Ronda Collier 5/16/23 Ronda Collier 5/16/23

Weaving Together the Beloved Community

Lectio Divina - The practice of reading Scripture four times in different translations, to give us all a sense of the wide and varied ways Scripture might speak to us.

Meditation: “When I am right and healthy, I can breathe in the worst of things and put back out into the universe health and harmony“

Sunday, May 14

Sunday School Recognition Sunday,

Church Choir singing, Mother’s Day

Due to some scheduling conflicts, we are moving Java Joe’s worship back a week. We will be in the sanctuary on Sunday, May 14.

Sunday, May 21

Jammin’ with Java Joe’s in the narthex

Every month we have been practicing the ancient form of praying with the Scripture, lectio divina. What has been awesome for me is to feel the congregation becoming more and more comfortable with the silence. As a result, lectio divina feels richer and richer every time we do it. I hear what great theologians are in this congregation as you share your reflections.

That also makes me comfortable with sharing some more forms of lectio divina. I have a book on my shelf which shares the incredibly different variations people have used to provide a different feel, a movement of the Spirit.

For the next two months, May and June, we’ll practice lectio divina by reading the same translation all four times. I have printed out four different translations for people to read just to give us all a sense of the wide and varied ways Scripture might speak to us.

In reading the same translation, I’m then going to ask you to read it with me the third and fourth times. After reading it the first two times, you will have a word or phrase that calls to you or “shimmers” from the text. After meditating on that word or phrase and possibly sharing it, I’ll then ask you to read your word or phrase with me when I read it the third and fourth times.

What I believe that will do is provide a different way of hearing your word or phrase within the context of the whole Scripture verse. We will then return to the way we have been historically reading lectio divina through July and August.

In September and October, we are going to do a variation called visio divina which will have a famous piece of art depicting the Scripture verse or an icon. Within that art, we will ask ourselves what shimmers or calls to you.

We are asked to gaze at the entire picture. Notice the shapes, the colors, and the lighting. Notice the detail of both the foreground and background. Once you have visually canvased the artwork, note what has drawn your attention.

We invite this to unfold in our imagination and notice if it evokes memories, feelings, or other images. Maybe we even place ourselves in that story or image. What calls to you? Where do we find ourselves placed within it?

We then ask the second question, what is the invitation behind the story, images, memories, feelings that has unfolded for you? How is God calling to your life through this story or image? All of these are ways that people have worked to hear God speaking to themselves since ancient times. I look forward to walking through these experiences of the Divine with you.

General Synod Resolutions

We received a small response about which resolutions you wanted to dialog about being proposed for General Synod 34 in Indianapolis. I am listing the website where you can find the full text of the resolution. We will have copies of the full text of the resolution set out at the table in the narthex. Here were the three receiving the most votes:

Denouncing the Dobbs Decision and Proclaiming Abortion as Healthcare

https://generalsynod.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/A.-Abortion-as-Healthcare.pdf\

Closing the Digital Divide: Calling on the United Church of Christ to Seek Digital Justice and Inclusion

https://generalsynod.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/D.-Closing-the-Digital-Divide.pdf

Affirming Guns to Gardens and Other Gun Violence Prevention Ministries https://generalsynod.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/G.-Guns-to-Gardens.pdf\

General Synod: The national meeting of our church is in Indianapolis this year! Y’all come!

Rev. Mulberry wants to encourage everyone to go to the national meeting of the United Church of Christ, General Synod 34, in Indianapolis this summer from June 30 to July 4. Planning on going to General Synod in Indianapolis this summer? Registration is open! (https://www.ucc.org/general-synod-2023-online-registration-opens-jan-23/) Rev. Mulberry recommends the Single Day, for Synod in the City which usually happens on Saturday, or the Three Day to give one a feel of the scope of General Synod with great worship, music, workshops, entertainment, community, and spiritual learning and growth.

Youth (12-18 yrs old) $150.00

Youth (6-12 yrs old) $50.00

Volunteers $65.00

Single day $95.00

Three day $175.00

There is much to consider this year. We will be electing a new General Minister and President, voting on the reelection of Associate General Minister Karen Georgia Thompson and considering amendments to the UCC Bylaws that would change the frequency of General Synod from two years to three years. In addition, there are potentially 19 resolutions that will be up for review.

The event’s keynote speaker will be: The Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, Lutheran minister, best-selling author and the founding pastor of Denver’s House for All Sinners & Saints, will deliver the keynote address at Synod on Saturday, July 1.

Plus, among other presenters will be nationally known: Ibram X. Kendi and Bryan Stevenson, best-selling authors, speakers, and thinkers around racial justice.

Two people have already expressed interest! Please let Rev. Mulberry know if you are interested! He would love a whole busload of Pilgrims to go.

Meditation Service, Sunday, May 14,

Sixth Sunday of Easter, 7:00 p.m., Tonglen Meditation

Meditation

One of the most difficult community meditations I have done personally and in community is tonglen meditation, a meditation that strengthens compassion in the heart and the mind. It is difficult because it helps us take the negative or painful in and put back out into the universe light and love. For a Christian, it is kind of like eating a vegetable we know we need but not necessarily liking the taste.

We become a human kidney. We breath in the negative or even the evil and breathe back out light and goodness.

When I am right and healthy, I can breathe in the worst of things and put back out into the universe health and harmony.

Christ commands, “Love your enemies.” It is a reminder that we are to build spiritual muscle that does not put back out the evil or negative directed at us. We are not to be doormats. But we are to help weave an eco-system of compassion around us.

Come join us for the practice of tonglen meditation.

Ronda Collier 4/23/23 Ronda Collier 4/23/23

Change is Hard …

Sunday, April 23, 2023, worship at 9:30 a.m. begins

Change is hard. And I know this is not ideal for many people. I am grateful that some of you have been able to voice your concerns or displeasure with the time change but have also been able to find a way to re-think what Sunday morning might look like going forward.

I have heard of people scoping out favorite brunch places. I have heard people recognize that now the majority of their day will be free for relaxing, time with friends or family, or even the ability to get out and do something in the late morning. Just imagining how this might be good for you is a blessing to me. Thank you.

I do not want to lose anyone in this change. Know that my prayer is that both congregations may worship separately but that we might learn together, grow together, and serve God together.

Thanks again to all of you as we make this change.

Shalom,

Mike

Ronda Collier 3/25/23 Ronda Collier 3/25/23

General Synod: The national meeting of our church is in Indianapolis this year! Y’all come!

The event’s keynote speaker will be: The Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, Lutheran minister, best-selling author and the founding pastor of Denver’s House for All Sinners & Saints, will deliver the keynote address at Synod on Saturday, July 1.
.

Youth (12-18 yrs old) $150.00

Youth (6-12 yrs old) $50.00

Volunteers $65.00

Single day $95.00

Three day $175.00

Plus, among other presenters will be nationally known: Ibram X. Kendi and Bryan Stevenson, best-selling authors, speakers, and thinkers around racial justice.

