Posts from September 2015
Toward Sunday
This week we move into a new worship series… “Christian? It’s complicated.” The cultural connotations of being Christian can make it a struggle to claim our faith in public. Some of us become secretive about our church and faith. This five-week worship series will invite reflection on the complexities of claiming Christian faith in our day. rooted in Grace. It’s complicated. Mark 1:9-11 growing in faith. It’s complicated. Mark 10:17-31 reaching in love. It’s complicated. Mark 10:35-45 Baptism. Mark 10:46-52/Galatians 3:27-29…
Toward Sunday
We are excited to continue our celebration of The Table Turns 5! We hope folks are reaching in love with the gift of $5 that they received in worship yesterday. This week we turn our attention to mapping the future of our church. Outline for Our Vintage Church ▪September 13: Looking Back (Mark 8.27-38) ▪September 20: Celebrating 5 years of worship & Kitchen Tables (Mark 9.30-37) ▪September 27: Mapping our Future (Mark 9:38-50) Take time to reflect on worship last week…
Toward Sunday
We’re excited to celebrate The Table Turns 5 this Sunday! Yesterday Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto helped us to reflect on our vintage church’s past. This Sunday we’ll celebrate 5 years of life together as The Table at Central UMC. We have something very special planned for this Sunday. You won’t want to miss! Outline for Our Vintage Church ▪September 13: Looking Back (Mark 8.27-38) ▪September 20: Celebrating 5 years of worship & Kitchen Tables (Mark 9.30-37) ▪September 27: Mapping…
Toward Sunday
This week we begin a new worship series called Our Vintage Church. We will spend 3 weeks hearing the story of our beginning, celebrating 5 years of worship and Kitchen Tables and hearing a vision for our future. Outline for Our Vintage Church ▪September 13: Looking Back (Mark 8.27-38) ▪September 20: Celebrating 5 years of worship & Kitchen Tables (Mark 9.30-37) ▪September 27: Mapping our Future (Mark 9:38-50) Karen Oliveto, pastor of Glide UMC in San Francisco will preach this Sunday.…
How might we practice an Earth-honoring faith today?
Fr. John Chryssavgis defines asceticism as as an Earth-honoring way of faith which calls us to… travel light—we can always manage with less than we imagine; let go—we are to learn to relinquish our desire to control; open up—we are called to create bonds, to reunite, to reconcile; soften up—how can we make our communities less savage, more inhabitable? tread light—we must not hurt, we must stop wounding our environment; live simply—not complicating our relationship with each other and with our…
On Care For Our Common Home
Pope Francis released an encyclical earlier this summer calling for the care of Earth. Here is a link to the letter by Pope Francis entitled Laudato Si: On Care For Our Common Home. The title comes from the Canticle of the Sun by Saint Francis of Assisi. As we continue our worship series on Earth-Honoring Faith, we encourage you to take some time to read this important document.
The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
The Summer Day Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean- the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down- who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. Now she snaps…