone calls at 631-727-2621. Pastor Sean will return your calls. Our secretary, Henza is in the office most Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.