Seeking God Together: Saying Thanks

This autumn, our worship follows our Church School curriculum, Seeking God Together. We are learning in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. In Sunday’s Gospel story, we hear a story of ten men with skin diseases (assumed to be leprosy) who ask Jesus for help. The story explains that “when Jesus saw them, he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ As they left, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw that he had been healed, returned and praised God with a loud voice. He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. He was a… Read More

Marveling

This autumn, our worship follows our Church School curriculum, Seeking God Together. We are learning in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. O God, how manifold are your works; in wisdom you have made them all. Psalm 104:24 Lately I’ve been watching lots of sunrises. And while I do, I marvel that we still speak of them as the sun rising or setting on us. Or as the French poetically say it in everyday speech, that the sun gets up and lies down. These colorful morning paeans remind me that ever since Copernicus’ 16th century celestial studies forever changed our concept of who… Read More

Making Room

This autumn, our worship follows our Church School curriculum, Seeking God Together. We are learning in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. My friend Lisa is one of the best cooks I know. For years now, Robert and I have enjoyed regular meals with her and her husband Peter in their home, as well as ours. After I had knee surgery, Lisa came over and made a meal in our small kitchen. Once when I overcooked the pork loin, Lisa playfully encouraged me on how to up my game. I even had the privilege of taking a cooking class… Read More

Praying our Collective Liberation

This autumn, our worship follows our Church School curriculum, Seeking God Together. We are learning in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. This Sunday, however, we take a break from our curriculum for Indigenous Peoples’ weekend and turn to this message that God spoke through the Prophet Jeremiah: “This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those… Read More

Honoring Our Bodies: Secret Wonders

This autumn, our worship follows our Church School curriculum, Seeking God Together. We are learning in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. This Sunday, we look forward to welcoming the Reverend Carrington Moore, Executive Director of common cathedral, one of our ministry partners that holds worship every Sunday, rain or shine on Boston Common for the city’s unhoused community. Many of you will remember when we have welcomed common cathedral and common art in the past. Reverend Carrington is also the Assistant Pastor for Discipleship at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plain. Reverend Carrington writes: There is something very sacred and… Read More

Making Time

This autumn, our worship follows our Church School curriculum, Seeking God Together. We are learning in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. Many of us in this congregation lead busy lives. We fill our time with appointments, meetings, to-do lists, commitments, for ourselves and for our families. And too often, it’s how we evaluate if our life has meaning: am I doing enough? Am I busy enough? One appointment we’re likely to leave off of our calendars is a daily appointment with God. God is less concerned with how busy we are, than how centered we are. How grounded… Read More

How to Pray

Last Sunday, we had a lively Welcome Back worship service on the lawn, punctuated with a last-minute rain shower and a quick pivot to move our usual outdoor picnic indoors. Amy and I spoke of the importance of call — how God calls us individually and how God is calling us as a congregation amid a building crisis. At the heart of discerning God’s call for our lives is prayer, an active, ongoing, direct conversation with God. We heard last week how Moses had a direct conversation to God, mostly protesting why he couldn’t accept God’s call and request for… Read More

Welcome Back: What are we Called to Do?

This Sunday, we will hold worship on our front lawn. Family worship at 9:45am Welcome Back worship at 11am Followed by an all-parish lunch on the lawn! At the heart of our church’s vision (from 2012) is the idea of “Call-Equip-Serve,” meaning that each one of us is: 1. Called to do some kind of ministry, and can be 2. Equipped by our church community to do it, so that we can 3. Serve effectively in the world. I often wonder how we could lean into more of this core mission. I wonder how many of you feel like you… Read More

New Every Morning

Summer Worship Series: New Beginnings This summer, we learn more about the faith lives of our members as they reflect on what it means to embark on new beginnings. “Morning by morning, new mercies I see,” is a line we lovingly sing from the old hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” It echoes these words from Lamentations 3: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,     for God’s compassions never fail.  They are new every morning;     great is your faithfulness. Each day we’re given a new beginning. Sometimes, however, we’re not willing, ready or able to embrace it. So what does it mean to commit… Read More

Table Etiquette in Retirement

Summer Worship Series: New Beginnings This summer, we learn more about the faith lives of our members as they reflect on what it means to embark on new beginnings. Jesus liked to eat. More than that, he liked eating with other people. His friends, followers, strangers on the road, perceived enemies, he sat down with all of them. And in the intimate act of sharing a meal, he saw into the heart of his companions and helped them see themselves and their lives in new ways. There’s a reason that we commemorate his ministry with the holy meal of communion…or… Read More

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