Starting this Saturday October 16th in preparation for Walking the Church Year our joint adult Christian formation with the Immanuel Campus congregations we are having a three part series on the Church Year.
3:30 p.m. Immanuel Lutheran Church 1500 W Eldale in the Olin Center/Library.
October 16: Sunday and Easter: Resurrection as center of church Calender
October 23: Advent and Lent: Waiting and Fasting
October 30: Christmas, Epiphany, Pentecost and ordinary Time: Incarnation and Discipleship.
Child care is provided for all three sessions.
A short Bibliography can be found here
Showing posts with label Immanuel Lutheran Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Immanuel Lutheran Church. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 13
Thursday, June 17
Parish and Community Organizing workshops
Immanuel and four other ELCA churches in the Edgewater neighborhood the past three Wednesday had a workshop on the parish and community organizing lead by the Rev. Stephen Bouman who is Executive Director of the ELCA's Evangelical Outreach and Congregational Mission unit. Reconciler was invited by Immanuel to take part in these workshops, I, the pastor was the only one to attend. In the end I found the three sessions inspiring. Reconciler as an ecumenical congregation was started as a way to engage our context in the way these churches are seeking to do through adopting tools from community organizing. Based on these three sessions I see that Reconciler could be enriched by what these four congregations seem to be seeking to do together in utilizing the techniques and tools of community organizing. I think our experience as a congregation that sees its worship as that which forms us and the place from which we are empowered to live as Christ’s disciples in the world and with our neighbors. If we allow ourselves to engage these congregations in this process I feel we may find the ability to build upon our strengths and share our experience of church as primarily a worshiping community that through worship is empowered to live with each other and engage what God is doing in the world. The spirit has moved and is moving I believe we are called to be apart of it, in fact we already are through relationship with Immanuel that can grow if we let it.
The first session was more or less “Community Organizing 101”. In that session Bouman sought to connect the principles of community organizing to Scripture and the reality of church as place of proclamation of the Gospel. He began by reading 2 Kings 4:1-7 and having us discuss the passage. What he helped us draw out of this passage was that God uses what we already have and may think to be useless (i.e. empty vessels) and that God works God's great and amazing works through community and our own being agents in the world. The power for change and provision in the story is from God but is accomplished through community and personal action. Bouman then talked about 16 traits of community organizing while telling stories of his first parish that was part of a community organizing group in Queens New York. The 16 characteristics are: 1) Sees diversity as strength 2) People oriented not project oriented 3) The goal is the release of power-every person is inherently powerful 4) Owned by the people 5)Listens to people 6) Expects accountability 7)Basic tool is the relational meeting 8) can focus on any issue 9) Institutionally based- institutions organize people, money, and values 10) Trusts the people 11) Never do something for somebody they can do for themselves 12) 11 is the iron rule that is always practiced 13) Leadership is a collective cadre of leaders 14) Action and reflection are the crucible 15) Knows the difference between problems and issues 16) Readily applied to parish ministry. As we concluded he stated that community organizing is a tool that a parish can use, not the only thing a parish may do or be.
In the second session we looked at the story of the Road to Emmaus and paid attention to Jesus' interaction with the two disciples in light of some of the principles of community organizing. The emphasis here was the tactic of one on one's in community organizing. What Bouman drew out and had us practice in this session was cultivation of curiosity of what was around us in our neighborhoods and culture (and cultures) . Jesus' ministry was relational; we too need to conduct ourselves in a relational way and seeking encounter. It is through this encounter, this all requires listening and thus asking certain questions and listening with certain questions in mind. Listen for someone’s passion and for issues that are forefront in the others mind. Bouman was leading us to first do this with ourselves, the group gathered, but then also in the churches and then with the larger community. This process within the churches and with the community then can lead to bring people together around what has been heard and expressed. We practiced one on one's or really three on three or four on fours, talking about how our church had been there for us, and what our dreams (no limits) were for our churches. I found that just this sort of conversation brought me closer to the two people I listened to and shared with one of whom I already knew somewhat and one who I met for the first time that night.