Please let Rev. Mulberry know if you are interested! He would love a whole busload of Pilgrims to go.

We continue our Meditation Service on the second Sunday of each month with Encircling Prayer. Encircling Prayer is a form of meditation that knows we have all kinds of negative messages, stories, and forces at work against us. Encircling Prayer calls all of the good in our world to us, to be mindful of them, to gather the good ancestors who are in the room with us so we know we are encircled and held.

Encircling Prayer comes from an ancient Celtic tradition of Caim Prayer. This is a simple Caim Prayer: Circle me Spirit. Keep protection near, and danger afar. Circle me Spirit. Keep light near, and the shadows afar. Circle me Spirit. Keep peace within. Keep evil out.

We will be naming with much more intention the circles of care and love that surround us every day so that we might walk knowing that we are held in love and compassion. Come join us. These services last anywhere between 30 and 40 minutes.

Ronda Collier 3/25/23 Ronda Collier 3/25/23

Lessons from Costa Rica: Watch Out for the Howler Monkeys!

I want to encourage an eco-system of boundaries so that all of have an opportunity to experience God’s joy.

I am grateful to the church for my vacation time when I might be able to get away to refresh, renew, and long for home all over again. We had great guides for our trip who gave us great advice for how to make our trip more enjoyable.

We were always being advised to bring rain gear and bug spray. Luckily, the rain came when we were safely tucked in our hotel rooms and the bugs never showed up in a big way. Tracy and I always had our raincoats and bug spray at the ready.

But there were other pieces of advice we did not do so well on. When we crossed a narrow suspension bridge, howler monkeys were climbing the top of the bridge eyeing us suspiciously. Our guide told us to keep our mouths closed because howler monkeys have been known to urinate or defecate to ward off visitors. I looked up at them in awe and wonder as we passed under—realizing quickly that I had my mouth wide open as my head tilted back. Thankfully, they did not see us as much of a threat.

As Tracy and I attempted snorkeling, we were warned about sea urchins on the rocks. Watch where you put your hands and feet for their sharp spines they use for protection. As I swallowed two rounds of salt water and struggled with breath, Tracy came up to help me. She inadvertently put her hands and feet on the rocks and was cut six or seven times. Until she received some lidocaine, she was in severe pain.

Even with these missteps, we enjoyed watching the sun set on the Pacific, moving through the rain forest to the sounds of howler monkeys, soaking in hot springs created by active volcanoes, and visiting Costa Rica’s National Museum. Throughout our time, our enjoyment was more full as we remembered the boundaries established by our guides.

That is a long way toward talking about the necessary boundary training I will again go through. Boundary training was a requisite for my ordination and I have had to go through it in every location where I served in the United Church of Christ. This year I will go through training provided by the Michigan Conference. Ordained clergy in the Michigan Conference are required to go through this training so that we all might keep our congregations safe, keep ourselves safe, and create an eco-system where safety, confidence, and joy might flourish.

We would all like to think that nobody in our congregation would dare harm someone more vulnerable. My experience and these trainings have taught me, however, that the potential for incredible harm exists in every congregation. One of my most difficult jobs in every pastorate has been to draw boundaries so that all might have an opportunity to experience joy. As I have been thanked for doing so, I have heard terrible stories of harm and abuse which sadden me but give me courage for the next time around.

I want to encourage an eco-system of boundaries so that all of have an opportunity to experience God’s joy.

Shalom,

Mike

Ronda Collier 3/25/23 Ronda Collier 3/25/23

What are the questions?

What are the right questions to unlock wisdom and strength that will allow us to discern God’s plan for us?

One of the continuing education opportunities I participated in recently was a chance to be trained as a clergy coach. We went through material, saw clergy coaching modeled, and practiced with our colleagues. I always liked one of the basic assumptions of clergy coaching: “The answer is within the person.”

Coaching was not about providing what were my answers but asking the right presenting questions so that the person being coached would rummage through their inner wisdom and will to know the answer for themselves. Listening well, asking the right questions, even offering silence are the job of the coach.

During the home potlucks this fall, I asked questions so that you all might learn about one another and think collectively about the future of the church. One of the things I’ve learned in coaching is that the right question sometimes needs to be asked over and over so that we begin to ruminate and reflect throughout the course of our days.

I believe in this congregation and the inner wisdom and strength that is found here. Using what I learned as a coach and in 30 years of ordained ministry, I am trying to discern what the right presenting questions are to tap into that collective wisdom and strength.

What do you think some of the right questions are? I’ll be talking about some basic questions where we might start in my New Year’s Day sermon.

I want to be precise about asking questions because I know I’ve asked past confirmation classes what they would like to do in the future and I get these wonderful, creative ideas shared with me. And then nobody participates in those future events or offerings.

Where do you think God is leading us? How are we to be faithful in this age? What if we assume that God has an incredible mission and ministry for us? What would that look like? How has God acted in the past that might tell us how God might act in the future?

I ask this because there are about seven United Church of Christ churches within about a 30-minute driving distance with each other who are anywhere from six to forty people in attendance every Sunday. Some are talking about closing. Others are talking about turning their church building into a museum. How might we spark imagination to talk about how all those churches might come together to do something fabulous and wonderful? What if we joined together in mission? What if we put forward all kinds of different worship opportunities and styles?

What are the right questions? And what is God leading us to do?

Meditation Service, Sunday, January 8, 7:00 p.m.,

Tonglen Meditation

We become a human kidney. We breath in the negative or even the evil and breathe back out light and goodness.

When I am right and healthy, I can breathe in the worst of things and put back out into the universe health and harmony.

Come join us for the practice of tonglen meditation.

✝

Ronda Collier 3/25/23 Ronda Collier 3/25/23

Advent begins: a new dawn

The Jesus the gospel writers center is an answer to the deepest of night. He points to the community forming around him and says, “This is God’s idea of rule, how God would distribute bread and fish, how God would want for our mutual healing, how God would make sense of the madness. And God would want us to partner with us in piecing the world back together again.”

I remember being in the presence of a Roman Catholic liturgical artist in St. Louis, Missouri, who made the most beautiful paraments, vestments, and stoles for churches, priests, and pastors. She clearly thought outside the box but also was deeply rooted in an ancient tradition. So I asked her, “If you had a dream for a church or a church leader to do something you’ve dreamed about doing, what would it be?” She sparkled at the question—like she had been waiting for it.

She began to explain to me how she believed Advent was one of our most meaningful liturgical seasons but how it was one of the least explored. She wanted to do something with the color because she had never heard a good explanation for why purple or blue (Blue was just coming into vogue as an Advent color to distinguish it from Lent.) were used for Advent candles.

Deep in the Scriptural and hymnody tradition of Advent, she explained, was the understanding that we were moving to a dawn we could not even see or imagine. So what her dream liturgical project would be had to do with progressive vestments that would begin with the colors of the deepest night and then adding colors each Sunday that would lead to the bright colors of the dawn on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. She was giddy in explaining it to me.

