The Prayerful Pause - April 6

The Prayerful Pause
by Pastor Heather

I am looking forward to this Sunday! It’s Palm Sunday and we will be remembering Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We will remember that the crowds welcomed Jesus by waving palm branches and shouting, "Hosanna." We will remember that Jesus entered the city in a most unexpected way, riding on the back of a humble donkey. We will remember that those welcoming cheers of Hosanna soon turned to jeers, sneers, and angry voices shouting, “crucify him.”

As we prepare our hearts for Palm Sunday and for the start of Holy Week, let’s prayerfully pause today and remember that Jesus, our King, comes to us every day as we experience ups and downs on the road of life. In times of joy, celebration, sorrow, challenge, or peace, Jesus, our King, comes to us and is with us on the journey every day! May we welcome his presence and rejoice!

I am also looking forward to this Sunday for another important reason! This Sunday, our Deacons will begin passing baskets to serve the pre-filled chalice communion cups to the congregation during the service. The Elder for the day will also serve the choir. For now, there will still be a small basket of the pre-filled cups in the Gathering Space if someone feels more comfortable picking up their cup from there. We also ask that those serving in children’s church and in the nursery continue to pick up their communion cups on the way into church each Sunday morning.

I am excited for Sunday because passing the elements to each other in worship prompts us to pause and remember that all of us are called to serve and minister to one another as part of the Body of Christ. So, this Sunday, when everyone is served, we will joyfully share in communion together, remembering Jesus, who comes to us daily as we journey on the road of life!

The Prayerful Pause - March 30

The Prayerful Pause
by Pastor Heather

As a church, we have just embarked on a 100 Days of Prayer for Union! Between now and July 1, you are invited to pause at least once a day to pray specifically and intentionally for Union. We want to cover every aspect of our life and ministry together in prayer over the next 100 days. This week, I wanted to highlight three creative ways to remind yourself to pause and pray for Union at least once every day.

Put up a post-it note somewhere you will see it often so that it reminds you to pray. Here is the one in my office at church. I see it each time I enter and exit my office and when I sit at my desk, too. It’s a constant reminder to pray for Union!

Make sure to pick up one of the prayer charms that our amazing children made with Lisa Sledge last Sunday. These special charms are in a small bowl on the front table in the Gathering Space if you did not get one last Sunday. Wear or display your prayer charm somewhere where it will remind you to pray for Union each day.

Set a reminder on your phone that buzzes at the same time every day. When you hear this reminder, pause and pray for a specific aspect of our life and ministry together at Union.

And as we pray for Union over the next 100 days, keep remembering Paul’s words about prayer:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-8

The Prayerful Pause - March 23

Over the next 100 days, I want to encourage us to become even more intentional about praying for Union every day. 100 days from today is July 1, 2022. As we settle into new rhythms of our life and ministry together between now and then, I think that intentional and specific prayer for Union is vital. I want to encourage us to be specific with our prayers for Union. Yes, we are praying for the church as a whole, but I also want us to pray specifically about every aspect of our life and ministry together. Over the next 100 days, will you join me in praying for Union intentionally and specifically? Here are some things you can pray about over the next 100 days:

• Pray that God’s love will be evident in this place.

• Pray for the leadership in the church. Pray for the staff who serve here.

• Pray for the ministries, worship services, and programs of the church.

• Pray for the financial needs of the church.

• Pray for God’s guidance, vision, and leadership as we move into the future together.

• Pray for specific people in the church.

• Pray for unity in the church.

• Pray that God will help us to share His love in the community boldly.

• Pray that a fresh wind of the Spirit would blow through this place bringing revival and a renewed passion for ministry, outreach, and missions.

• Pray that God would show us the new things He would like to do in us and through us together in the days ahead.

• Pray that people without a church family would find a home here.

• Pray, pray, pray, and pray again for Union over the next 100 days. It’s vital.

As we embark on the next 100 days of intentional prayer for Union, I have also shared a few tips below to help us pray even more intentionally for Union each day.

• Set a reminder on your phone so that you remember to pray around the same time every day.

• Focus on one part of Union’s life and ministry in your prayer each day.

• Put a post-it note on your bathroom mirror to remind you to pray for Union.

• Pray at the same place every day.

• Pray as you drive (keep your eyes open!) or exercise.

