Pastors' Blog
Did you know that Brookline has a sister city in Nicaragua?
It's called Quezalguaque. It's about 70 miles northwest of Managua and 20 miles in from the Pacific Coast, near the base of two volcanos. The relationship began in 1985, when a Brookline resident was teaching in a one-...
Have you ever found that you have a hard time reconciling the miracles and healings of Jesus' ministry and other biblical texts with your post-modern, post-Enlightenment, rational mind?
Think about it for a few seconds. Then respond.
That's what I thought.
You're not alone. We 21st-century "enlightened" folks are sometimes so limited by our highly rational, science- and technology-reliant thought processes. Entering into the ancient, wonder world of the biblical accounts...
This Sunday at 10am, we continue our summer worship series exploring what it means to be "Made in God's Image." We welcome our one-year resident doctor from New Zealand, Emily Gill, as she tells us about finding God in working with Doctors without Borders in West Africa. I'm loving this series!
Here's what she says:
Jesus states “Daughter, your faith has made you well” to a woman with a constant hemorrhage,...
This week we continue our summertime theme of exploring what it means to be "Made in God's Image." We welcome United Parish member and ministry partner, Laura Shatzer, Associate Pastor and Chaplain of common cathedral, a church community that meets every Sunday on Boston Common. Once again, we will welcome about 30 "...
"Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle...'"
-Genesis 1:26
Wait, what? I did a double take when I got to this verse in my Hebrew Bible/Old Testament class at Seminary...I thought Judaism was a monotheistic religion, but here is God being self-referential using plural pronouns! In fact, in many places in the Hebrew Bible, the Hebrew...
This past Spring, Amy, Susan and I attended a Prison Arts Roundtable at Boston University. Our host was Andre de Quadros, a visionary musician and activist, who leads and facilitates courses in artistic expression for people living behind bars. Our former Assistant Music Director, Trey, has been deeply involved in this work and introduced us to Andre.
At this forum, we heard directly from formerly incarcerated...
This week, we continue our series of what it means to be "Made in the Image of God," and hear from a new member, Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby, a PhD candidate at Boston University School of Theology, studying practical theology in preaching.
She writes:I was in the fourth grade when my parents and I discovered that I needed corrective lenses. I had been squinting in class to see the chalkboard, and I had been getting headaches while trying to complete my homework. This was just the...
REMINDERThis Sunday after worship, we will head over to Common Cathedral to serve food on the Boston Common and worship with our unhoused siblings in Christ. If you would like to help prepare the 100+ sandwiches we are bringing, please arrive at 9am on Sunday morning and come to the Parlor for a sandwich assembly line that would make Henry Ford jealous!
In our own 10am worship this week, we will continue to reflect on the...
This Sunday we return to summer worship mode and go down to Willett Hall and begin at 10am. We will continue through September 2. Many of us really cherish the summer worship experience: it feels more communally connected, we sing better, we have communion every week, it's a little more relaxed. Frankly I LOVE it. The way we worship reflects more of our sense of the immanent God, that God is right there with us, on...
This Sunday, we will welcome friends from the Islamic Center of Boston (ICB) in Wayland, to lead us in worship. We will hear the beautiful Muslim call to prayer, read from the Quran (Chapter 3, verse 103), and consider what it means to have peace among interfaith siblings and cousins. I have also invited friends from our local Muslim community in Brookline to join us.
For...
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