At the Third and final session, that was held this past Wednesday, things fell into place. Stephen Bouman brought in another pastor a colleague who works with new church starts and church revitalization. The scripture to set the tone for the evening was Ephesians 2:11 ff. Then Bouman asked some of us to share where we saw God this week. The point is to get us to think of how God might be at work in our neighborhoods and communities. Then we were to in groups of three or four ask ourselves first our dreams for the churches we were members of, and then our dreams for all four Lutheran churches taking part in this workshop. I through a bit of a monkey wrench into the conversation as I wasn't from one of the Lutheran churches. One of the people in my group suggested we begin by talking about where our churches were and what we thought we already had. In my group two of the four Lutheran churches were represented. Those members went pretty much directly to them talking about possible connections between the two churches around the issue of justice for the Palestinian people, and other justice issues. In that first conversation we never got to our dreams for our churches. Both conversations were more about how the churches including Reconciler could work together and be a witness together. Our group then talked about outreach to Middle Eastern and Arab refugees and immigrants, and about ways to meet and listen to young adults between 18 and 30, a demographic more represented at Reconciler and more or less absent in the Lutheran churches. I shared some of the experience of Reconciler. Also, one shared about how in the gay community people of that age range tend not to even consider Christianity or religion at all. As we were then brought back together to share our conversations, it turned none of the groups had talked about what they wanted for their individual churches but had talked almost exclusively about how the churches were already doing similar things and how to build on that. Then as I share about Reconciler and our relationship with Immanuel and St. Elias, it came out that the three congregations with buildings share their building with other congregations and except for Immanuel there is no relationship between the host and guest congregations. There was an expressed desire to change that. Also, this lead to the acknowledgement that the four Lutheran congregations don't really know much about the other Lutheran congregations and expression of a desire to change that and to work and dream together rather than separately. This to me was really incredible, and I think showed the power of this type of spending time asking and listening to one another. People who I think were probably caught up in somewhat insular cultures in this meeting were expressing not only a desire to cooperate but were truly turning towards the other. In so doing we discovered that God had indeed given us some great resources in possible connections between fellow Christians.
How might Reconciler fit in to this? One way is that we and Immanuel have experience of ways that a guest and host church can interact more than merely as landlord and renter. In sharing that experience we may also be pushed to broaden the existing relationship with Immanuel through listening to each other about how we’d like that relationship to grow if it were to grow beyond on occasion worshiping together. However, Reconciler’s experience should also communicate that our worshiping together is not a small or incidental thing but the very foundation of any continuing and growing relationship. Reconciler can remind all involved in these processes of revitalization and engagement in our communities that worship is a key and central reality in being church.
Another way is in sharing our experiences of listening and allowing that listening to change how we interact and even the way we organize ourselves. Our experience of stepping back from the constitution that did not serve our reality or provide a framework to support of faith life together, can show how the sort of listening that Bouman taught us and had us experience could very well have structural ramifications. Our experience can relate that this is not always easy and that at times one has to be willing to continue to speak until what is being expressed is understood. Sometimes those who are expression dissatisfaction don’t themselves know what they desire except in expression of dissatisfaction multiple times.
I also believe that our intentionally being ecumenical, which in practice means seeking a Christian identity that is broader and deeper than any one Protestant denominational tradition, is itself something we could offer to these congregations in this process. I believe this is so because in so being ecumenical we are attentive to more than what is immediately before us and taking into our identity things we may not completely understand. Thus what Reconciler offers isn’t a strong and distinct identity itself but a seeking to be conformed to an identity that is larger than itself, that is the identity Christ and the Church. I believe it is the experience of Reconciler that this stance allows for encounter that does not fall into a giving up of an identity but is an experience of being formed into something, larger greater and deeper than the present moment, or issues. This then lead us back to our worship that is the foundational act of all of our actions and interactions in the world. Sharing this sort of experience of being church I think could be very fruitful for the four Lutheran churches in what they are seeking to do and be and in encounter and participation in our neighborhood and culture.
The first session was more or less “Community Organizing 101”. In that session Bouman sought to connect the principles of community organizing to Scripture and the reality of church as place of proclamation of the Gospel. He began by reading 2 Kings 4:1-7 and having us discuss the passage. What he helped us draw out of this passage was that God uses what we already have and may think to be useless (i.e. empty vessels) and that God works God's great and amazing works through community and our own being agents in the world. The power for change and provision in the story is from God but is accomplished through community and personal action. Bouman then talked about 16 traits of community organizing while telling stories of his first parish that was part of a community organizing group in Queens New York. The 16 characteristics are: 1) Sees diversity as strength 2) People oriented not project oriented 3) The goal is the release of power-every person is inherently powerful 4) Owned by the people 5)Listens to people 6) Expects accountability 7)Basic tool is the relational meeting 8) can focus on any issue 9) Institutionally based- institutions organize people, money, and values 10) Trusts the people 11) Never do something for somebody they can do for themselves 12) 11 is the iron rule that is always practiced 13) Leadership is a collective cadre of leaders 14) Action and reflection are the crucible 15) Knows the difference between problems and issues 16) Readily applied to parish ministry. As we concluded he stated that community organizing is a tool that a parish can use, not the only thing a parish may do or be.
In the second session we looked at the story of the Road to Emmaus and paid attention to Jesus' interaction with the two disciples in light of some of the principles of community organizing. The emphasis here was the tactic of one on one's in community organizing. What Bouman drew out and had us practice in this session was cultivation of curiosity of what was around us in our neighborhoods and culture (and cultures) . Jesus' ministry was relational; we too need to conduct ourselves in a relational way and seeking encounter. It is through this encounter, this all requires listening and thus asking certain questions and listening with certain questions in mind. Listen for someone’s passion and for issues that are forefront in the others mind. Bouman was leading us to first do this with ourselves, the group gathered, but then also in the churches and then with the larger community. This process within the churches and with the community then can lead to bring people together around what has been heard and expressed. We practiced one on one's or really three on three or four on fours, talking about how our church had been there for us, and what our dreams (no limits) were for our churches. I found that just this sort of conversation brought me closer to the two people I listened to and shared with one of whom I already knew somewhat and one who I met for the first time that night.