That joyous explanation transferred to me. She was right. I could not find much of an explanation for why candles were purple or blue. Unlike many liturgical seasons, Advent did not have lengthy explanation for its liturgical tradition. And, as I’m sure you know by my children’s sermons, I think our liturgical tradition, its colors and meaning, is a powerful, countercultural discernment practice and tool for our lives.

As I began to notice the colors in the late autumn dawn or evening sky, I began to see what she was telling me. The spiritual cues were there. In the deepest part of the night one could see a dark purple, then there was another layer of deep or dark blue, then a Columbia or powder blue, and, finally, a rose to signal that the heavens were about to change. In each church I served, I changed the colors of the Advent candles to reflect those four colors. And as we lit each candle, I told the children to see God’s hand at work in the morning or night sky.

The journey with Advent begins with the deepest night, when there is not even a star in the sky. The Scriptural texts we have are filled with terror and trauma and fear. We are called to be faithful even when it is night, even when we cannot imagine a different world.

We live in a world where many have called out the hypocrisy at all levels of our highest institutions. Indeed, it can feel like everything is beginning to unravel as we see the truth that the great makers and builders did not always have the best intent. Authentic faith has historically done this forever calling for reformation and transformation in our personal, communal, national, and earthly lives together.

Others point out that hypocrisy and enjoy watching the world burn. Still others believe that that hypocrisy, feeling like they’ve been sold out or lied to for the first time, gives them the right to act with total freedom and a lack of concern for their neighbors and for God’s good earth. I know I struggle with that unraveling and my mental health loses grip on what is possible or what we can do. Sheez, Mike, you are clergy. Get it together. But I sometimes can’t. I feel like I am withering.

The gospels were written at a time, just after Jesus, that was full of trauma, violence, and fear. It was a time of night. Everything was unraveling. Can we imagine a dawn? Can we even think of it? The Jesus the gospel writers center is an answer to the deepest of night. He points to the community forming around him and says, “This is God’s idea of rule, how God would distribute bread and fish, how God would want for our mutual healing, how God would make sense of the madness. And God would want us to partner with us in piecing the world back together again.”

It is night. The world may be unraveling. As people of faith, we are called to piece the world back together again. As we do so with God, the dawn comes. God’s hand is at work.

Shalom,

Mike

Ronda Collier 3/25/23 Ronda Collier 3/25/23

Gratitude, Potlucks & Reflection

Thanks to so many people for your cards and gifts in honor of pastor appreciation Sunday. I am blessed to serve this congregation. It was a double blessing to receive such well-wishes and goodness.

Thanks also for the vacation time. Tracy and I were able to re-connect with our moms by taking them on a trip up to the Upper Peninsula and the drive up to Wa Wa in Canada. While the colors were grand, we ended up leaving the week of snow and what felt like the beginning of winter. The week before temps had been in the 60s and 70s. The week after temps were in the 60s and 70s. We still had such meaningful time. Tracy and I especially enjoyed hiking the Nokomis Trail. Our moms will forever remember their time at Tim Horton’s!

Rhythms of sabbath, rest, and detachment are so important for all of our well-being. I try to wind the practice into my day through meditation, night time walks, and spending intentional time with family and friends.

I look forward to our time together as a church through this end of Ordinary Time into Advent and Christmas.

Home Potlucks

I heard great reports out of the church potlucks. Thanks to all who attended! I pray that the potlucks were a way we might all “do church” together, remembering God’s leading, and binding us to one another. That is the literal meaning of religion - “to re-bind.” Just a reminder that as we enter these colder months to receive your vaccine boosters and to get your flu shots. We want everyone safe, healthy, and protected as we enter this season where we nest a little longer, contemplate God’s goodness, and huddle closer for warmth and reflection.

Reflections back from Church Potlucks

Potluck hosted by Sheila Mayne and Carol Conklin

Strengths of Pilgrim Congregational UCC

· Community: friendly, and it is more than just worship

· Pastor: great sense of fashion; liked belonging; great sense of humor; all feel like equals; is fitting in.

How would outside describe?

· Role play between Pemberley and Amelia; intriguing and welcoming

Future

· Mr. Mulberry

· Same people, safe place

· More kids in Sunday School

· Always be accepting as a community

· Doing more things in the community

· Love Java Joe.

How is God leading us?

· Be happy and strong community

· Leading into a path of happiness and joy

· Girls/women are embraced

· Enjoy different points of view and respect at the Java Joe worship service.

Your role in Pilgrim’s future?

· Share with the community the great things at Pilgrim.

· If the world were more like Pilgrim is on a Sunday, we would be in a better place.

What dream of God do you see becoming possible?

· To feel included, all in this together—bring more inclusivity on a large scale.

Potluck hosted by Terry and Don Kretchman

Strengths:

· Caring

· Non-judgmental

· Acceptance

· Very social community

· Giving (generous!) to the community

How would an outsider describe Pilgrim?

· Warm

· Friendly

· Diverse

· Senior congregation

Future?

· Only possible if we continue to have folks walk through the door

· Need to show universal love to all

Ronda Collier 9/18/22 Ronda Collier 9/18/22

Fall Brings Excitement and Action!

This autumn brings so much life and vitality into the life of our church! The liturgical season of Ordinary Time begins to take on ever-greater meaning as we learn and grow together.

We will share in the home potluck meals. Please sign up for one of the meals as the hosts begin providing dates. This is a great time for us to get to know one another and develop consensus on where we see God leading this blessed church.

We will have some different worship opportunities available to us this autumn. Once a month, on the second Sunday of the month, we will have a service of Compline, of silent meditation and rest at 7:00 p.m. on the Second Sunday of the month. Please bring a pillar candle you are willing to light to begin the service and leave behind for future services. This month we will begin with open, silent meditation on Sunday, September 11. Next month, October 8th, we will share in a guided meditation. These worship services will last between a half-hour and forty minutes.

On Tuesday, October 4th, at 3:30 p.m., we will have a Blessing of the Animals service that will remember the pets/animals that are important to our lives. It is the Feast Day for St. Francis of Assisi! I promise to show up this time! Please make sure your beloved pet/animal is under control so that it does not harm others or cannot be harmed by others.

Finally, we will begin Bible 201, the study of the major Hebrew Scripture stories and learn how they inform our faith and continue to inform our faith. We will begin Thursday, September 15th, at 3:30 p.m. for five Thursdays and then finish on the first Thursday in November, November 3rd.

Wow! Power packed! I also want to call your attention to a great event being hosted by the League of Women Voters at our church. On Friday, September 16, The League of Women Voters will be hosting a Climate Change Town Hall. What other congregation could possibly host such a great community event? Doors open at 5:00 p.m.! Be there or be square.

I will be installed as teacher and pastor of this blessed church on Sunday, September 18th, at 4:00 p.m. It will be a great day as we continue this mutual ministry together.

Telling Our Stories: Blessed be the tie that binds

We have six homes who are going to host for our home potluck dinners! Please look for the sign-ups in the church narthex as those hosts choose dates that work for them. We ask you also to sign-up for a main dish, a salad, a vegetable, or a dessert as we come together and share a little of who we are, learn about others, bless the tie that binds us with one another.

