by Donna Sinclair It’s one of the Lenten readings this year, from Paul’s letter to the Romans. “But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” As we chose our assignments for a much-loved congregational tradition — a collection of reflections by members […]

Each week, we bring you interesting stories from around the web. Here’s what caught our eye this week! ENVIRONMENT Revenge of the goldfish! Dumped pets growing into giant monsters Who doesn’t love the idea of releasing the poor goldfish, who has spent his life swimming around in bowl-shaped circles, into the great wet wild? The […]

By Dwight Lee Wolter Originally posted on patheos.com “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence ~ adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I speak what I […]

By Dwight Lee Wolter             From original article posted at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithforward/2016/06/choosing-forgiveness/ When I was a child, my father asked me to help him move a table. On that table sat a vase that my father’s mother had given him many years ago. It meant a lot to him, so he […]

By Dwight Lee Wolter I tried to have lunch with a friend from church and he said, “I have an opening ~ not this Tuesday, but the one following that ~ and it will have to be a late lunch, say, around 2:30 and, sorry in advance, but it will have to be quick because […]

By Maggie Reigh  “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder … he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.” ~Rachel Carson Will you be that adult for the children in your […]

By Mark Whittall This post was originally featured on http://www.markwhittall.com. Homily:  Mar 06 2016; Lent 4, Yr C, St. Al’s@5 Readings:  2 Cor 5:16-21; Lk 15:1-3, 11b-32 I want you to imagine the crowd that gathers around Jesus in the gospel reading we just heard.  Luke tells us that there were two distinct groups of […]

by Bruce Sanguin This posting originally appeared on Bruce Sanguin’s blog Brucesanguin.com. Visit his blog for more postings, webinars, and podcasts on Evolutionary Christianity. The Kingdom of G_d was Jesus’ core message. In progressive Christian circles it is widely interpreted,thanks to modern scholarship and the brilliance of John Dominic Crossan as a subversive political metaphor. […]

By Mark Whittall This post was originally featured on http://www.markwhittall.com. Homily: Yr C Lent 2, Feb 21 2016, St. Albans Readings:  Gen 15:1-12,17-18;Ps 27; Phil 3:17-4:1; Lk 13:31-35 Rock, Rope and Faith.  What are you afraid of?  We all have fears, don’t we?  Fears that wrench at our gut, fears that make us avoid certain […]

 by Susan McCaslin “What is this Joy? That no animal falters, but knows what it must do?” from Come into animal presence, Denise Levertov (Poems: 1960-1967) On Dec. 27, 2015 our five-year old mini-Australian shepherd Penny was brutally and instantly killed by a truck before my husband’s and my eyes. The incident was an accident, […]