November 18-24, 2020
A blessing in disguise during this pandemic is the expanded opportunities for learning and connecting from the comfort of home or office! For example, today I am planning to get together with local women clergy for lunch, have a planning meeting with Julie Goering for our I Am Not Your Enemy study group, and meet […]
Read postNovember 11-17, 2020
“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.” –Meister Eckhart “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1 I have a Facebook friend who writes a daily gratitude post, every day of the year(s). Pretty amazing, and a welcome voice of […]
Read postNovember 4-10, 2020
Circle us, O God. Keep hope within and despair without. Circle those we love, O God. Keep comfort within and discouragement without. Circle all who are vulnerable and afraid, O God. Keep peace within and turmoil without. Circle all poll workers, O God. Keep energy within and threat without. Circle all politicians, O God. Keep […]
Read postOctober 28 – November 3, 2020
Jesus was on a roll that day with seeds, culminating in a parable about the (drum roll…) … smallest of all seeds … the mustard seed! (Mark 4) I wonder if any of the disciples had to keep themselves from rolling their eyes in frustration. Really? A mustard seed? The smallest of all the seeds […]
Read postOctober 21-27, 2020
You are my God. I worship you. In my heart, I long for you, as I would long for a streamin a scorching desert. (Psalm 62:1 CEV) The youngest in our congregation are memorizing this verse in their online Zoom Sunday School this fall, and since I join in with Joanna each week it’s been […]
Read postOctober 14-20, 2020
How are you experiencing all the changes we’ve experienced since March? What kind of spiritual community do you need now, in October? Thirty one weeks. For a gestating mother, this means her baby is now about the size of a bunch of asparagus, weighing a little over 3 pounds. For a waiting congregation (community, country, […]
Read postOctober 7-13, 2020
Just a quick update on two things that I have been working on. I have been trying to figure out how to be a Minister of Outreach during this time. How do I hang out and listen to people, when everyone is very hesitant to interact? How do you dream together about what to create […]
Read postTHIS WEEK @ FMC
September 30-October 6, 2020 Reading through the Gospels in the next 40 days. This was one of my suggestions this past Sunday morning for keeping ‘Jesus at the center of our faith’ during these days leading up to and just past the election. To encourage and support you in this reading, I’m offering two suggestions: […]
Read postSeptember 23-29, 2020
September 23-29, 2020 There is a tradition in Christianity of choosing short ‘prayers of the heart’ to pray through the day. It was an attempt to take seriously Paul’s admonition to ‘pray unceasingly.’ I’ve been reading about these prayers of the heart recently in Gerald May’s book The Awakened Heart. Early on, these prayers […]
Read postSeptember 16-22, 2020
Reflection from Pastor Tonya on the Western District Conference Assembly in July 2020: For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them. Mt. 18:20 This morning in my praying, as I tried to honestly hold before God both the weight and gratitude I am feeling, these words of astounding […]
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