Pastor Elisabeth asks, “Is it possible to be so consumed by God’s love that the worries and fears that we have take a back seat?” She describes Jesus becoming transformative light during the Transfiguration, and soon after telling people they are the light of the world. Keeping in touch with this burning, transformative light restores…
Dr Cindy Acker describes Coretta Scott King’s work for justice as based on a a deep sense of being called to work for justice as a spiritual life. She advocated for civil rights, peace, economic justice, LGBQ+ rights, women’s rights, and other issues, all based on an understanding of God’s love for all.
Pastor Elisabeth is home sick with a respiratory illness. Member David Santschi recounts the story of the other magi by Van Dyke and offers some reflections.
Pastor Elizabeth invites us to ponder as Mary must have pondered, and wonder what this experience of the Holy must have meant for her and for us each Christmas. This humble birth of a Savior, at a time when only Emperor Augustus was allowed to be called Savior must have been deeply unsettling. How can…
Pastor Elisabeth imagines some likely details of the night of Jesus’s birth , sings a little of “Mary Did You Know?” and urges us to “hang out” at the manger to appreciate the eternal joining us in love. We also enjoy a quartet singing Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus and conclude with the congregation singing “Silent…
We celebrate the second Sunday of Advent and raise the flag of Peace. Pastor Elisabeth reflects on John the Baptist receiving the Word of God in the wilderness, and notes that the Word does not come to the powerful and that grace arises from below. As we distress over issues of the world, she reminds…
Pastor Elizabeth begins noting that Mary was the most unlikely person in the Roman Empire through whom God would act magnificently. She quotes Howard Zinn, who writes that the history of humanity includes people acting terribly, but more often is the story of people acting magnificently in the face of difficulties. She concludes, “This season…
This week we present here most of a powerful service with extraordinary music the Sunday after the election.. We honor veteran’s contributions, hear a social justice interpretation of the widow’s small contribution which Jesus asks his disciples to pay attention to. Once again Jesus takes the side of the oppressed.. We also reflect on a…
This Pride Sunday we celebrate God’s love for all as symbolized in the rainbow shown to Noah. This year we have are honored to have a section of the AIDS Quilt recognizing the suffering of so many. In spite of repeatedly having our pride flag torn down, we will continue to proclaim that all are…
We honor those who have gone before and reflect on how the Great Commandment relates to the upcoming election. “Don’t let your generous hearts be co-opted by what is happening in the world,” says Pastor Elisabeth.