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Dear Siblings, 

I believe most of you know that one of my favorite hymns is Awake, Awake to Love and Work! You may not know that another hymn of which I am fond of is You Are Salt for the Earth, O People. I’m not sure, but whenever I think about the church  where I grew up, Church of the Savior UCC, it’s the song that most readily comes to mind. So, I’m glad that we’ll sing that hymn on Sunday, as we make-meaning out of Jesus’ lesson on salt and light. 

A few weeks ago, I wrote that I’ve been thinking a lot about notions of citizenship and my hope is that our scripture readings and our music in worship might help us all think about our place in the City of God.

An important part of our Common Life is simply being together. So come for something on Sunday! Come for Sunday School, for the voices of choir, the sermon, Story for All Ages, Pizza on the Playground and/or our NEW sandwich ministry opportunity. 

Come, not because you must, but because you may!

See you Sunday(in-person or online),

Thomas

Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,

“I have no words.”

This is what Rev. Thomas announced in our worship planning meeting to explain why he had proposed that on Sunday we have a hymn sing. He was also giving me permission to say out loud, “Neither do I.” At the end of a week in which another peaceful voice for justice had been silenced forever by our own government agents, I have no words. How can I preach? How can I pray when the world in on fire?

Well, with all due respect, it’s not the first time. Violence, injustice, hatred, tyranny—that long list of the hateful stuff we do to one another, the ways we refuse to see the dignity and beauty in one another, disrespect and dehumanize one another—that is not new. All of this has been around since forever. But we are feeling it now, in our own skin, in our own broken hearts, in the anger and confusion of this very day. And some of us are dumbstruck.

So, what to do? When my faith in God and in people and in elected leaders and the people of God takes this many hits right in front of my face, how do I find stable footing? How to ready for the next steps ahead?

You know my answer already: I sing. What else can I do? “My anchor holds and grips the solid rock/That rock is Jesus.” “Give me Jesus/You may have all this world/Give me Jesus.” ”Hold to God’s unchanging hand/Build your hopes on things eternal/Hold to God’s unchanging hand.”

In worship on Sunday, we will sing. A lot. Tune up before you come.

In the meantime, there are others who DO have words. Good words, in fact, thanks be to God. Here are two that came to my attention this week:

https://youtu.be/0ElUloNFf-8

https://vimeo.com/1159835662?share=copy

After worship, I hope you are planning to join us for the long-awaited Congregational Asset Mapping Experience in the Fellowship Hall. We will have lunch for you, and we will make sure it’s good and warm inside for those of us who will take on the extreme cold outside. We’re still working on a way to include our Streamers, probably using the link you use for worship. Look for more by Sunday.

Hope to see you Sunday.

Love and hugs,

Rev. Liz

Fun fact: the enews note is often more difficult to write than a sermon. To be honest, I don’t really have words for this edition of the This Week @ Central. 

There are some days when I wake up and think “I’m not built for this, maybe tomorrow I’ll wake up with a different call.” And there are other days when I wake up and think “the heavens are singing the glories of God and somehow I’ve ended up in the chorus of creation that’s shouting for joy… might as well enjoy it.”

In the past week, I’ve thought about baptism and the wilderness, the collapse and emergence of a new political order, continued threats from AI(I am very very bearish on this), concepts of citizenship, and the Jesus problem that is now very apparent to me in the American church.

Some of those thoughts will preach and some of them will not! For this Sunday, I think you’ll hear something tied to wilderness, citizenship, and the Jesus problem in the American church… all through the lens of our lectionary texts. The real goal is for us to consider memories and new understandings of hope. A lot of this is inspired by these words from Rev. Dr. Cody Sanders:

Feral hope is a hope that is driven into the wilderness by the Spirit, alongside Jesus emerging from the baptismal waters in the Synoptic Gospels. It is hope dashed and born again, like the disciples moving all along the way of Jesus—misunderstanding, halting, sometimes regressing, yet buoyed by surprise and wonder and the intrigue of companions moving along a winding pathway. Feral hope is a hope that travels to the grave—the place of death, the aftermath of violence—unsuspecting. Like the women coming to the tomb of their crucified beloved not to witness resurrection, but to anoint a corpse with spices and tears. It is a hope-against-hope, a hope acquainted with hopelessness, a hope born of the alchemy of grief and wonder. Feral hope is radical hope.

In my last sermon, I briefly noted that the promise of the world to come is not guaranteed to be made known in our time, regardless of how much work we put towards that world coming into being. I want to be in conversation with those words offered by Rev. Sanders, because he talked about this before me, and I happen to think that we are pointing at the concept for our faith and its practice in the 21st century. His full article, called Feral Hope for Futurist Leaders, (just 10 pages) can be read here.