Worship

Sunday, September 4th, 10:30 a.m., Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

A hymn sing with egg casseroles! Good food and good music are going to be part of our worship experience on the first Sunday in September.

Sunday, September 11, 10:30 a.m., Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Chillin’ at Java Joes! We worship in the narthex with some of our favorite beverages! We once again practice Julian of Norwich’s Body Prayer and lectio divina as we discern what it means that those in power do not want to hear the truth.

Sunday, September 11, 7:00 p.m. Meditation Service

Join us for a service of silent meditation and a welcoming of the night. Please bring a pillar candle you are willing to leave at the church as your own so that you may light it and remember what a gift the stillness, the darkness, the quiet is as we move through meditation.

Sunday, September 18, 10:30 a.m., Re-covenanting Sunday

Jeremiah asks for a repentance, a turning around. We approach the High, Holy Days in the Jewish liturgical calendar which remind us of our own mortality and always our opportunity to begin again. In Benedictine spirituality, we are invited to have the heart of a beginner, to always know we can begin again.

Sunday, September 18, 4:00 p.m., Installation Service

The Southwest Association of the Michigan Conference in covenant with Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ installs Rev. Mike Mulberry as teacher and pastor of the church.

Sunday, September 25, 10:30 a.m., Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday School begins with children! Loretta Gibby will once again be leading Sunday School for our children. After the Children’s Sermon, children are invited back to the narthex to continue to learn, play, and work on crafts Loretta has provided.

What is your mission statement? What is our mission statement? How do we continue to walk with God even when the path is hidden or difficult?

Sunday, October 2, 10:30 a.m., World Communion Sunday

Join Christians around the world in this celebration of our common identity as people who learn about the Divine as we share across the table.

Sunday, October 4, 3:30 p.m., Blessing of the Animals, Feast Day for St. Francis of Assisi

Bring your pets or the animals you love to the church for this time when we recognize what a holy and sacred gift they are to our lives and the beautiful relationship we have with them. Please make sure to have your pet/animal in control so they do not harm other pets/animals or won’t be harmed by other pets/animals who might escape the control of another. We want everyone safe and protected. Rev. Mike promises to be there this time!

Bible Study: Beginning Thursday, September 15th, 3:30 p.m., for 4 weeks with two sessions on Thursday, November 3rd and November 10th.

Bible 201: The Hebrew Scripture Stories

Hebrew Scripture (The Old Testament) is far larger than The New Testament and has this incredible stories of humor, apocalypse, song, prayer, and a re-counting of how God has been present for the Jewish people. At the same time, when we study the Bible critically, we have to decide what we will leave behind and what we will take forward with us. This has been the spiritual task throughout the centuries.

Please bring a study Bible with you. Rev. Mike recommends one of two: The New Oxford Annotated Study Bible (New Revised Standard Updated) with Apocrypha or The HarperCollins Study Bible with Apocrypha (New Revised Standard Updated). Having the Apocrypha will be important as we move into Bible 202. We will continue with our critical look at some of the larger stories we find in Scripture.

Please let Rev. Mulberry know if you are interested (mmulberry@gmail.com)

Ronda Collier 9/18/22 Ronda Collier 9/18/22

Learn From Ancient History

“What might this young prophet, an author of so much of our tradition, tell us about our current time?”

As another variant of the Co-Vid virus ramps and a monkeypox outbreak is declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization, we have every right to feel overwhelmed. When will this end? Didn’t all of our quarantining, masking, and social distancing work? Will we have to go back to these safety protocols?

It is impossible to know where we go from here. I am confident that Church Council will be actively looking at data and advice from health experts to make the best decisions for our collective health.

I am also confident that amidst such change and frustration, God is actively at work—in ways that we could not have possibly imagined. God’s love is the most creative force in the universe.

In the midst of so much change, it is important for us to ask what we may be learning, how we might reflect God’s love by how we move creatively, and how what it means to be church might be different in this strange time.

My hope is that both Co-Vid and monkeypox will be waning by this fall such that we might do what I am calling “reflection dinners” at peoples’ homes. I want us to plan for fun, to learn about one another, to re-weave and darn some of the intimacy we may have lost during Co-Vid. I want us all to begin asking, “What are my hopes for Pilgrim Congregational over the next five years? What would it look like? Taste like? Smell like? Feel like?”

To discern how we might figure out that direction takes many conversations which might spark our hope, spawn creativity, and remind us that God is moving among us. But if we can’t do that, we’ll figure out a way. Because God is moving among us. I see the signs. And we’ll have fun doing it.

Jeremiah Preaching Series

Starting in mid-August, the Hebrew Scripture readings pick up on the book and prophet of Jeremiah. Hebrew Scripture scholar, Richard Elliott Friedman, believes that Jeremiah is responsible for collecting, writing, and organizing much of Hebrew Scripture—probably many of the Psalms.

It makes sense. Jeremiah was a young priest from Anatoth so he would have the literacy, the time, and the position to both engage the tradition and reflect upon it. He also would have had a compelling reason. Literacy was not common in the ancient world. Much of the tradition was carried orally.

So why would someone feel compelled to write down a tradition that was being carried orally? Threat. The Babylonian Empire was descending on Jerusalem early on in Jeremiah’s story. Jeremiah sees a religious and political elite grinding the people down with their excess, their injustice, and their violence. He tried to warn the rulers of the inevitable consequences to their actions.

When the rulers could see Babylonia at their gates, they repented of their injustice and returned to their covenant tradition. When Babylonia backed away, Judah’s ruling and religious elite returned to their evil ways. When I write evil, I mean using debt as leverage to harm and accumulate wealth, working false measurements to cheat the poor, manipulating the justice system to trample the oppressed, and making lying a regular spiritual practice.

Jeremiah rails against his own people, his own nation. He is jailed, thrown down a well, and called unpatriotic.

What might this young prophet, an author of so much of our tradition, tell us about our current time?

Ronda Collier 7/1/22 Ronda Collier 7/1/22

Weaving Together the Beloved Community

Happy Pride Month

“… something magical happened.”

At our most recent Community Celebration service, something magical happened. These are rare moments in ministry when years of spiritual work are woven together with a prepared gateway or structure which allows God’s Spirit to whip around the room in powerful ways. The worship service asked for reflection, during Pride Month, on how the LGBTQ+ community has lifted us or provided Divine gifts.

Though these moments are rare and cannot be forced, I think it is important to reflect on the elements that were present so that we continue to open portals for the possibility of God’s Spirit to flit and float among us. And let me say that sometimes that is already happening imperceptibly and unbeknownst to us. Sometimes what feels like a slog can be the most meaningful and powerful work of a faith community.

I would love if you all shared elements you experienced as present on that Wednesday night in June so that we can provide the intention for them in the future.

Here is what I saw and experienced.