At the Third and final session, that was held this past Wednesday, things fell into place. Stephen Bouman brought in another pastor a colleague who works with new church starts and church revitalization. The scripture to set the tone for the evening was Ephesians 2:11 ff. Then Bouman asked some of us to share where we saw God this week. The point is to get us to think of how God might be at work in our neighborhoods and communities. Then we were to in groups of three or four ask ourselves first our dreams for the churches we were members of, and then our dreams for all four Lutheran churches taking part in this workshop. I through a bit of a monkey wrench into the conversation as I wasn't from one of the Lutheran churches. One of the people in my group suggested we begin by talking about where our churches were and what we thought we already had. In my group two of the four Lutheran churches were represented. Those members went pretty much directly to them talking about possible connections between the two churches around the issue of justice for the Palestinian people, and other justice issues. In that first conversation we never got to our dreams for our churches. Both conversations were more about how the churches including Reconciler could work together and be a witness together. Our group then talked about outreach to Middle Eastern and Arab refugees and immigrants, and about ways to meet and listen to young adults between 18 and 30, a demographic more represented at Reconciler and more or less absent in the Lutheran churches. I shared some of the experience of Reconciler. Also, one shared about how in the gay community people of that age range tend not to even consider Christianity or religion at all. As we were then brought back together to share our conversations, it turned none of the groups had talked about what they wanted for their individual churches but had talked almost exclusively about how the churches were already doing similar things and how to build on that. Then as I share about Reconciler and our relationship with Immanuel and St. Elias, it came out that the three congregations with buildings share their building with other congregations and except for Immanuel there is no relationship between the host and guest congregations. There was an expressed desire to change that. Also, this lead to the acknowledgement that the four Lutheran congregations don't really know much about the other Lutheran congregations and expression of a desire to change that and to work and dream together rather than separately. This to me was really incredible, and I think showed the power of this type of spending time asking and listening to one another. People who I think were probably caught up in somewhat insular cultures in this meeting were expressing not only a desire to cooperate but were truly turning towards the other. In so doing we discovered that God had indeed given us some great resources in possible connections between fellow Christians.
How might Reconciler fit in to this? One way is that we and Immanuel have experience of ways that a guest and host church can interact more than merely as landlord and renter. In sharing that experience we may also be pushed to broaden the existing relationship with Immanuel through listening to each other about how we’d like that relationship to grow if it were to grow beyond on occasion worshiping together. However, Reconciler’s experience should also communicate that our worshiping together is not a small or incidental thing but the very foundation of any continuing and growing relationship. Reconciler can remind all involved in these processes of revitalization and engagement in our communities that worship is a key and central reality in being church.
Another way is in sharing our experiences of listening and allowing that listening to change how we interact and even the way we organize ourselves. Our experience of stepping back from the constitution that did not serve our reality or provide a framework to support of faith life together, can show how the sort of listening that Bouman taught us and had us experience could very well have structural ramifications. Our experience can relate that this is not always easy and that at times one has to be willing to continue to speak until what is being expressed is understood. Sometimes those who are expression dissatisfaction don’t themselves know what they desire except in expression of dissatisfaction multiple times.
I also believe that our intentionally being ecumenical, which in practice means seeking a Christian identity that is broader and deeper than any one Protestant denominational tradition, is itself something we could offer to these congregations in this process. I believe this is so because in so being ecumenical we are attentive to more than what is immediately before us and taking into our identity things we may not completely understand. Thus what Reconciler offers isn’t a strong and distinct identity itself but a seeking to be conformed to an identity that is larger than itself, that is the identity Christ and the Church. I believe it is the experience of Reconciler that this stance allows for encounter that does not fall into a giving up of an identity but is an experience of being formed into something, larger greater and deeper than the present moment, or issues. This then lead us back to our worship that is the foundational act of all of our actions and interactions in the world. Sharing this sort of experience of being church I think could be very fruitful for the four Lutheran churches in what they are seeking to do and be and in encounter and participation in our neighborhood and culture.
Thursday, April 1
Maundy Thursday Sermon
Preached at the Joint Service with Immanuel Lutheran Church and St Elias Christian Church.
Exodus 12:1-14 * Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 * 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 * John 13:1-17, 31b-35
[This was the text I took into the pulpit with me, but I did not really follow it after the second paragraph. I think I ended up focusing more on the connection between Jesus's washing of the feet as an example of divine love and the love commanded by Jesus.]
On this day of the command, Maundy from latin Maundatumfor command, we gather and begin the worship of the Three great days. We are here to celebrate the center of our faith. Tonight we hear two commands Do this in rememberance of me, a meal and a holy day reinterpreted, passover, and Love one another. Tonight we see love allegorically shown in the act of a servant or slave washing feet. Tonight We will have a chance to partake in this symbol of divine love in human flesh as you are invited to come forward or to the back to have your feet washed and/or to wash others feet. I and Pastor rimon begin by washing your feet, symbolizing that our ministry leadership greatness in the Kingdom of God and the Church is in service, but such act is for all not just for clergy. But before we get there I want to reflect on these three days: on Love, the Cross, and our Passover from death to Life.