• Make an appointment with someone else to pray together.

• Pray a passage of Scripture or a verse that you love for Union.

• Draw or doodle your prayers.

• Write your prayers as a letter to God in your journal.

• Pray as you sing or play an instrument.

• Rejoice, pray continually, and give thanks for all that God is doing among us!

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18

The Prayerful Pause - March 16

The Prayerful Pause
by Pastor Heather

In this busy and noisy world, it’s sometimes difficult to press pause and truly connect with God and with each other. In The Prayerful Pause, I will seek to regularly share some thoughts from my heart to help us connect with God and one another more fully.

I love a good story! Stories can make us laugh and can bring quick smiles to our faces. Stories can make us cry both happy and sad tears. Stories help us remember how God has been present with us and provided for us day after day. Stories remind us of God’s goodness and faithfulness along the journey. Over the last few weeks, I have really enjoyed hearing some of your stories. It’s been a gift to sit down and laugh with you, to cry with you, and to remember God’s faithfulness with you. Keep telling me your stories. They are good and so important.

Jesus, the Master Teacher, understood the importance of a good story. He told them regularly and specialized in using parables to help people understand what the Kingdom of God is like. The best definition of a parable that I have ever heard is that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Jesus knew well that stories could teach us so much about God’s heart.

This week, I want to encourage you to follow Jesus’ example and be a storyteller. Press pause each day for a little while and share a good story that points to God’s faithfulness with someone. Share a story with a family member over a meal. Call a friend and share a good story over the phone. Share a story with a child or young person that you love. Email or text someone a good story. Post an encouraging story on Social Media. Sit down with someone for a chat and share your stories together. Please don’t forget to share your stories with me as your new pastor! I love hearing your stories, and I love you, too. 💜

Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. Psalm 107:2-3

The Prayerful Pause - March 1

The Prayerful Pause 

By Pastor Heather Webb

In this busy and noisy world, it’s sometimes difficult to press pause and truly
connect with God and with each other. In The Prayerful Pause, I will seek to
regularly share some thoughts from my heart to help us connect with God
and one another more fully.

This Week’s Prayerful Pause:
Pause and read Psalm 139
Prayerfully read and reflect on the devotional thought below.             

For as long as I can remember, I have been afraid of heights. I don’t like roller coasters or rock climbing, and I would never go skydiving. Despite my fear of heights, God has helped me to live atop high mountain peaks and fly across the world several times. I have even learned to love gazing out of an airplane
window as I am captivated by the up-close abundance of billowy white clouds and the infinite blue sky outside.

 While the scenery beside an airplane is beautiful in its own right, I confess that I am more fascinated by the view below. Buildings, houses, and cars seem so small and insignificant when viewed from the air. When flying at night, the plane’s distance from the ground reduces even the brightest city lights to tiny clusters of shimmering sequins that randomly dot an expanse of black. Large mountains, canyons, and rivers become shadowy indentions and ripples that merely interrupt the regularity of the terrain below.

 My thoughts usually turn to the people on the ground when I gaze at the miniature size of things below. Sometimes I even find myself asking questions. Who is driving that tiny car? What stories would the family in that minuscule house have to tell? What troubles do the people in that distant city struggle with each day? While the responses to these questions remain a mystery to me, God knows the answers!

 When I pause to consider God’s view of humanity, I am reminded that God does more than see us all at once. God knows each of us in intricate detail and lovingly calls each of us by name. The enormity of God’s love constantly surrounds us, gently sustains us, and faithfully guides us every day. Indeed, no matter where we are or what we are doing, God sees us and is present with us in all of life’s circumstances.

So, as we begin this new season of ministry together, my prayer is that we will be a church that pauses to remember and share these important truths in our life and ministry together: God sees us. God knows us. God loves us. God is always present with us! Amen.

February 9

Dear Church,

What a joy it has been to share a bit of our journey together! Our journey together is drawing to a close, and your journey with Reverend Heather Webb will soon begin. I cannot wait to see the fruits of your journey together. I preached my last sermon for you last Sunday, on February 6. I will be with you this Sunday as a we welcome Reverend Denise Bell, our Regional Minister in worship.

This Sunday will be my last worship service with you. I will no longer be preaching, writing, or actively present at the church as Union prepares to welcome your soon arriving minister, Reverend Heather Webb.