People spoke out of their vulnerability and their courage. We had a diverse intersection of voices that spoke of their historical slogs and pain to arrive at this moment. I saw people speaking not necessarily out of present struggles but about historical struggles that brought a bittersweet mixture of honest pain and joy. Each one of those voices spoke with humility, allowing for other voices to join the chorus. While many people spoke, I saw manifestations from family members and congregational members who wanted the person speaking to know that they were loved and we were grateful for their courage.

Music was a gateway. Diane and Lisa provided beautiful and diverse music (pop, country, disco, Latin American folk) that went to God’s love for our diversity and our identity as Beloved Children of God. I heard them waxing up our courage and giving permission for the moment to be transformative.

We had a combination of freedom and self-awareness that led to powerful reflection. Nobody told anyone else they were “wrong,” but all of the people who spoke seemed to be aware they were not alone and that they could speak freely and responsibly. We heard from incredibly diverse experiences reflecting back on something that was both something they were in but recognizing that something bigger was afoot.

Even more so, after the experience was over, people continued to speak about the personal experience of the worship service a powerful and transformative.

I thought the worship service was transformative for our congregation.

But it had been building. Our congregation had been inviting, welcoming, teaching, offering care, celebrating, having fun, and experiencing all of that being returned. Years of love and struggle found their culmination in that moment.

The work continues. And I am so inspired to continue that work in a congregation where God’s Spirit is being made manifest in transformative ways.

Ronda Collier 6/1/22 Ronda Collier 6/1/22

Weaving Together Our Beloved Community

I am honored and grateful that you have called me to be your settled pastor at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ. I look forward to our time together serving St. Joseph, southwest Michigan, and God’s good earth.

My hope is that we will do all that with fun and celebration. We can often forget that God intends joy for us. Jesus enjoyed life to the point where one of the accusations made against him was that he was a glutton and a drunkard. I’m not sure that rates with me stealing cookies from the church freezer but Jesus clearly did celebrate community life well.

One of my favorite artist renderings of Jesus is one I remember seeing for the first time several years ago. His head is tilted back in uproarious laughter—like he just heard Mary of Magdala tell a great joke or he watched one of the disciples slip and fall for the fourth time. Better yet, maybe Jesus is laughing at himself as he fails miserably at trying to press olives.

With so many mainline churches losing money and members, we can get caught in a negative narrative that makes us feel like we are failing. I don’t believe that. If we do believe that, life in the church can seem pretty dour and disappointing.

Instead, I hope we can make a concerted effort to remember the joy God intends for us—no matter how small we are. Coming out of pandemic (it will happen, won’t it), I want to be intentional about becoming closer to one another and making regular fun and celebration a big part of who we are. To the point where other people in St. Joseph might say, “That church on Glenlord and Washington sure has a lot of fun!”

Ronda Collier 5/1/22 Ronda Collier 5/1/22

A congregation that continues to serve its community and love its neighbors

“This time together has been a unique one for discerning how to live out our faith”

I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy being pastor at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ. Church Council is now tasked to determine whether our relationship will continue. Whatever their decision, I am grateful for this opportunity to serve you all, for the love and care you shared with me, and for the ways you all integrated my ministry with yours.

I have especially enjoyed the gentle ribbing I get from Carol about my freezer cookie-raiding, from Bob and my questionable miracles with prayer, and the many ways you all reminded me not to take myself too seriously. I loved working together to weave together the Beloved Community.

This time together has been a unique one for discerning how to live out our faith. Figuring out how to do communion, baptism, and regular Sunday worship can be a challenge in this pandemic era but also a joy as we figure out how to do the work together.

These past six months I loved seeing the young girls in our church sharing their wisdom during Children’s Sermons and providing leadership in reading from their new Family Story Bibles and during our lectio divina.

We embraced taking ancient practices and making them new again. Lectio divina, examen, Julian of Norwich’s Body Prayer, Encircling Prayer, the Imposition of Ashes, and Breath Prayers were all spiritual forms we practiced through this time.

Ronda Collier and Nicole Gibby humbled me with the great presentation they made on their study with other churches around the book, Me and White Supremacy. They helped us begin the hard work of developing a resource center for antiracism work. In February, Black History Month, we registered significant dates in U.S. history and adapted courageous poetry for responsive readings.

This last Thursday I completed Bible 101 with the hardy souls who were willing to stick with me, ask questions, and understand the Bible in a way that was counter to many of the ways we were taught the Bible. My hope is that this faith formation experience made the Bible more approachable and whets their appetite for further curiosity and study.

Finally, I am proud to serve a congregation that continues to serve its community and love its neighbors. From supplying essentials to migrant farm workers to CROP Walk to boxing food essentials for the indigent to a discretionary fund to provide emergency help for people in distress to supplying water dispensers for Benton Harbor residents, Pilgrim Congregational UCC continues to share God’s love in prolific ways. Even now, to taking the lead in hosting an Afghan family reflects ancient Christian values of hospitality that we are making new.

Again, thanks to Pilgrim Congregational UCC for this opportunity to serve. Whatever Church Council decides, I pray that you will continue in your faithfulness.

Shalom,

Mike

✝

Ronda Collier 4/2/22 Ronda Collier 4/2/22

Turn Your Face to Jerusalem

As we walk the hard road of Lent, our faith tradition tells us that a time soon coming will lead to our necessary public statement of faith amidst conflict and upheaval. The rigors of Lent prepare us for what is to come. Jesus turns his faith to Jerusalem, the holy city, where so many of the prophets have been killed in the name of political expediency and religious conviction. Holy Week awaits.

As I have shared, a baptism tradition in the ancient Christian Church was to have the candidates for baptism prepare through rigorous spiritual practice and devotion during Lent. Prayer, politically, was about giving our heart to the things devoted to by the Heart of God. Fasting, politically, was about detaching the will from the direction of a Domination System caught up in war, slavery, and violence. Almsgiving, politically, was about recognizing that the wider system was not as how God intended it and a necessary connection we have to the poor.

Baptism was a difficult decision. It was a definitive cut from the values and things espoused by the wider world. Who wants to be that radical? That devoted? Lent was about proving our mettle for the wilderness that would certainly follow after the baptism.

This year our Holy Week corresponds with the sacred seasons of so many other historic faiths. Passover is around the same time. Ramadan begins. A holy convergence is taking place. A reminder of the holiness of the whole earth is being placed before us. Holi. Vaisakhi. Ramadan. Passover. Holy Week and Easter. Vesak. Naw Ruz. Ridvan.

These religious holidays - which take place between March 17th and May 6th - attract billions of people. The Equinox, Earth Day, and World Water Day, which also occur during this time, engage even more people.

Green Faith (www.greenfaith.org) is referencing this as a sacred season for climate justice. My plan is to participate in one of the street seders corresponding with Passover. This action will spill out into prayer and fasting around a large financial institution to see transformation occur so that the fossil fuel industry, crumbling as it is, no longer receives the large welfare checks from these financial institutions and governments. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that the fossil fuel industry receives welfare checks from these large banks and governments to the tune of $11 million dollars a minute! And the IMF has long been considered a very conservative institution.