This time is full of the symbolic, of the sacramental, the making present of realities central to our faith that we may be transformed renewed, born again, converted, forgiven, made new. We have journeyed trough a time of fasting and intensified discipline, of a spiritual journey through the desert. Awaiting this celebration of our deliverance from bondage. From this bondage were are called to love and the remembrance of that love shown in human being.
Love one another as I have loved you. Love as Christ has loved? Do we do this do we even know how? I’d like to believe that to some extent our three congregations joining together on these holy days of the church year means that in some sense we are doing so in some small way, overcoming the barriers that can exist, and come between us both as human beings and followers of Christ. Love as Christ loved. Do we Love as Christ loved, as God Loves? This is the command, this is what we remember tonight and these three days, this is what we come in the presence of, this astounding Love.
We are commanded to Love, but not as we naturally love. Think of this the creator of the universe of all the inumerable stars the far flung galexeys, not just earth the sun and this solar system,the one with no beginning and no end, become united with the material world and humand beings whom this one created. But it does not end there, this one doesn't only become a human person and eventually undergoe death on a cross, but lives the life of a mostly obscure poor skiled worker in a backwater town of an empire, and facing his immenent death does a job no one would do but slaves and lowly servants. I think we sometimes view this as Jesus being our waiter, no it is perhaps more like Jesus suddenly appearing at your restaurant as the bus boy to clear your dishes or replenish that glass of water. In the least. But not just that what this means what it means to wash the feet of the disciples, is that Jesus is saying that the God of the universe acts towards humanity as the those who invisibly serve the needs of others and who are ignored and invisible because of that service, and we are to emulate this act of service.
Yet We fail at all this. Even with Jesus' example we fail. I think it is important to admit this. This is why we seek to enter into these realities again and again, through ritual and sacrament. We need to come here again and again to remember the gap, and to seek to be transfigured and transformed again and again, to face the ugliness of the human condition and through passing through and over to face the overwhelming beauty of the divine world opened up to us. As we Passover it is key to remember the way in which it has been opened the way heaven and earth are rejoined, the way sin and evil are eradicated from creation. The way God chose to bridge the gap is itself the difference between the world and Heaven.
There's a great deal to hold together as we recall these saving acts. We can perhaps get stuck on one particular idea of Jesus's death that it asuaged God's wrath, through Christ becoming the sole object of that wrath. The cross can seem like the last thing that could show us Love, better to see it as an accident to move quickly past, to life and Resurrection. Or to simply see in it some way God indentifies with our suffering. Yet, the power of the Resurrection depends on the power of the Cross, what allows the us to Passover with Christ from death to life is, Jesus Christ’s death.
But it is perhaps helpful to hear the orthodox liturgy here: christ beat down death by death. sin and death are bound up togehter, and they are behind all oppression, failure, injustice. And like in many situations of oppression the oppressed can become complicit in their oppression, such that the whole system binds all to the oppresive situation, such that no one or practically no one in the system is able to resist the oppression, oppressor and oppressed.
This may not be because God’s wrath needs to be assuaged but it is here that we see God’s love, that God doesn’t simply undergo suffering, but undergoes for us as well as with us. God with us is accompanied with it being for us. God had to come and do for us what we could not do for ourselves, God becomes the slave of all.
God comes and lives and suffers under this regime of sin and death, and the oppressive systmes within it, and dies at their hands, at our hands. We see confront here both the result of our most private hatreds, and intolerances, the small resentments we cherish, as well as the large hatreds we know we should not. We also confront in these three days our liberation the liberation of all from these oppressions, through Christs death upon a cross and resurection from the dead that says our failures, the oppression, our small hidden sins, Sin and death do not have the final word but God does!
Exodus 12:1-14 * Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19 * 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 * John 13:1-17, 31b-35
[This was the text I took into the pulpit with me, but I did not really follow it after the second paragraph. I think I ended up focusing more on the connection between Jesus's washing of the feet as an example of divine love and the love commanded by Jesus.]
On this day of the command, Maundy from latin Maundatumfor command, we gather and begin the worship of the Three great days. We are here to celebrate the center of our faith. Tonight we hear two commands Do this in rememberance of me, a meal and a holy day reinterpreted, passover, and Love one another. Tonight we see love allegorically shown in the act of a servant or slave washing feet. Tonight We will have a chance to partake in this symbol of divine love in human flesh as you are invited to come forward or to the back to have your feet washed and/or to wash others feet. I and Pastor rimon begin by washing your feet, symbolizing that our ministry leadership greatness in the Kingdom of God and the Church is in service, but such act is for all not just for clergy. But before we get there I want to reflect on these three days: on Love, the Cross, and our Passover from death to Life.
