From the Preacher

“For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”  - Mark 8:35 During the season of Lent, we commit ourselves to remembering and walking with Jesus in his final days and weeks...

This week we begin the Christian season of Lent. You may know it as the season when you give up chocolate, or alcohol, or (if you’re brave) Girl Scout cookies, but historically the season has little to do with a limited sugar intake, and more to do with disciplining...

There are certain texts in our gospel that are more difficult to understand than others. A virgin conceives a son. A man, blind from birth, receives his sight. A crowd of 5000 is fed with two fish and five loaves. Water turned into wine.   This week, we hear again the...

Here in this season of Epiphany, the texts we read in worship help us to see Jesus in the light God intended. He is proclaimed to be God’s Son at his baptism. Nathaniel calls him “Rabbi, …the King of Israel.” The first disciples set down their nets to follow this new...

It wasn’t until I lived in the South, that I realized the kind of courage it took for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to respond to God’s call the way he did. It wasn’t until I went to his memorial in Atlanta, and explored the historical sites; until I listened to...

Dear friends, Recently I was invited to join a women’s interfaith book club.  Each month we read a book from authors who are either Jewish, Muslim, or Christian.  The focus of this group is to draw us away from our comfortable or familiar readings into words and...

Yesterday, I discovered in my inbox at church two Christmas cards. Both of them were completely unexpected, from people I have known and felt kinship with from different chapters of my life. Each sender, no longer having an up-to-date address for me, sought out the...

It is, at last, the final week of 2020. I am typically someone who appreciates the clean-slate feeling of the turn of a New Year; the hope for charting a different course with intention and purpose. It always feels like a significant moment when we can lay to rest the...

Dear friends, What a year it was; a year of census taking, a widening gap between the haves and have nots, and living in a politically divided country. Keeping faith in such a time as this can be a challenge. Yet, Mary and Joseph did keep their faith. They followed...

When I had envisioned what would be our first Advent and Christmas together, I must say, this is not quite what I had in mind. I love learning the traditions of a congregation around these important holidays. Being brought in to the busyness and fellowship of planning...