One day when I was a preschool teacher, I had a little boy in my class who was sitting at circle time and he interrupts attendance to make an announcement. “My grandpa died.” I said “Oh that’s very sad. I’m sorry to hear that.” I was trying to tread very carefully because his family were … [Read more…]
I love the stories of Genesis because they really get to the bottom of human relationship and human life. They are not preached on often and many people struggle to figure out how to find the lessons in these stories for today’s modern life. But the lessons are there. These stories are examples for us. … [Read more…]
I was going to preach on Abraham’s compassion and hospitality that he showed to the three visitors from God. But as I read this passage over and over again, I couldn’t help but come back to the miraculous ways in which God works in our world and in our lives. For the past couple of … [Read more…]
So there has been so many lessons that I have learned since social distancing began. One of the things that I have learned is that I do not like staring at myself as I preach and run worship. I find it very distracting. I have become very aware of my own sensitivities because of Zoom … [Read more…]
When I was around 10 years old, I would spend my afternoons after school at my Great Grandma Standish’s house. Her house was walking distance of my parent’s home and sometimes I would just walk there from the school bus stop. I remember one day vividly. I was sitting at her kitchen table that was … [Read more…]
If you had to define a Christian to someone, what words would you use? (Invite congregation to help) When Bill and I first started dating, my father-in-law had a very specific idea of what a Christian was based on his experiences as a Jewish man. And I must say his views were not flattering. Yet … [Read more…]
Our Acts reading gets to the point of what the early church and those earliest believers were to look like. It is almost a utopian society for those of the early church. They shared all possessions, all things, they did not act in mere human ways, but always with the Spirit. This was the hope … [Read more…]
I have always loved Palm Sunday and Holy Week, ever since I was a young child. I remember going to worship on Palm Sunday with my mother and brothers. We were in Sunday school from 9 to 10 then we would help clean up the rooms moving tables and chairs and folding up the retractable … [Read more…]
I will be honest. I don’t like being stuck in the house. I don’t like isolation. I have been social, since birth according to my parents, and so for me social distancing has been difficult. For many of you this has only been in place for a few weeks now. But for me with a … [Read more…]
In 2007 I did Field Education in a church in Braintree MA. It was a large old stone building with beautiful stained glass windows in the sanctuary. Each window depicted a different scene from the bible. The church was beautiful though did not make me think of a traditional New England Congregational Church when I … [Read more…]