This time is full of the symbolic, of the sacramental, the making present of realities central to our faith that we may be transformed renewed, born again, converted, forgiven, made new. We have journeyed trough a time of fasting and intensified discipline, of a spiritual journey through the desert. Awaiting this celebration of our deliverance from bondage. From this bondage were are called to love and the remembrance of that love shown in human being.
Love one another as I have loved you. Love as Christ has loved? Do we do this do we even know how? I’d like to believe that to some extent our three congregations joining together on these holy days of the church year means that in some sense we are doing so in some small way, overcoming the barriers that can exist, and come between us both as human beings and followers of Christ. Love as Christ loved. Do we Love as Christ loved, as God Loves? This is the command, this is what we remember tonight and these three days, this is what we come in the presence of, this astounding Love.
We are commanded to Love, but not as we naturally love. Think of this the creator of the universe of all the inumerable stars the far flung galexeys, not just earth the sun and this solar system,the one with no beginning and no end, become united with the material world and humand beings whom this one created. But it does not end there, this one doesn't only become a human person and eventually undergoe death on a cross, but lives the life of a mostly obscure poor skiled worker in a backwater town of an empire, and facing his immenent death does a job no one would do but slaves and lowly servants. I think we sometimes view this as Jesus being our waiter, no it is perhaps more like Jesus suddenly appearing at your restaurant as the bus boy to clear your dishes or replenish that glass of water. In the least. But not just that what this means what it means to wash the feet of the disciples, is that Jesus is saying that the God of the universe acts towards humanity as the those who invisibly serve the needs of others and who are ignored and invisible because of that service, and we are to emulate this act of service.
Yet We fail at all this. Even with Jesus' example we fail. I think it is important to admit this. This is why we seek to enter into these realities again and again, through ritual and sacrament. We need to come here again and again to remember the gap, and to seek to be transfigured and transformed again and again, to face the ugliness of the human condition and through passing through and over to face the overwhelming beauty of the divine world opened up to us. As we Passover it is key to remember the way in which it has been opened the way heaven and earth are rejoined, the way sin and evil are eradicated from creation. The way God chose to bridge the gap is itself the difference between the world and Heaven.
There's a great deal to hold together as we recall these saving acts. We can perhaps get stuck on one particular idea of Jesus's death that it asuaged God's wrath, through Christ becoming the sole object of that wrath. The cross can seem like the last thing that could show us Love, better to see it as an accident to move quickly past, to life and Resurrection. Or to simply see in it some way God indentifies with our suffering. Yet, the power of the Resurrection depends on the power of the Cross, what allows the us to Passover with Christ from death to life is, Jesus Christ’s death.
But it is perhaps helpful to hear the orthodox liturgy here: christ beat down death by death. sin and death are bound up togehter, and they are behind all oppression, failure, injustice. And like in many situations of oppression the oppressed can become complicit in their oppression, such that the whole system binds all to the oppresive situation, such that no one or practically no one in the system is able to resist the oppression, oppressor and oppressed.
This may not be because God’s wrath needs to be assuaged but it is here that we see God’s love, that God doesn’t simply undergo suffering, but undergoes for us as well as with us. God with us is accompanied with it being for us. God had to come and do for us what we could not do for ourselves, God becomes the slave of all.
God comes and lives and suffers under this regime of sin and death, and the oppressive systmes within it, and dies at their hands, at our hands. We see confront here both the result of our most private hatreds, and intolerances, the small resentments we cherish, as well as the large hatreds we know we should not. We also confront in these three days our liberation the liberation of all from these oppressions, through Christs death upon a cross and resurection from the dead that says our failures, the oppression, our small hidden sins, Sin and death do not have the final word but God does!
Friday, October 23
Announcements
Larry will be out of town from October 23rd through November 1st. He will of course not be at his office hours until November 2nd.
This Sunday October 25, we will have our service at our regular time of 5pm, Rev. Monte Johnson will be preaching and presiding.
November 1 we will have a joint service with Immanuel Lutheran for the feast of All Saints, 10:30 am. We will not have a service at 5 pm in the chapel.
Also remember that Daylight Saving Time ends November 1, be sure to turn your clocks back 1 hour before going to bed on Saturday October 31.
November 8 we will return to our usual worship time at 5pm and Rev. Dave Hedges will be preaching and presiding.
This Sunday October 25, we will have our service at our regular time of 5pm, Rev. Monte Johnson will be preaching and presiding.
November 1 we will have a joint service with Immanuel Lutheran for the feast of All Saints, 10:30 am. We will not have a service at 5 pm in the chapel.
Also remember that Daylight Saving Time ends November 1, be sure to turn your clocks back 1 hour before going to bed on Saturday October 31.
November 8 we will return to our usual worship time at 5pm and Rev. Dave Hedges will be preaching and presiding.
Thursday, August 28
new exterior sign
We have a permanent sign outside of Immanuel Lutheran Church. where we meet. We have been working on this for awhile, its good to have the sign.
Friday, March 21
Good Friday Sermon
This sermon was preached at the joint Good Friday Service of Immanuel Lutheran Church, St. Elias Christian Church, and Church of Jesus Christ Reconciler, on March 21, 2008, by the Rev. Laura Gottardi-Littell.