Aside from the above, we have a few updates on Sunday plans, which you can read about below:

– How the Bible Actually Works will not meet.

– Asset Mapping is postponed and will take place on February 1.

– our plan for worship will be announced by midday tomorrow(Saturday), which is what most churches around us are planning to do too. 

If worship is cancelled, we will share my sermon via email, but unfortunately are not able to share the wonderful music that our choir would have offered. We will also not gather online. Please stay tuned to your email or our Facebook page for that announcement tomorrow!

I started this note saying I had no words, and yet here we are. 

Be good to yourselves and one another, and I will see you Sunday (or a Sunday soon),

Thomas

Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,

This is the weekend we celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday and for many of us, the holiday tomorrow will be a “Day of Service” to our communities in one way or another–service to others and a greater good to honor and memorialize the model Dr. King’s life gives us.

It is also the Second Sunday after Epiphany in the Calendar of the Christian Year, the Sunday just after we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus, and where we begin to understand what difference that baptism made. We may also wonder what difference those waters make for the baptized—for us.

When I was teaching ninth and tenth graders an introduction to the Bible as literature, a course called Judeo-Christian Tradition, we prepared for the term’s final exam by putting butcher paper around the classroom and drawing the narrative. Other teachers thought this was elementary (as in not rigorous enough) for this top-tier New England boarding school. However, I invariably learned something I hadn’t learned in seminary. Case in point:

As we stood back to look over our work and notice things together, one girl spoke up to say, “It looks like, every time they go through water, things change.” Oh? Can you say more?

“Well, it gets hard before it gets better.”

It was right there. The Exodus. The Wilderness. The Babylonian Exile. The Flight into Egypt. Jesus at the River Jordan. But before we followed the story and the journey in images around the walls, I had not noticed that or drawn the significance of the movement of the People of God through the water.

So, what happened at the River? So what?

On the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, we turn to wondering what difference that event made, has made, could make. Our Lectionary readings for Sunday are from Isaiah 49:1-7 in the Hebrew Bible and 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 in the New Testament.

Does what happened at the River explain who the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was, what he did, and why? Does what happened at the River help us to know what we are called to be and do and why? What do you think think?

Come worship with us on Sunday—Streamers and Gatherers, Everybody. Come join us for a moment away from everything else we do to pray and sing and ponder and praise God who called and brought us through the waters of baptism. And who walks with us still. It will be good to be there with you in that conversation among friends, going along together, making God-sense of life as it happens, between meals. (Communion Sunday is February 1. Come then, too.) Hope to see you soon.

Love and hugs,

Rev. Liz

P.S. About this time of year, I often read King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. It is a stunning piece; to say “brilliant” is too little. Something new comes from it every time. Have a look: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/letter-birmingham-jail

Merry Christmas!

I trust that your holiday is going well. We are finally within the 12 days of Christmas and I want all of it. Today is St. Stephens Day, a day which honors the life of one of the first deacons in the early church. St. Stephen was put to death for his beliefs. I share that not to dampen the Christmas spirit, but to instead invite you to consider what this season really means for you. 

God came to us in the most vulnerable of human forms. I think it’s a reminder for us to pay attention to the most vulnerable in our midst, not just in this season but all of the time. 

If you plan to join us on Sunday, we’ll sing a few more Christmas hymns and I’ll offer a short reflection on some of what I think this season is all about. 

Rev. Liz and Josh are away on Sunday! But they still want you to join us in person or online. 

Merry Christmas to you, and your families. 

See you soon!

Thomas

Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,

Confession: I’m excited. Excited about our Sunday worship service which will feature both of the sacraments of the United Church of Christ. I’m not sure that has ever happened in my ministry. And an infant baptism has not happened at Central in seven years. I’m excited. This is B.I.G.

My excitement also grows from loving our Advent resources from Illustrated Ministry, LLC, The Will to Dream. Thanks to Rev. Thomas, we have this comprehensive guide through the seasons of anticipation and incarnation that invites our full selves and every aspect of our congregational lives. 

In Advent, we remember the prophetic promises of the Old Testament that we usually only sing in Handel’s Messiah. (Well, that’s how I remember they are there at all; they come with music.) It’s a time when we actually listen to the voices of daring dreamers, messengers who speak the word of God to the people of God via the audacity of dreams; odd ones who cry out inviting us to commit to hope–for peace, not less–and joy and love. And to imagine that, with the help of God, we can participate in the shalomification of our world. Yes, that peace–wellbeing, thriving, justice, wholeness, dignity, and equality, to name but a few.