I know there is a bit of time, yet before Pastor Heather arrives. I will continue to be here to offer continuing pastoral care through the rest of February. During that time, don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you need anything. I will, of course, offer my prayers to you and for you always.

As this part of our journey together draws to a close, please know how much I value you as a healthy, vital congregation. Please know I love you, brothers and sisters. Please know I will miss you.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

January 26

Outside In

Luke 4:21-30

This week's Gospel reading, Luke 4:21-30 follows immediately from last week's reading. Jesus shows us God at work in the same way God has often been at work across the millennia and continues to be today. As the Gospel continues, God will once again bring to life new stories with, through, and among particular people, often outsiders to the traditional faith.

The gospel Jesus shares is jarring and infuriating to the temple stalwarts, ready to thrust him out of the city, headlong down the hillside. Jesus did not share the story they expected to hear, but instead one breaking through our calcified ideas, reminding us God has always walked among those on the edges or outside of the faith, such as the widow who houses Elijah, or Naaman, the foreigner healed by Elisha.

What are the edges of our faith, our social circle, that we need to explore, and perhaps open ourselves up to?

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
Adapted from David L. Ostendorf, Daily Feast, Year C

January 19

Epiphanies

If you look throughout scripture for images of God, you will find more than we can imagine. They range from the Voice in the Garden of Eden, to the pillar of fire and cloud leading the Israelites through the desert.

They include things such as the mighty fortress and the mother hen. There is the light and the bread of life. Maybe you prefer something like the potter or the shepherd. We could fill this whole newsletter with images that have been used for God and for Jesus.

We are in the season after Epiphany. We normally think of it as a season in which God is revealed to us through Jesus. Last Saturday, in our scripture reading, Jesus is revealed as the Incarnation through the miracle of providing wine for the wedding. I wonder if that understanding of Epiphany, God being revealed to us, is just a little off.

Yesterday I listened to a story about the James Webb Space Telescope whose deployment is nearly complete, 1,000,000 miles away, four times further away from the earth than the moon is. The story shared a couple of accepted research proposals for the telescope. One was to study a lava planet so hot that solid continents cannot form and clouds of “rock vapor” like our own clouds of water vapor are expected to be found. Another proposal is to look into one of the darkest parts of the universe, so as to search for “light” from the very beginning of time. I am fascinated. I can’t wait to hear what we learn from these and the many other research projects the telescope will be a part of. And as I listened to all of this, there was a mantra playing in the back of my mind, almost subconsciously. “Wow, God is there.” All of these things were “Epiphanies” in the Christian sense for me.

The question for Epiphany is not, “Where is God?” Epiphany is recognizing “God is there, God is here.” It is not that God has arrived, but that we have eyes to see God’s presence, and hearts to respond. So, during this season after Epiphany, the question for each of us is “Where have you noticed God today?”

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

January 12

Reverence for Life, Reverence for God

Dear Church,

First, I want to join with all of you in welcoming Union’s ministry candidate who will join us in worship this weekend. This is a special weekend in the life of the church. It is a privilege for me to be a part of this process with you all.

On a completely different note, January 14 is the birthday of humanitarian Albert Schweitzer, born in 1875. A musical prodigy, he devoted his 20’s to music, art, science, and religion. On his 30th birthday, he resolved to become a medical missionary. He and his wife eventually relocated to West Africa, setting up a hospital in Lambarene, now Gabon. They understood their work to be a small gesture of reparations for all of the social and economic suffering inflicted by European colonialism. In 1952, Schweitzer was awarded the Nobel Prize, both for his humanitarian work and his theology work christened “Reverence for Life.”

In his Nobel lecture, Schweitzer said “What really matters is that we should all of us realize that we are guilty of inhumanity. The horror of this realization should shake us out of our lethargy so that we can direct our hopes and intentions to the coming of an era in which war will have no place.” I can hear that repentant call to work for God’s reign coming from John the Baptist and Jesus both, as they dip us in both the waters of baptism as well as the spirit and fire of baptism we talked about last Sunday. What might our world look like if we took seriously a reverence for life and Albert’s vision of God’s reign? What would our local community look like if we took seriously a reverence for life and Albert’s vision of God’s reign?

Holy God, shape our hopes and intentions, today, toward your love of life and creation. Guide our hands and our feet to make your kingdom a bit more real here and now. Let all God’s children say, “Amen.”

