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Healing Our Common Life
Last weekend we gathered at the Mississippi River for something called Wild Church. A time of wandering and seeking conversation with the natural world is at the heart of a Wild Church gathering. Drawn to a patch of vibrant green grass in an area that was damp, even amid our current drought, I discovered a tiny snail. How does…
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We Belong to Each Other
What feelings does Jesus’ teaching about divorce bring up for you? Unfortunately, this text has been used as a weapon against people struggling in abusive marriages experiencing the pain of betrayal, or simply feeling stuck in relationships that aren’t life-giving. My hope today is to approach this teaching in a different spirit, with a sense of…
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Mycelial Politics
It’s pretty delightful to live across the street from an elementary school. I love the way the neighborhood comes alive with the morning and afternoon rush of pick-ups and drops-offs. I love the drone of children’s voices outside for recess—the bellows, the high-pitched screams, the little yelps of joy. I love glimpsing kids hard at work…
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Following Jesus—It’s Complicated
The passage we’ve heard read this morning from the Gospel of Mark comes at a key turning point in the story of Jesus and his followers. In the eight chapters that lead up to this moment—fully half the gospel text—Jesus has traveled about the northern regions of Jewish Palestine and ventured into its Gentile borderlands.…
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Be Opened
This fall, I am approaching the Gospel of Mark with a question in mind: what are the politics of Jesus? If you’ve been around here for a while you probably already know that despite what some say about not mixing faith and politics, I believe it is essential for the church to involve itself in…
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Wisdom
If you went to Sunday School as a child, or if you had someone who read Bible Stories to you, there are probably two things that you heard about King Solomon. (Actually there are three now, since you heard the poem about the Ants.) The first one is what we just heard: When God asked…
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Bread for the Journey
Friends, I want begin with some heartfelt gratitude. Thank you for the sacred gift of sabbatical. Thank you to those who stepped in and stepped up so that I could fully embrace this season of renewal, especially Chris, Linda, and the members of the sabbatical task force. And thank you for all the notes you left…
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Sabbatical Box
I remember the first meeting of the Sabbatical Task Force this spring. Jane, Kris Felbeck, Sandy Johnson, Paul Snyder, Mary Jean Korsmo, Linda Valerian, and I gathered in the Parlor to brainstorm ideas for how to make this time of Jane’s absence special for the community. I remember the energy in that room, that as…
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Wisdom and Wind
In about two weeks I will be done with seminary. Not long after that I will receive a piece of paper in the mail saying that I have been awarded the degree of Master of Divinity—a name that really needs to change, because if there’s one thing that’s literally impossible for a person to master,…
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Where Can We Rest?
You can blame my Hebrew Bible professor for our theme this month. I distinctly remember him saying, “You never hear anybody preach on the Wisdom Literature, but there’s so much good stuff in there! It’s so relevant to our world today!” I’ll admit that I heard those words as a challenge. When Doug Donnelly and…
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Navigating Divine Fate Using a Compass of Joy
Ecclesiastes urges us to examine meaninglessness in order to arrive at joy; how can we navigate that process with integrity to God and ourselves? “Vanity of vanities, it is all vanity.” So starts off the book of Ecclesiastes, and it sure sounds like a great opening. This book is part of the section of biblical…
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Things Work Until They Don’t
Good morning. I’m Paula Moyer, a member of University Baptist Church and one of the substitutes filling in for Pastor Doug Donley during his medical leave. Full disclosure: I am nowhere close to being ordained and have no plans to do so. Therefore, I am deeply honored to be preaching today for the first of…
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Soften or Sharpen
There is an Israeli woman named Ada Sagi, an elderly woman, who lived in a kibbutz before October 7 of last year. She taught Arabic to Israelis so they would be able to talk with their Arab neighbors. She wanted there to be peace. But then she was taken hostage by Hamas. By the time…
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God’s Planting
This week I read an article by Presbyterian minister and church consultant Sarai Rice entitled, “Imagining a New Model for the Church.”[1] Rice notes a tension between the theological language we use to describe ourselves as church and the ways we actually organize church institutions. On the theological hand, we call ourselves the body of Christ,…
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Are You Ready?
I am so excited to be with you, First Congregational Church of Minnesota. Not only because this is one of my favorite Christian communities in Minneapolis, but also you have a lot of people here who are near and dear to my heart: Chris Bohnhoff, who was my partner in crime at United Theological Seminary…
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Trustworthy Prophets
Today’s Hebrew Bible reading ends with these words: “As Samuel grew up, God was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of God.” (1 Samuel 3:19–20) Not bad, right? What a legacy! I love this image…
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More than Fire
As I prepared to talk to our kids about the Pentecost story last week at the Family Gathering, I asked Sarah Almén whether she had any concerns about my lighting a candle as part of the storytelling. Her wise response was, “Nothing gets a kid’s attention like an open flame.” Other than the possible exceptions…
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Is This the Time?
Pop quiz: who can tell me what this Sunday is called in the Christian church calendar? The answer is Ascension Sunday! It’s the end of the church season of Easter, seven weeks of digging into the theological concept of resurrection. Whether you believe in Jesus’ resurrection in literal terms or in symbolic ones, Easter gives…
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In Praise of Ritual
Grace and peace to you, friends. So! We made it to sabbatical. Are you feeling relaxed and rejuvenated yet? That’s OK if not; we’ve got some time still. Some of you have asked me how things are going now that I’m “official.” And the answer is that it feels great. I attribute that at least…
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Abide
A week or so ago, on a beautiful spring morning, I listened intently to the radio. Anticipating the closure of the Stone Arch Bridge, reporter Cari Spenser interviewed Clawhammer Mike. She sets the scene this way: When the sun is out, the 51-year-old always sets up the same: white bucket for tips, foldable metal chair one…