I want to be one of them, one of those odd personalities. But churches do not often look for us. Except, sometimes, in transitions when the comfort has already been disturbed. I can see that now, after ten years in that space. Mine is a voice for crying out in the wilderness, calling for a shift of mind, metanoia, or what Matthew 3:2 “repent.” It’s not so much from sin, as we most often think, unless it’s the sin of not paying attention and thinking that what we can see now is all there is to see, and what we know and sense is enough. Imagination is a daring thing. 

Which is why I always say, watch out! Pentecost is always lurking in the wings, from which the Holy Spirit might intrude, grab our hearts and minds, and make us sing and dance and speak languages we don’t know and see love where it is (merely) hope, peace and joy. Only if you can imagine it. As Toni Morrisson wrote, “if you can’t imagine it, you can’t have it.”

I said I am excited but ça suffit comme ça. Besides, Pentecost is all the way next year, when the Christian year shifts from “the story of Jesus” to “the story of us,” the people of God and how we have done in the “refiner’s fire” and “preparing the straight ways of God.” The Bible is truly a treasure; the gift that keeps on giving.

Sunday will be a busy day for Central. After last Sunday when there were children running in the aisles (be still by heart), I trust we will find the energy to stay a while for the Jazz Christmas Coffeehouse with the MetroGnomes immediately after 11 am service. There will be good music, good food, good fellowship–it’s a dessert potluck–and holiday cheer. What’s not to like? Join us, if you can.

Later in the afternoon, Central is invited to join the Service of Ordination to Christian Ministry of Amanda Edwards who was a member here during her preparations for ministry. That service is at 4:30 EST/3:30 CST in Wisconsin. Use this link to register! After registration you are going to receive the Zoom link for the service! ​

Come be with us on Sunday, Streamers and Gatherers, all y’all. It will be another great day at Central. You don’t want to miss it.

Love and hugs,

Rev. Liz 

Dear Siblings, 

I trust that your Thanksgiving gatherings were(or will be) a wonderful time to spend with family and friends. I have a “thing” about not singing certain songs until the church(liturgical) calendar gives the all clear. Joy to the World? It’s a wonderful song and best sung on Christmas Eve or later. Although, I have an exception for Jazz renditions… I’ll listen to that anytime. Angels We Have Heard on High? A personal favorite, and yet also one that fits very neatly into a specific window of time. Maybe you have similar proclivities. Maybe you don’t. 

Imagine my surprise when I was humming “Auld Lang Syne” on my flight back from Phoenix last week. It’s November! And yet, that was precisely the song for the moment as I was also thinking about this Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent. It’s the beginning of a new church year. This is the first Sunday in Year A, as we call it.  So, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As a child, my parents would have us make a year in review in the last week of the year. It was part scrapbook, part journaling, and, as I’ve since learned, an easy way to keep us busy. It worked. 

I’m curious what you would include in your own Year-In-Review. What have you done? Who have you met? Where have you gone? What made you sad or angry? 

I’m curious too, what would a Year-in-Review for our church include? I’m serious, please send me your thoughts: What have we done? What should we celebrate? What would we want other people to know?

As we begin this new church year, we’ll journey within our Advent theme: The Will To Dream, which calls us to sit with the prophets and the present-day as we look toward a world that might one day be. Here’s a few things to know for this Sunday:

Advent Devotionals small group is back! They’ll meet at 10am in the Commons. It’s a fun, informal group that likes to explore the theme through a weekly devotional. If you didn’t get a paper copy, you can sign up to receive an email version right here.

Leo Thomasian will be our soloist on Sunday! You’ve no doubt heard his voice in the choir, but now you’ll get the chance to really hear it! He’s the first of several folks who are offering their talents & gifts in worship this Advent season.

Marion Clein is inviting us into a collaborative art experience for Advent. This Sunday, you’ll be asked to write one word to add to the canvas. Here’s the prompt: Write one word that describes defiant hope.

We’re starting the new year off strong and I hope that you’ll be a part of as much of it as you’re able to be!

See you Sunday,

Thomas

P.S. My peanut allergy is no more! I have already celebrated that over the past two weeks, but please share any peanut snacks, candies, recipes that you think I may have missed out on over the past 22 years. 

Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,

Every now and then, I am paralyzed by choices and by the consequences of the choices I have made. So, when the Revised Common Lectionary gives me choices, I am not helped but slowed. For the Twenty-third Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 28, we have choices in the Hebrew Bible readings. Too many choices for focus. And, then, there it was. In the texts I neglected to read closely enough. Sigh.