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

January 5

What a Week!

Like so many in our community, locally and more broadly, our household has been recently impacted by the latest variant of COIVD-19. A student living with us tested positive for COVID in the middle of last week, just before the New Year. She was vaccinated, has recovered from her mild flu symptoms, and is doing fine. I haven’t had any symptoms at all and am now in the “mask-wearing” part of the CDC’s COVID exposure protocol. Cheryl is feeling a bit puny, but thankfully she has tested negative for COVID. It is not uncommon for ministers to spend a couple of days in bed this time of year, like so many who face a year end rush of one kind or another.

The timing of this COVID spike is very inconvenient for Union Christian Church (DOC). With Call Weekend approaching, it is important that we are able to meet in person these next two weeks. Fortunately, Union knows how to do so safely and with grace. The Regathering Committee, the Church Council, and the Search Committee are working together to make sure we are able to safely prepare for and gather together both this Sunday and on Call Weekend. Please keep an ear to the ground over the next few days to hear exactly what our worship plans will be for this Sunday, January 9. Thank you, as always, church, for your love, support and hospitality.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

December 1

North East Disciples Advent Devotional

Back in the days of the dot matrix printer, Aunt Nancy organized the collecting of Christmas stories and recipes from those who gathered at 341 Greenwood Street, in the little home of Grandma Fern and Granddaddy James Lamport. Growing up, I got to visit 341 Greenwood several times a year. Gathering there on Christmas day, and staying for at least two nights was an unbreakable Christmas tradition. Missing that occasion would have been as sure a sign of the apocalypse as anything from last Sunday's Luke 21 reading. It has now been 25 years or more since I last spent a Christmas Night there. The cousins are scattered all over the country each with kids and new traditions of their own, just like Cheryl and me. What a treasure that little book of stories and recipes is.

This year, several folks from North East Georgia, with a connection to First Christian Church of Winder and Union Christan Church in Watkinsville, have contributed to this Advent Devotional. May the devotions and the names you find in here, both the familiar and the new be a blessing on your journey to Bethlehem with the Holy Family.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

Click here for a copy of the Advent Devotional.

November 17

Tree by Jane Hirshfield, for Christ the King Sunday

This Sunday, which brings to a close the Christian Year, is Christ the King Sunday. Our scripture reading for Sunday, John 18:33-37, finds Pilate interrogating Jesus about claims that he is King of the Jews. Next Sunday begins the season of Advent, in which we prepare for the birth of Jesus. In this transition we find Crucifixion/Resurrection leading into Incarnation it is a holy moment of the year.

The Salt Project offered up this poem, Tree by Jane Hirshfield for this week. It is brief and vivid. I love woods and trees. One day I will see a redwood tree. I must. So, of course, I immediately fell in love with this poem. Then I remembered it was Christ the King Sunday, and the poem was transformed. May it be a blessing to you all.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

Tree

It is foolish
to let a young redwood

grow next to a house.
Even in this

one lifetime,
you will have to choose.

That great calm being,
this clutter of soup pots and books —

Already the first branch-tips brush at the window.
Softly, calmly, immensity taps at your life.

+ Jane Hirshfield

November 10

Telling Our Story

This quilt, the Bible Quilt, was made by Harriet Powers and exhibited at the Athens Cotton Fair in 1886, where it captured the imagination of Jennie Smith, a young internationally-trained local artist. Jennie later wrote: "I have spent my whole life in the South, and am perfectly familiar with thirty patterns of quilts, but I had never seen an original design, and never a living creature portrayed in patchwork."

Harriet Powers was born into slavery outside Athens, Georgia, in October 1837. Her quilts used a combination of hand stitching, machine stitching, and appliqué to form small detailed panels telling a larger story, like a graphic novel. This storytelling style of quilting has roots in West African coastal communities. Her quilts record legends and biblical tales of hope, perseverance, and divine justice. Her masterful Bible Quilt, created in 1886, now hangs in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Powers' work is now considered among the preeminent examples of Southern 19th-century quilting.