What will we do in these sacred seasons? How will we be people of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving? How do we devote ourselves to those values which go straight to the Heart of God? How do we show our freedom and balance to fast from that which destroys and makes war? How do we show our connection to those who have been spit out by the system?

Holy Week beckons to us this year. It calls, as it always has, to those who are willing to turn their face to Jerusalem and show the mettle of their faith. May all of us remember our baptism in preparation.

Blessings,

Mike

Ronda Collier 4/2/22 Ronda Collier 4/2/22

Congratulations Don Kretchman!

At the Annual Royalton Township Appreciation Dinner in February,

Don Kretchman was honored for his fifty years of service with the Royalton Township Fire Department. A husband, father, grandfather, Chairman at his church, and fiercely loyal friend, Don is incredibly deserving of this recognition and celebration.

“Everyone who meets our dad, Don, feels like they are the most important person in the room. He has the ability to captivate your heart with his quiet, loving energy, and has spent his entire life giving that energy, his time, and his heart to our community.” Trish Gardini, daughter of Don Kretchman, describes her father with love, reverence, and devotion, as she lists his accomplishments and shares a little of his personal history.

Don joined the fire department on September 7, 1971, and held the title of Assistant Chief for many years. Chief Jonatzke at the Royalton Township Fire Department says, “I have worked with Don for 35 years on the fire department, and he still continues to be a mentor to me. He has mentored all of our firefighters, making this the best fire department around. He is the highest quality of firefighter a chief or township could possibly ask for. It is a monumental achievement to spend the last fifty years leaving important family events, day or night, to come to the aid of others.”

Don Kretchman has lived in Royalton Township his entire life. From birth, marrying the love of his life, starting a business, and raising three children, Don is a community servant and pillar of strength and leadership. He and his wife, Terry (Zinkil), owned and operated the Wash Station Car Wash across from Lakeshore High School for many years, and have been longtime supporters of Lakeshore Athletics. All three children attended Lakeshore Schools, and he never missed a concert, game, or event.

This community is overflowing with feel-good stories and praise for Don. “Don would give anyone the shirt off of his back, and though his 6’4” stature is protective and commanding, he has the ability to put anyone at ease,” Trish says. Countless community members reminisce about Don offering comfort during a crisis, holding their hands during the chaos of an extraction after a car accident.

Physically and emotionally demanding, being a firefighter is not an easy task. Combining the desire to help others, dedication to the community, and the time and energy sacrificed for the safety of others, the duty of a firefighter deserves honor and praise. Don has given over 10,000 hours of firefighting, with many more to come. Congratulations to Don on his 50 Years of Service!

By Jocelyne Tuszynski, MOTM contributor

There are angels among us!

Thank you, Don, for your selfless giving.

Ronda Collier 1/9/22 Ronda Collier 1/9/22

The Sabbath - A Cathedral in Time

“Sabbath is what we are to sew into our every day, every week, every year for ourselves, for our neighbors, for the water, and for the land. “

In an achieving culture, many of us reflect on what we are going to “do” this year in New Year’s resolutions. Especially in this age of pandemic, being asked to “do” one more thing can feel overwhelming. We live in a culture which equates our worth with our work.

All of creation was lovingly fashioned by God as a reflection, mirror, or image of God. We are the beloved Children of God woven together as the Beloved Community. Whoa! Wait! Put that down. Stop. Deep breath. That’s who you are without ever asking you to “do” anything. Take that in. You are a Beloved Child of God - created that way.

More than any other part of the creation, Sabbath is the centerpiece. Sabbath is referenced as a cathedral in time. Its intent is to be liberative and remind you of the foundational truth of your being. The Children of Israel, held in slavery for centuries, were taught that “work” was the meaning of their lives. Sabbath is the antidote.

Sabbath includes practices and rhythms of rest, play, fun, and celebration. God does not intend Sabbath as a “tack-on.” Like, if you get all your chores done, go out and play in the yard. No. Sabbath is what we are to sew into our every day, every week, every year for ourselves, for our neighbors, for the water, and for the land. Jesus proclaims this when he gets up in front of the synagogue in the gospel of Luke and declares his mission statement with “the year of the Living God’s favor” (the Year of Jubilee). The Year of Jubilee was a re-set of the whole system of life within Judaism and it came out of Sabbath tradition and story.

So, in New Year’s resolution, what are we going to sew into our every day, every week, every year for ourselves to know God’s intent for us? What practices or rhythms of rest, play, joy, and celebration will not “tack-on” but make central? Maybe that means a letting go or fasting of something that is just too much. Maybe it is recognizing that a weekly “bubble bath” is just what the doctor ordered. Or a forest bath will remind you of the wonders God intends for you. Who knew that your weekly card game was part of God’s plan for you?

Resolve to live in God’s cathedral of time. Resolve, plan for, sew into the regular God’s Sabbath. For you are a Beloved Child of God. Then radiate out.

Blessings,

Mike

Ronda Collier 12/5/21 Ronda Collier 12/5/21

Just Breathe

“Advent comes and the cultural Christmas is going to try and tell us that we measure up by knocking ourselves out. I hope you are able to hear the voice of God in the background saying, “Slow. Sometimes stop. Just breathe.”

One of the most beautiful songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical, In the Heights, is a song sung by the favored daughter (her name is Nina) of the community who has returned home after a semester at Stanford University. The song reflects the angst and anxiety Nina feels as she returns home thinking that she has failed everyone by not hacking it at Stanford.

I love the song because, in the background, members of the community are singing in Spanish words of love and encouragement—telling her to just “resipira” (breathe). Meanwhile, Nina has this inner dialogue where she thought she was the one who was different, the over-achiever who made it out of the neighborhood. The community clearly loves Nina. Nina interprets that love as a need for her to perform and do better. The one thing that does come through, repeated to her over and over, is “breathe.” Just breathe, Nina.

I think that is a powerful narrative for our day. In the midst of pandemic, we can still hear those narratives which tell us we’re supposed to be better, supposed to be doing more work, supposed to be being more.

I think it is God’s fondest desire that we might hear over and over, “Just breathe.” In all of your glory and wonder as a very small part of creation, “Just breathe.”

Advent comes and the cultural Christmas is going to try and tell us that we measure up by knocking ourselves out. I hope you are able to hear the voice of God in the background saying, “Slow. Sometimes stop. Just breathe.”

We are all daughters and sons, siblings and cousins, who need to be able to sing the song of the community reminding others that “hacking” it is not what life is about. Just breathe. Don’t get caught up in those inner dialogues of worth. There is work to be done, and we need everyone. If we are caught up in narratives of guild or falling short, we feel to hear the voice of God singing along with the community, “Just breathe. Breathe. And take my hand for the work we can do together.”

Shalom,

Mike

Ronda Collier 12/5/21 Ronda Collier 12/5/21

Our Beloved Community (Copy)

“What might it mean to know, deep within you, that there are whole peoples who are treated as lesser?”

Every Sunday I hope you hear from me that you are a Beloved Child of God. I thought it was always disempowering and not true to the deeper tradition to name us as “sinners” who were in need of forgiveness. While repentance is an important spiritual practice, I don’t think that’s where we begin. That’s why I have always bent away from the Reformed Tradition practice of Prayer of Repentance, followed by an Assurance of Pardon, and then we sing the Gloria Patri as a way of praising God for pardoning worms like us. I think we begin with the idea that we are made in the image of God, the imago dei. That is found in Genesis 2:27 and in Wisdom Literature in the Apocrypha, Wisdom 2:23 (For God created humankind to be immortal, and made humankind to be an image of God’s own eternity. The righteous, because they are made in the image of God, can rest in the full hope of eternal life.) You can hear in that powerful Scripture from Wisdom a question about what endures or what is of value. Is it wealth, power, or fame? Or is it righteousness, jus<ce, and equity? My prayer is that we all begin worship, from age 2 to 92, with that understanding firmly planted in our consciousness. We are made as Beloved Children of God, as part of God’s Beloved Community, to do justice, righteousness, and equity. The prophecy tradition in the Bible switches out “equity” with “steadfast love.” Creation stories define us. They tell us who we are at our core. They also tell us who everybody else is. That is why I have made going to Benton Harbor at 3:00 p.m. a spiritual practice I hope I can keep. I may miss November 14th to celebrate the installation of Rev. Nevenzel in Baroda but I plan to be there as long as they need me. I want to affirm that the people of Benton Harbor are Beloved Children of God. The amazing thing about such efforts is that God is already there seeking to restore the preciousness of Benton Harbor. What I did was small this past week. But, hopefully, I can be faithful. Hopefully. I am also thinking about that as Thanksgiving approaches. I was reminded time after time by my Native sisters and brothers, sisters and cousins, that Thanksgiving may be a time together with family, but most often it was a remembrance of trauma for Native people. Our faithful daughter, in remembering that Native people are also Beloved Children of God, had us drive to Standing Rock one Thanksgiving. We became Water Protectors. It was wet. It was cold. It was glorious.

What does it mean to peacefully pray in a wide circle, with barricades in front of you and surveillance drones circling overhead? How easily I was affirmed as belonging to a wider community of Elders and Saints that day! How easily I was affirmed as belonging as a Beloved Child of Creator as I gripped the hand of my daughter on one side and a stranger on the other to pray together. We should also listen to the creation stories of other peoples to critique and learn both the power of our own story and its limits. The Potawatomi creation story has the land and food brought forth for humankind only by animals (namely, a muskrat) diving into the water to provide soil and roots. Thus, humankind flourishes as a result of animal sisters and brothers, siblings and cousins who are a part of our Beloved Community.

What might it mean to know, every day, that you are a Beloved Child of God? What might it mean to know, deep within you, that there are whole peoples who are treated as lesser? What might it mean to know, as we consider the limits of our own creation story, that the Beloved Community is far larger than we ever imagined?

Ronda Collier 12/5/21 Ronda Collier 12/5/21

Autumn Remembrance

With the changing of the seasons, also comes a sense of melancholy. Earth in this hemisphere slows. Certain animals turn to hibernate. Much of green life turns to amber, bittersweet, and scarlet. We are reminded that all things perish and that we, ourselves, are mortal. The harvest begins and ends - preparing for the cold of winter.

We are to remember by giving thanks not only for the blessings the good earth yields by God's kind and gentle hands but also gather around us the memories and community of saints that will enfold and protect us. In worship we will be studying the enigmatic story of Job and how Job's friends left him to affirm what they believed to be God and God's morality.

The first Sunday of November we will celebrate All Saints Sunday by remembering those we have lost in this earthly life over the last two years but remain with us as a circle to propel and protect us. As a new pastor to this church, if there is someone you would like to remember who was closely tied to this church, please communicate the date of birth and date of death of the loved one so that I might use it on Sunday, November 7th. If you have an electronicphoto you would like to share, please pass that along as well.

Ronda Collier 9/2/21 Ronda Collier 9/2/21

Resiliency

One of the topics I regularly tune into around organizational theory is resiliency. Resiliency is about not only bouncing back but also about hardiness, sustainability, and the ability to grow and develop under trying circumstances. In the conflict resolution work that I do, I often have to remind churches that conflict is normal and natural and a sign of normal growth and development.

One organizational theorist I regularly read says that healthy organizations are diverse on their outer edges, allowing for people to plug in at different places. Healthy organizations are also uniform and cogent at their core. People know what the deep values are of the organization, can repeat those values, and there is a certain logic surrounding those values and how they are acted upon.

Almost all churches I work with want to grow numerically. But leaders often put a ceiling on that growth by insisting that all that goes on at the church is known and controlled by them. They bristle fearing that the intimacy they have at the church will be disrupted by work or a ministry or an offering is not something they can control. Anxiety and fear build until the energy is expelled and the crisis averted.

In mid-September I will be working with a church that was ready to take off and excited about the new ministries and direction. That is, until all of that energy and excitement meant that the church was really going to change. So my job will be to go in and help them to observe themselves, hold up a mirror to ask them what their true values are and where they really want to go.

We have a number of offerings, changes, and possibilities coming this fall. I want to make sure that nobody believes they have to attend to all of them or be a part of every single thing for the church to be healthy. When a church can know that they are doing God’s work over here, with my participation, and God’s work is also being done over there, without my participation, the congregation has a chance to flourish.

As you look over the many offerings for this fall, I hope you will revel at all the different possibilities found at our church without the anxiety and fear that something might be amiss. I do object meditation on the regular to manage my own fear and anxiety that the world is going to heck in a handbasket unless I do this or this or this. On the contrary, Sabbath teaches that when I rest and release, give up my need for control, God is often spotted working outside of me. And my faith returns.

Worship

On the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, between Sturgeon Moon and Corn Moon (Sunday, September 5th), we will celebrate worship in the narthex. In keeping with the recent history of our church, this will be a more informal service. The sermon will come from you! That’s right, I said it.

I want us to think about the proverbs, stories, or parables that have held meaning for our lives. Deep wisdom can often be found by holding two opposing things together. So we may have found that one proverb holds wisdom for us in a given moment in time. I will share mine. I’ll look forward to having you share yours. In that way, we will teach other and continue to weave together a cord that cannot be quickly broken.

Guest User 7/31/21 Guest User 7/31/21

Weaving Together Our Beloved Community

Make it stand out

“On the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, between Sturgeon Moon and Corn Moon (Sunday, September 5th), we will celebrate worship in the narthex. In keeping with the recent history of our church, this will be a more informal service. **The sermon will come from you! That’s right, I said it.”**

You can imagine, as a baseball fan, how I believe some of the greatest wisdom can be found on the baseball diamond. Yogi Berra was famous for proverbs that, at first, seemed nonsensical, but with a deeper look actually had a deeper wisdom. Proverbs like “It ain’t over until it's over” can be about our own agency in giving up or pushing forward. “Never answer an anonymous letter” can be about not giving your time or energy who people who refuse to be accountable. Ok, some were nonsensical. But a good proverb is usually about seeing something on second glance. Simplicity unfolds into something broader and longer.