***
As we gather tonight, the mood is solemn. But though we mark this day with sadness we are not called to despair because…we know about the Resurrection. We are an Easter people, so we gather tonight in hope as well as to mourn.
We call this day Good Friday, not because it’s good that Christ suffered, but because of the joy and hope of Resurrection that have come through the cross.
As Christians, we observe this day of death as a day that paradoxically brings forth life.
Our faith contains many paradoxes, many contradictions. Christ is both victor and victim, shepherd and lamb, slave and king. The cross is a meeting place for many forces we usually think of as opposites: God/humanity, heaven/earth, sin/grace, hate/love, life/death. The cross holds all these opposites in tension, in wholeness.
Just as the cross holds together many contradictions, we ourselves are bundles of contradiction. Each of us has many sides, many aspects. We are simultaneously guilty and innocent, broken and whole, strong and weak, living and dying. We may wish we were only the positives. We may deny and push away those parts we fear or dislike. As they say, Denial is not just a river in Egypt. I know often feel I must put my best foot forward to the world, even to God.
But we can bring our whole selves to Jesus. We can come to the cross, that place where contradictions meet. There we can be fully known by God, and know ourselves more fully. The more often we recognize ourselves in our many aspects, and bring our whole selves honestly before God, the more likely it is that parts of ourselves we don’t like or are unhealthy can lose their grip on us, and begin to die. And new growth, new life can flourish within.
Since the early days of the church, Christians have seen the cross not just as a symbol of death but also as tree of life. There are many examples of Christian art where images of the tree of good and evil in the Garden of Eden are placed alongside the tree of death and life on Calvary. “It’s as if with the eyes of faith, when the church looks at the cross it sees not an electric chair, but a vibrant tree.”
Tonight I invite you to see the cross not just as a place of death, but also as the tree of life.
As you come to the cross tonight, is there something you want to leave behind there? Guilt, fear, pain, resentment? Is there something in you that needs to die? Excessive pride, self-centeredness, addiction, a tendency to be unkind?
As we come to the tree of life, is there something is you that needs to be born? What do you most need? What are you longing for? What in you needs to be transformed, resurrected, made new?
Christ accepts us in our totality. He accepts the parts of us that are broken, the parts of ourselves we deny and refuse. As he himself was denied and refused. The cross, once a symbol of hateful rejection, is now paradoxically a symbol of loving acceptance. We can come to the cross with our whole selves. We don’t have to be on our best behavior with Jesus. We can let it all hang out by the cross. And by hanging out with parts of ourselves we don’t fully know or like, we can gradually accept and love them into transformation.
In her book Things Seen and Unseen, journalist Nora Gallagher writes about her experiences working in a soup kitchen run by her church. There is a section about her experience at a Good Friday service in that church, in particular the moment where people were invited to the cross. Gallagher writes: “ I see the faces of the men [who eat at] the soup kitchen, those human beings made into rags, into debris. Their faces shine here at the cross in a way that no other faces do. They know what this man hanging here has suffered, as he knows their suffering. He was made into trash here on the cross…[I know] the parts of myself that are alive among those men are the parts I hide everywhere else. Crazy, inarticulate, imperfect, in need. The person humiliated by simply being born a woman. How often I apologize, desire to please. All the parts of myself that I colonize, make into trash. In the darkness, I see them, hidden in my shadows, and I understand then how it is that seeing them makes me whole.”
Tonight as we come to the cross, that meeting place of contradictions, let it be wholeness that we seek. The words wholeness, holy, and healing all come from the same root. By being present to a broken world,and being broken for us, Christ paradoxically heals and makes us whole. Let us be present tonight with Christ, just as we are and allow Christ’s saving health to take root in us. The holy and healing cross binds together our many contradictions, and makes us whole. Come to the cross, to honor Christ, to let go of what needs to die and to celebrate what can be born. Come to the cross, the tree of life… with your whole self. AMEN.
+++
Saturday, December 22
Worship 4 Advent 12/23/2007
Our worship Sunday December 23 will be held at 1:30 PM, in a joint worship service with St Elias and Immanuel.
We return to our regular worship time of 5PM on on Sunday December 30th
We return to our regular worship time of 5PM on on Sunday December 30th
Saturday, November 17
Reconciler Update
This Sunday, November 18th, we say goodbye to Tripp. Tripp will be missed. I have worked closely with Tripp for three and a half years, and part of me has trouble imagining what it will be like at Reconciler without him. Yet, one of the joys in our starting and pastoring this congregation has been to watch Reconciler act like a congregation and do things Tripp and I as pastors did not expect or anticipate. From very early on we attempted to foster and rejoiced in the ways Reconciler was separate from us as the founding pastors allowing ourselves to discover the congregations interpretation of the vision of Reconciler.