We give thanks for our sister Harriet, and her interpretation and retelling of Bible stories, current events, and folk tales through her many quilts. May we be open to the many ways God is always at work, doing a new thing among us and through us. Click on the Bible Quilt picture to find out more.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

November 3

Saint Brendan’s Prayer

Saint Brendan’s Prayer is a traditional Irish Celtic blessing prayer. Saint Brendan, known also as Brendan the Navigator is one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, tutored by the father of Irish Monasticism, Finnish of Clonard. Saint Brendan founded several monasteries himself, traveling around the Irish and British Isles, and also to Northern France (Brittany).

The Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot) tells of his legendary multi-year Atlantic voyage in search of Paradise on Earth, the Garden of Eden. It is filled with encounters with demons, sea monsters, saints, angels and unknown sacred communities. Saint Brendan’s recorded birth and death are 484-577. The following prayer is attributed to him. May it bring blessing to you on your voyage through each day.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

Saint Brendan’s Prayer
God, bless to me this day, God bless to me this night;
Bless, O bless, thou God of grace, each day and hour of my life;
Bless, O bless, thou God of grace, each day and hour of my life.
God, bless the pathway on which I go; God, bless the earth beneath my sole;
Bless, O God, and give to me thy love, O God of gods, bless my rest and my repose;
Bless, O God, and give to me thy love, and bless, O God of gods, my repose.

October 27

Give Thanks

Praise the LORD!
Let my whole being praise the LORD!
I will praise the LORD with all my life;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
The person whose help is the God of Jacob—
the person whose hope rests on the LORD their God—
is truly happy!
God: the maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
God: who is faithful forever,
who gives justice to people who are oppressed,
who gives bread to people who are starving!
The LORD: who frees prisoners.
The LORD: who makes the blind see.
The LORD: who straightens up those who are bent low.
The LORD: who loves the righteous.
The LORD: who protects immigrants,
who helps orphans and widows,
but who makes the way of the wicked twist and turn!
The LORD will rule forever!
Zion, your God will rule from one generation to the next!
Praise the LORD!
Psalm 146:1-2, 5-10

Our Psalm for this Sunday is a classic Thanksgiving Psalm. I don’t know about you, but I am not always great about stopping and remembering to say “Thank you.” I appreciate the frequent reminders from the Psalms to live in gratitude, to give thanks each day for Lord has placed before us. It is also a helpful reminder to give thanks to those around us, not just for the things they do, but for who they are.
This month has been “Minister Appreciation Month.” A couple of weeks ago you showered me with an almost embarrassing amount of appreciation. For all of the cards and cakes, smiles and claps you shared, let me say, “Thank you.” I praise the Lord for Union Christian Church (DOC), and all congregations like you. Thanks be to God!

Peace be with you,
Pastor Alan

October 20

Practicing Faith - Building Benches

On Sunday afternoon, our youth built 6 benches for Camp Christian under the direction of Julian Beckwith. Thank you youth! Thank you Julian! Thank you church!

We may not keep it on the tip of our tongue, but “practice” is an important faith word. We “practice” our faith. We begin practicing our faith as early as we begin practicing life, before we have any words to describe either one.

Like so many things today, I worry sometimes that we twist up the “faith process” a bit. Sometimes I think we take a “light switch” view on things In other words, we approach “faith” like we are in a particular place, maybe like a switch with three settings.

• Setting 1)We don’t know "faith"

• Setting 2) We learn faith

• Setting 3) Now that we know faith, and we are ready to do faith

I think there is a much better way to understand the life of faith.

A better understanding is to remember that the life of faith is actually a life of gratitude, responding to the gifts we have received from God. Each day we “practice” responding to God with gratitude. We “practice” faith. We begin “practicing” being thankful, being gracious, before we understand thankfulness or gratitude. When someone gives you something, even a glass of water, you say “thank you.” When you see a parent, a grandparent, or someone who cares for you, you say “I love you.” We are taught to do so before we understand thanks or love. We continue to practice thanks, and love, and faith as we grow and mature and develop a deeper understanding of all three.

We don’t teach faith, master faith and then practice faith. We practice faith, and along the way we learn faith, and a few of us, a very few of us, become recognized as “masters” of faith, of gratitude, of love.