At the end of the summer and on into autumn, the Revised Common Lectionary turns to stories of Wisdom Literature and Responses to Ethnocentrism in its Hebrew Scripture readings. Wisdom Literature is the oldest text we have in our Bibles - filled with proverbs and parables, maxims, and the natural order of the universe. Wisdom Literature values “a fear of the Lord.” Too often that has been coupled with a God of hellfire and judgment. But “fear of the Lord” had much more to do with offering a counter and challenge to rulers, wealthy, and the powerful who believed themselves unaccountable and unanswerable to anything outside themselves. Jesus regularly used consciousness-raising wisdom and parable to help people form community and understand the world they lived in.

Two of my favorite Scripture passages are from the Wisdom Literature tradition. One is a parable from Hebrew Scripture and the other is a consciousness-raising saying from Jesus in the New Testament. I will share mine. I’ll look forward to having you share yours. In that way, we will teach other and continue to weave together a cord that cannot be quickly broken.

Examples of Wisdom Literature in Scripture:

Hebrew Scripture books like: Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Esther, Job, Jonah

Ecclesiastes 3: “For everything there is a season. A time for every activity under heaven.”

Proverbs 8:11: “For wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you desire may not compare with her.”

Gospel of Thomas 42: “Be a passerby.”

Luke 4:24: “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.”

Questions from Rev. Mishra-Marzetti

What are we bringing our attention and love to? Allowing in that circle of care? What has the pandemic revealed to us?
What does inclusivity look like here?
Who is not a part of our community but living nearby?
Why are some people a part of other communities and not our community?
How can we expand who we are today to live more deeply into open-heartedness, and love and care?
How can we build sustained, ongoing relationships across difference?
How do we begin with other like-minded communities or

groups or people that are committed to the same kinds

of transformation and growth and embodiment of spiritual

goodness, good-heartedness that we ourselves are?

How do we honor the multiplicity of experience without trying to change the other person?
How do we honor ourselves across difference stepping into true authenticity, integrity, and inclusiveness?

The Socratic Board

The first question on the Socratic Board will always be a question of imagination beginning with “I wonder. . . . “ The second question will always be about your experience. What great wisdom does your life teach you? The final question will be our “shazam” question. It asks what action is necessary going forward.

Faith and Democracy

In following the Revised Common Lectionary, we have been reading Scriptures from I and 2 Samuel which share the juxtaposition of God’s values and the reach of authoritarian power. Scripture has democratic values and the command for those in power to be judged by how they treat the most vulnerable.

Wonder: I wonder what local faith communities should do to support democracy?

Experience: What has been your greatest corporate experience of democracy?

Shazam/Action: My faith calls me to support democracy and oppose authoritarianism. What will I do to regularly support democracy and oppose authoritarianism throughout this year?

Wisdom and Responses to Ethnocentrism

Wonder: I wonder what proverb, maxim, aphorism, or parable would change the world if it were read and its message followed?

Experience: What consciousness-raising wisdom or parable have you used to grow or get through a tough time?

Shazam/Action: How do we use the wisdom of our faith tradition to unseat the ethnocentrism/racism in our day?

The 33rd General Synod of the United Church of Christ

Worship Services

The worship services for the 33rd General Synod of the United Church of Christ are available online! I found them to be meaningful and powerful with an incredible diversity of liturgy and music. I especially loved the music in the Opening Worship and the powerful preaching of Rev. Michelle Higgins in the Mid-Week Worship.

You can find them here:

Opening Worship: https://www.generalsynod.org/worship-services-july-11/

Mid-Week Worship: https://www.generalsynod.org/worship-services-july-14/

Closing Worship: https://www.generalsynod.org/worship-services-july-18/

*****

Climate Change and Migration:

What it means for southwest Michigan, northwest Indiana,

and crafting a faithful response

Wednesday, September 15, 2021,

Pilgrim Congregational UCC, St. Joseph

6:30-7:30 p.m. Presentation;

7:30-8:30 p.m. Legislative Training

The Interfaith Action Southwest Michigan Peace & Justice and Collaborative and the Mennonite Central Committee present “Climate Change and Migration: What it means for southwest Michigan and northwest Indiana and crafting a faithful response.” As climate disruption continues to intensify, climate migrants and refugees will become more commonplace seeking refuge from rising temperatures, drought, famine, fire, and natural disaster. The Great Lakes area could very well become an anticipated geographical refuge with its proximity to water and temperate climate.

How are people of faith called to respond to the resulting climate refugees? How do we seek justice and live out our faith stories with political movements charged with xenophobia and hatred?

Participants registering for the event will have the opportunity to meet virtually with the offices of their members of Congress to advocate on behalf of positive climate and migration policy. Training for these optional lobby visits will immediately follow the event. Please fill out the online form found here https://rb.gy/yivqxr to register.

Presenters: (see https://rb.gy/lhme3s for more complete descriptions)

Kayly Ober is the Senior Advocate and Program Manager for the Climate Displacement Program at Refugees International. She also currently serves as a steering group member of the Climate, Migration, and Displacement Platform; a global network of practitioners and advocates with a common concern for climate justice and the human rights of migrants and displaced people.

Keith Schneider is a New York Times writer, and senior editor and chief correspondent for Circle of Blue, the Traverse City-based network of journalists and scientists reporting on global trends affecting water, energy, and food.

Katerina Parsons Katerina (Kate) Parsons is a legislative associate for international affairs with Mennonite Central Committee. After living and working in Tegucigalpa, Honduras for four years, Kate is now based in Washington D.C., where she advocates on U.S. foreign policy including the root causes of migration from Central America and U.S. foreign assistance addressing climate change.

Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ is at the corner of Glenlord Road and Washington (1200 W. Glenlord Road) in St. Joseph, Michigan. Details for remote Zoom availability will be offered closer to the event.

Weaving Together the Beloved Community

Change is Hard …

But, change can be beautiful

General Synod: The national meeting of our church is in Indianapolis this year! Y’all come!

Lessons from Costa Rica: Watch Out for the Howler Monkeys!

What are the questions?

Advent begins: a new dawn

Gratitude, Potlucks & Reflection

Fall Brings Excitement and Action!

“Wow! Power-packed!”

Learn From Ancient History

Weaving Together the Beloved Community

Happy Pride Month

“… something magical happened.”

Weaving Together Our Beloved Community

“… Remember the joy God intends for us”

A congregation that continues to serve its community and love its neighbors

“This time together has been a unique one for discerning how to live out our faith”

Turn Your Face to Jerusalem

Congratulations Don Kretchman!

The Sabbath - A Cathedral in Time

Just Breathe

Our Beloved Community (Copy)

Autumn Remembrance

Resiliency

Weaving Together Our Beloved Community