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going to new orleans

Posted on May 15, 2008 | Filed Under church, faith, personal life, ucc

Even three years after hurricane Katrina, there is much rebuilding work yet to do in New Orleans as this video from the Center for American Progress indicates …

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df9sfpRk78I&feature=related[/youtube]

Tomorrow I leave with a mission team of twelve adults from our congregation for a week’s work in New Orleans. We will be one team among many taking part in the ongoing efforts of the United Church of Christ to help the people of New Orleans rebuild their homes and their lives. Ours is a good team — six men and six women — and we go with strong support from our church …

disconnected faith?

Posted on April 11, 2008 | Filed Under church, spirituality, the natural world

In a couple of weeks, our congregation will be hosting a “Cool Congregations” workshop, intended to promote an informed and committed response by people of faith to the serious environmental threat posed by global warming. We sent out a mailing describing the event to churches of every denomination in the metropolitan area and to all the UCC churches in northeast Iowa.

This week I have been making follow-up calls to a selected list of churches that had received the mailing — I had the A’s and B’s and C’s!

I have been surprised — …

ucc runs an ad

Posted on March 31, 2008 | Filed Under church, faith, ucc

The national office of the United Church of Christ is raising $120,000 ($82,600 raised as of March 31, 12:00 noon) to run a full-page ad in Wednesday’s edition of the New York Times. The ad is a response to the furor generated by the widely-broadcast video clips of sermons preached at Trinity United Church of Christ by Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But more importantly, the ad attempts to use this “moment in the spotlight” to tell the story of the United Church of Christ in our own words.

We are a church of open ideas, extravagant welcome and evangelical courage.

Open ideas require …

lenten prayer

Posted on February 8, 2008 | Filed Under church, spirituality

A beautiful and empowering Lenten prayer posted by David Warkentin, reminding us that Lent is not merely about self-denial, but about transformation:

Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling within them.
Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of all life.
Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.
Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger; feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.
Fast from worry; feast on trust.
Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.
Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.
Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer.
Fast from …

playing it safe?

Posted on January 24, 2008 | Filed Under church, spirituality

We have been studying the parables of Jesus in a Wednesday evening Bible study at church. This week, one of the parables we discussed was the parable of the three servants …

Once there was a man who was about to go on a journey; he called his servants and put them in charge of his property. He gave to each one according to his ability: to one he gave five thousand gold coins, to another he gave two thousand, and to another he gave one thousand. Then he left on his journey. The servant who had received five thousand coins …

let it shine

Posted on June 21, 2007 | Filed Under church, tolerance, ucc

This week the United Church of Christ gathers in Hartford, Connecticut to convene its 26th General Synod and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the church founded by the merger of the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the General Conference of Congregational Christian Churches on June 25, 1957.

As we celebrate our heritage and rededicate ourselves to fulfilling God’s mission, I pray we can rekindle something of the passion for unity that motivated the birth of this new church experiment: The United Church of Christ acknowledges as its sole Head, Jesus Christ, Son …

talking is easier than doing

Posted on May 23, 2007 | Filed Under church, justice, personal life, spirituality

It is easier to write than to do. Easier to complain than to do. Easier to rant and grieve about injustice and unfairness, than to do anything substantial to change the course of injustice and unfairness. Easier to say “No matter who you are, you are welcome here,” than to do the actual welcoming. Easier to be moved to tears by a song about “Jesus in all his distressing disguises,” a song about people failing to meet the eyes of a beggar on the street, than to meet the eyes of the beggar who greets you the next morning on …

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