This Sunday, our youth embraced a special opportunity to “practice” faith, a life of gratitude to God, by building benches for Camp Christian. It was fun. We received the gift of materials and preparation from members of our church family. We learned about wood, a part of God’s creation, like juvenile wood and mature wood, early wood and late wood (they’re not the same thing), strong wood and stronger wood. Learning about God’s creation and our relationship to it is always a holy gift to be grateful for. We built something. We got to use power tools, and “sit” on the result of our efforts. We practiced our faith through learning, and doing, and celebrating. We practiced our gratitude to God. You helped us to do so. Thank you Union Christian Church, for helping us all practice the life of faith together.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

October 13

The Hidden Singer, by the Farmer-Poet

Wendell Berry was born the first of four children to John Marshall Berry, a lawyer and tobacco farmer, and Virginia Erdman Berry, in Henry County, KY in 1934. Both of his parent’s families had farmed in Henry County, just northeast of Louisville, for at least 5 generations. 

He completed a BA and then MA in English from the University of Kentucky in 1958. After studying and working in various places in the United States and Europe, he returned to Henry County, KY in 1965, where he has continued to farm, write, and sometimes teach at the University of Kentucky. 

Being about 100 miles from where my dad grew up, an area I got to visit frequently as a child, I can picture the foothills landscape in which the Berry farm is nestled. Wendell claims poet, farmer, writer, activist and academic as his vocation. 

I recently ran across this holy poem by him, that I thought I would share with you today. I hope you enjoy.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
 
The Hidden Singer
The gods are less for their love of praise.
Above and below them all is a spirit that needs nothing 
but its own wholeness, its health and ours.
It has made all things by dividing itself.
It will be whole again.
To its joy we come together –
the seer and the seen, 
the eater and the eaten,
the lover and the loved.
In our joining it knows itself. It is with us then,
not as the gods whose names crest in unearthly fire,
but as a little bird hidden in the leaves
who sings quietly and waits, and sings.
+ Wendell Berry

October 6

Walking by the Light of Saints

On October 6, 1683, the first Mennonites arrived in what would become the United States. Francis Daniel Pastorius, a German lawyer and teacher, founded Germantown in Pennsylvania. After eating with a group of Native Americans, Pastorius wrote that they “have never in their lives heard the teaching of Jesus concerning temperance and contentment, yet they far excel the Christians in carrying it out.” In 1688, he wrote to slave-holding Quakers in Germantown, urging them to free the people they were enslaving — the first formal abolitionist protest by European immigrants in the American colonies.

Like to conservative Mennonite families who were a part of my life growing up, Francis reminds me that as followers of Christ, we are called to see and celebrate each person around us as a child of God, even when, maybe especially when, they seem foreign or strange to us in every way. My conservative Mennonite neighbors seemed very strange at first glance.

Let us pray throughout this week with hands, voices and heart:
Open my eyes, God of all people, to my neighbor who needs my support, not judgment in this moment. Open my mouth, Holy God, to speak up for them and with them today. Open my heart, loving God, that my speech and actions may be healing to all, and destructive of none.

Pastor Alan

September 29

World Communion Sunday

This Sunday, October 3, is World Communion Sunday. On the first Sunday in October, congregations from scores of Christian denominations and traditions all over the world celebrate communion, remembering our interconnectedness with one another through Jesus the Christ. We remember as well, the unique contributions we bring to Christ's table through our variety of traditions, cultures and experiences. Our worldwide Christian family is larger than we can begin to imagine.

In the words of Desmond Tutu, “God’s dream is that you and I and all of us will realize that we are family, that we are made for togetherness, for goodness, for compassion.”

May we be filled with joy, people of God, to know that we will all be at the table together this Sunday.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

September 22

Happy Birthday! Happy Homecoming!

September 28 is the feast day for Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, born in the year 907, and best known from the Christmas carol that bears his name, “Good King Wenceslaus.” He was said to have a kind, generous nature, and those virtues are memorialized in the carol: the good king wanders out into a bitterly cold winter night, bringing gifts of food and warmth to a poor peasant, pressing into the snow footprints that radiate his warmth — so that other good souls may follow.

I sometimes wonder if we underestimate the power of simple compassion and generosity. There is, perhaps, no better practice to train our own eyes to see those things that are seen by God’s eyes. There is, perhaps, no better way to work toward becoming a people reflecting, even embodying the God of Infinite Love, Healing Grace, and Radical Hospitality. You are a generous congregation, Union Christian Church (DOC). May we celebrate that among so many other things this Sunday. Happy Homecoming!

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan