The other side
There is a nice coincidence between this week’s worship theme, Land, and where we are at in the adult Sunday school study of the Gospel of Mark. Next class we will pick up at Mark 4:35, when Jesus, having finished teaching in parables from the shores of the Sea of…
A dusting of snow and ash
Today is Ash Wednesday and it snowed this morning and a little more this afternoon. Today is the beginning of Lent, a day in which we recite these words to one another: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you will return.” Despite the cold forecast ahead, and despite…
Discerning gifts
Last evening the Gifts Discernment Committee met at church. This is the group charged with inviting members to serve on various Commissions each year. This is the group thankful for the strong response received from the Gifts Discernment forms in which you named people you felt were gifted to lead…
Doing justice
Doing justice is hard work. It’s hard figuring out how to do it and it’s hard to do. It’s slow moving and tiring. It usually involves just showing up, which isn’t necessarily all that fulfilling in itself. One of the things that we at CMC have going for us is…
What we don’t see
This Sunday we will celebrate six jr. youth coming of age. The scripture they have chosen to shape the worship theme is Jeremiah 1:1-14. After an initial call from the Lord to Jeremiah, and Jeremiah’s response that he is too young and cannot speak, the Lord asks him a question:…
Borrowing faith
This past weekend I attended the Music and Worship Leaders Retreat at Laurelville Mennonite Church Center in western PA. The theme was PastPresentFuture, focused on bringing our whole selves into worship, and that worship itself is an act of extending our selves back into traditions we have inherited and forward…
2014 in review
2014 is gone, but it’s worth considering where all we have been and what we’ve done in the past year. With fear and trembling that I may be leaving out something crucial, here are some of the highlights from the year. Some of these are things that happen every year…
Singing as if life depended on it
After noticing its persistent presence on my Facebook newsfeed for multiple days, I caved and watched the three minute video of Naomi Feil, a Jewish woman, singing Christian songs to Gladys, an elderly woman with Alzheimers. While singing “Jesus loves me” and “He’s got the whole world in his hands,”…
What do you want?
So, what do you want? The last couple days Abbie and I have asked this question to each other as Christmas approaches. This is not the first time the question has come up this season. We’ve already passed around some lists with family members to prepare for gift exchanges. I…
Gratitude/Advent
On this Eve of Thanksgiving I’m grateful to be surrounded by love, and grateful for the opportunity to journey with you all through the seasons of life. Thanksgiving weekend has become the major get together for my side of the family and we will be heading out to Bellefontaine tomorrow…