I mention this now to remind us that while God gave Tripp and David Gortner the vision of an ecumenical congregation, who we are now is not simply that vision. It has grown beyond any of those of us who thought through in prayer what the vision of this church start should be. We may miss Tripp and even find it difficult to know what it will be like without him but in a significant way much of the shape of Reconciler has little to do with just Tripp. All of us have been brought together by God. The desire of us pastors as we started this congregation was that it grow into a healthy viable congregation and as such that it could exist without one or both of us. Now that day came sooner for Tripp than either of us had anticipated, but I have seen this congregation grow in astounding ways. Our question as we began Reconciler was if and how God was in this, because we knew that if this congregation and its vision wasn't guided by the Spirit that it would have no chance of succeeding. And so in the end the pastor that really counts and will always count for us, and after all is the pastor of the universal church, still remains Jesus Christ our God and Shepherd. God, Father Son and Holy Spirit, has lead us this far, continues to guide us and remains our foundation, as we say goodbye to a friend, pastor, and founder.
Announcements:
Immanuel is seeking to include Reconciler more in its life as a church, two aspects of that are the altar guild and properties committee. Immanuel is inviting members of Reconciler to help the altar guild of Immanuel, and inviting anyone who might be handy to help the properties committee with maintenance of the church property. If you are interested in being apart of either of these let Laura or Larry know.
Sunday November 18th Tripp is preaching and we will have a farewell party for him after the service at the 'Nidge.
Bible Study: No meeting of the Bible study this week due to Thanksgiving. Our last session of our current series will Be Wednesday November 28th 7:30 PM at the 'Nidge.
Church Retreat: Materials for the retreat will be available on the back table in the chapel the next two Sundays, for you to look at before the retreat.
Church retreat is November 30 beginning at 7PM at the Cynacle Retreat center and all day Saturday December 1st.
The First Sunday of the Season of Advent is December 2nd, and is Reconciler's Third Anniversary. It was first Advent 2004 when we had our first official worship service.
Also on Sunday December 2 Eileen Crowley Assistant Professor at Catholic Theological Union the Artist in Residence this year at Immanuel will join us for worship and then after the service present to us her ideas of media art in worship and ways we can be involved in the creation of this media art for Easter Vigil.
4th advent December 23 we will be having a joint worship service with Immanuel and St Elias, at St Elias' worship time of 1:30 PM. We will not worship at our normal time of 5 PM. We are invited to come to a brunch at 11:30 put on by Immanuel and a Christmas dinner organized by St Elias after the service. If you would be interested in helping out the preparation and organization of either meals let us know and we will get your name to the people in charge of organizing the meals.
In Christ,
Larry
I mention this now to remind us that while God gave Tripp and David Gortner the vision of an ecumenical congregation, who we are now is not simply that vision. It has grown beyond any of those of us who thought through in prayer what the vision of this church start should be. We may miss Tripp and even find it difficult to know what it will be like without him but in a significant way much of the shape of Reconciler has little to do with just Tripp. All of us have been brought together by God. The desire of us pastors as we started this congregation was that it grow into a healthy viable congregation and as such that it could exist without one or both of us. Now that day came sooner for Tripp than either of us had anticipated, but I have seen this congregation grow in astounding ways. Our question as we began Reconciler was if and how God was in this, because we knew that if this congregation and its vision wasn't guided by the Spirit that it would have no chance of succeeding. And so in the end the pastor that really counts and will always count for us, and after all is the pastor of the universal church, still remains Jesus Christ our God and Shepherd. God, Father Son and Holy Spirit, has lead us this far, continues to guide us and remains our foundation, as we say goodbye to a friend, pastor, and founder.
Announcements:
Immanuel is seeking to include Reconciler more in its life as a church, two aspects of that are the altar guild and properties committee. Immanuel is inviting members of Reconciler to help the altar guild of Immanuel, and inviting anyone who might be handy to help the properties committee with maintenance of the church property. If you are interested in being apart of either of these let Laura or Larry know.
Sunday November 18th Tripp is preaching and we will have a farewell party for him after the service at the 'Nidge.
Bible Study: No meeting of the Bible study this week due to Thanksgiving. Our last session of our current series will Be Wednesday November 28th 7:30 PM at the 'Nidge.
Church Retreat: Materials for the retreat will be available on the back table in the chapel the next two Sundays, for you to look at before the retreat.
Church retreat is November 30 beginning at 7PM at the Cynacle Retreat center and all day Saturday December 1st.
The First Sunday of the Season of Advent is December 2nd, and is Reconciler's Third Anniversary. It was first Advent 2004 when we had our first official worship service.
Also on Sunday December 2 Eileen Crowley Assistant Professor at Catholic Theological Union the Artist in Residence this year at Immanuel will join us for worship and then after the service present to us her ideas of media art in worship and ways we can be involved in the creation of this media art for Easter Vigil.
4th advent December 23 we will be having a joint worship service with Immanuel and St Elias, at St Elias' worship time of 1:30 PM. We will not worship at our normal time of 5 PM. We are invited to come to a brunch at 11:30 put on by Immanuel and a Christmas dinner organized by St Elias after the service. If you would be interested in helping out the preparation and organization of either meals let us know and we will get your name to the people in charge of organizing the meals.