“It’s JOY, silly. Of course it’s joy.” Before the Third Sunday of Advent is OK. Well, always AND the Third Sunday of Advent. It’s in all of these texts. It’s the core of the promises we rehearse in Advent, the prophetic voices we will focus soon. And all this week’s lections anticipate those prophetic promises and the fulfillment of the promises at Christmas. (No matter that we have been celebrating that season since Back to School in August.) Joy. How could I forget?

I’d love to find a way to get these texts in front of our collective eyes at least once a week. Got any suggestions? I always find them here and you can, too. https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu Here is this week: Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 12/Malachi 4:1-2a; Psalm 98; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19. By now you know that the Bible is the library of narratives through which I find my way in this life of faith. They are deeply embedded in my family story, my story. Way-finding. Orienteering. That’s why I am a lectionary preacher.

With my feet tangled in the options this week, I found two pieces that helped me move from paralysis to movement. The first is an excerpt from Scripture & Discernment: Decision Making in the Church by Luke Timothy Johnson, my New Testament professor at Candler. This speaks to the choices I am committed to in ministry that often seem disruptive to congregations and just as often make me anxious. Anxiety is a kill-joy.

We must let go of any fantasy concerning the church as a stable, predictable, well-regulated organization. If the church is truly the place in the world where the existence of God is brought to the level of narrative discernment, the church will always be disorderly….We must let go of the desire for theology to be a finished product of complete conceptual symmetry. If theology is in fact the attempt to understand living faith, then it must always be an unfinished process, for the data continues to come in, as the Living God persists in working through the lives of people and being revealed in their stories.

He goes on a bit more and you can read that by following the link.

The second piece, a poem by Lindy Thompson, reminded me where I find much joy in this life of faith, “I Go to Sing.” To make a joyful noise. That’s no surprise to you but it wandered away from my view for a minute. It’s kinda long so get comfy, or skip to the bottom where I hope you will join us for worship, Streamers and Gatherers.

I come to sing. Also, I come for the “we-ness.” You come, too. Come to worship on Sunday, 11:00 am, in our beautiful sanctuary. We will make joyful noises, with Ben Pierre as guest musician. Expect us to pray and “break forth into joyful song and sing praises” for the steadfast love and faithfulness of God, everything else notwithstanding. In case we forget.

Love and hugs,

Rev. Liz

Dear Members, Friends, Siblings, All,

In our reading for Sunday in Luke 19:1-10, Jesus invites himself to lunch at the home of Zacchaeus, the tax collector. If this were happening today, as a government employee who has not been paid for some weeks, can Zacchaeus be sure there will be enough food to share with a guest? If his family has ever needed SNAP benefits, can he hope there will be enough for everyone next week or after? Trick or Treat, indeed.

This is the scariest thought I can think of this Halloween. No, I take that back. It’s even scarier that we can’t really see an end to the horror of food scarcity or any number of other frightening realities in our present world. There’s really no need for holiday decorations. I am sufficiently terrorized daily by the news. This is why I must pray more. One moment, please:

Please, God, have mercy! You have created us from love, for love. Help us to create spaces for love to grow, especially when pantries are empty. Stir our imaginations to find ways, invent new ways, take risks, innovate wildly, and experiment fearlessly. Remind us to hold to your unchanging hand, and to always hope beyond hope. Amen.

OK, I’m back with a quick word about Sunday. 

If you have to sing the Zacchaeus Song like Ron Joyner and I do whenever we hear this story, you won’t need the YouTube link below. As he and I confirmed last week, although we learned slightly different versions of the song, the story of the day Zacchaeus meets Jesus is embedded in our bodies. Thanks be to God for the Sunday School class, lo, these many years ago, where we learned it. Now, it will not go away. 

On Sunday, in the story part of the WORD FOR ALL AGES, we have to teach our children this story and this song. 

When I taught a Bible as Literature course to ninth and tenth graders, we made Zacchaeus an “All-Star.” This is a character everyone should know because he can show up anywhere, not just Sunday School and church. My son came home one day in high school, furious that he did not know a certain biblical all-star that came up in his Lit class and he blamed me for it!

There’s a YouTube video below so you can practice before Sunday, if you need to. And we should have words and music by worship time, in case we need that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIjQObYF1cU 

What would I do without you, our Central congregation and community, where I am welcomed to learn more about how the kin-dom of God comes near to us, and to struggle with how that might become part of my own living? 

Not waiting for Thanksgiving, I thank God for you now. And I hope to see you or be seen by you in worship, 11:00 am on Sunday, November 2 (already!), streaming together or gathering together. Together, all the same. Be there or be square. (Groan. That’s as old as the Zacchaeus Song. Sorry.) I’d better go now.

Love and hugs,

Rev. Liz 

PS When you read the passage, see if you can tell if the short one is Zacchaeus or Jesus. Personally, I like thinking about the latter. Can you think why?