In Christ,
Larry
Thursday, November 8
Reconciler Update
This past Sunday we had a wonderful joint service with Immanuel and St Elias for All Saints Sunday. We will have another joint service with Immanuel and St. Elias on the 4th Sunday of Advent. Our relationship with the two congregations is growing and we pastors of the three congregations meet every two months or so to plan these joint services and talk about ways in which our three congregations can join together beyond worshiping on certain feast days together. Some of those ideas are having on occasion shared Wednesday evening Bible study to shared projects and just coming together to get to know each other. If you have any questions about this talk to Laura or Larry. It is yet another way we can live out our ecumenical vision as a congregation.
Announcements:
Our worship time has been moved to 5:30 PM this Sunday due to Immanuel Lutheran's Choir Concert A Procession of Praise held at 4PM. All are invited to the concert.
Our Bible Study continues this week at 7:30 PM In the 'Nidge, with viewing and discussion of the second half of the video Living with Money. Our Bible Study will conclude the week following Thanksgiving November 28th with a wrap up discussion of both the video and book on Sabbath economics.
November 18th will be Tripp's last Sunday as the American Baptist Pastor at Reconciler. He will be preaching, and we will be having a party in honor of him and to say goodbye following our worship service. Please Talk to Laura and Larry this Sunday about what you can bring for the party.
Church retreat is November 30 beginning at 7PM at the Cynacle Retreat center and all day Saturday December 1st.
The First Sunday of the Season of Advent is December 2nd, and is Reconciler's Third Anniversary. It was first Advent 2004 when we had our first official worship service.
Also on Sunday December 2 Eileen Crowley Assistant Professor at Catholic Theological Union the Artist in Residence this year at Immanuel will join us for worship and then after the service present to us her ideas of media art in worship and ways we can be involved in the creation of this media art for Easter Vigil.
4th advent December 23 we will be having a joint worship service with Immanuel and St Elias, at St Elias' worship time of 1:30 PM. We will not worship at our normal time of 5 PM. We are invited to come to a brunch at 11:30 put on by Immanuel and a Christmas dinner organized by St Elias after the service. If you would be interested in helping out the preparation and organization of either meals let us know and we will get your name to the people in charge of organizing the meals.
In Christ,
Larry
Announcements:
Our worship time has been moved to 5:30 PM this Sunday due to Immanuel Lutheran's Choir Concert A Procession of Praise held at 4PM. All are invited to the concert.
Our Bible Study continues this week at 7:30 PM In the 'Nidge, with viewing and discussion of the second half of the video Living with Money. Our Bible Study will conclude the week following Thanksgiving November 28th with a wrap up discussion of both the video and book on Sabbath economics.
November 18th will be Tripp's last Sunday as the American Baptist Pastor at Reconciler. He will be preaching, and we will be having a party in honor of him and to say goodbye following our worship service. Please Talk to Laura and Larry this Sunday about what you can bring for the party.
Church retreat is November 30 beginning at 7PM at the Cynacle Retreat center and all day Saturday December 1st.
The First Sunday of the Season of Advent is December 2nd, and is Reconciler's Third Anniversary. It was first Advent 2004 when we had our first official worship service.
Also on Sunday December 2 Eileen Crowley Assistant Professor at Catholic Theological Union the Artist in Residence this year at Immanuel will join us for worship and then after the service present to us her ideas of media art in worship and ways we can be involved in the creation of this media art for Easter Vigil.
4th advent December 23 we will be having a joint worship service with Immanuel and St Elias, at St Elias' worship time of 1:30 PM. We will not worship at our normal time of 5 PM. We are invited to come to a brunch at 11:30 put on by Immanuel and a Christmas dinner organized by St Elias after the service. If you would be interested in helping out the preparation and organization of either meals let us know and we will get your name to the people in charge of organizing the meals.
In Christ,
Larry
Friday, November 2
This Sunday
This Sunday November 4th, we will be worshiping in joint service with Immanuel Lutheran Church and St Elias Christian Church, 10:30 AM in the sanctuary of Immanuel Lutheran Chruch.
We will not have a worship service at 5 PM.
Also, on November 11th we will be starting our service at 5:30 PM due to a concert at Immanuel in the late afternoon.
On November 18th we will return to our regular time of 5PM for our worship service.
We will not have a worship service at 5 PM.
Also, on November 11th we will be starting our service at 5:30 PM due to a concert at Immanuel in the late afternoon.
On November 18th we will return to our regular time of 5PM for our worship service.
Saturday, August 4
Sunday August 5th
Sunday August 5th we are not having our regular worship service at 6PM. There is a joint worship service with Immanuel Lutheran Church and St Elias Christian Church at 10:30 AM, in Immanuel Lutheran Church's Sanctuary.
We return to our regular worship time of 6 PM on August 12th. In September we will move our worship time to 5PM starting September 9th.
We return to our regular worship time of 6 PM on August 12th. In September we will move our worship time to 5PM starting September 9th.
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