December 1

North East Disciples Advent Devotional

Back in the days of the dot matrix printer, Aunt Nancy organized the collecting of Christmas stories and recipes from those who gathered at 341 Greenwood Street, in the little home of Grandma Fern and Granddaddy James Lamport. Growing up, I got to visit 341 Greenwood several times a year. Gathering there on Christmas day, and staying for at least two nights was an unbreakable Christmas tradition. Missing that occasion would have been as sure a sign of the apocalypse as anything from last Sunday's Luke 21 reading. It has now been 25 years or more since I last spent a Christmas Night there. The cousins are scattered all over the country each with kids and new traditions of their own, just like Cheryl and me. What a treasure that little book of stories and recipes is.

This year, several folks from North East Georgia, with a connection to First Christian Church of Winder and Union Christan Church in Watkinsville, have contributed to this Advent Devotional. May the devotions and the names you find in here, both the familiar and the new be a blessing on your journey to Bethlehem with the Holy Family.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

Click here for a copy of the Advent Devotional.

November 17

Tree by Jane Hirshfield, for Christ the King Sunday

This Sunday, which brings to a close the Christian Year, is Christ the King Sunday. Our scripture reading for Sunday, John 18:33-37, finds Pilate interrogating Jesus about claims that he is King of the Jews. Next Sunday begins the season of Advent, in which we prepare for the birth of Jesus. In this transition we find Crucifixion/Resurrection leading into Incarnation it is a holy moment of the year.

The Salt Project offered up this poem, Tree by Jane Hirshfield for this week. It is brief and vivid. I love woods and trees. One day I will see a redwood tree. I must. So, of course, I immediately fell in love with this poem. Then I remembered it was Christ the King Sunday, and the poem was transformed. May it be a blessing to you all.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

Tree

It is foolish
to let a young redwood

grow next to a house.
Even in this

one lifetime,
you will have to choose.

That great calm being,
this clutter of soup pots and books —

Already the first branch-tips brush at the window.
Softly, calmly, immensity taps at your life.

+ Jane Hirshfield

November 10

Telling Our Story

This quilt, the Bible Quilt, was made by Harriet Powers and exhibited at the Athens Cotton Fair in 1886, where it captured the imagination of Jennie Smith, a young internationally-trained local artist. Jennie later wrote: "I have spent my whole life in the South, and am perfectly familiar with thirty patterns of quilts, but I had never seen an original design, and never a living creature portrayed in patchwork."

Harriet Powers was born into slavery outside Athens, Georgia, in October 1837. Her quilts used a combination of hand stitching, machine stitching, and appliqué to form small detailed panels telling a larger story, like a graphic novel. This storytelling style of quilting has roots in West African coastal communities. Her quilts record legends and biblical tales of hope, perseverance, and divine justice. Her masterful Bible Quilt, created in 1886, now hangs in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Powers' work is now considered among the preeminent examples of Southern 19th-century quilting.

We give thanks for our sister Harriet, and her interpretation and retelling of Bible stories, current events, and folk tales through her many quilts. May we be open to the many ways God is always at work, doing a new thing among us and through us. Click on the Bible Quilt picture to find out more.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

November 3

Saint Brendan’s Prayer

Saint Brendan’s Prayer is a traditional Irish Celtic blessing prayer. Saint Brendan, known also as Brendan the Navigator is one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, tutored by the father of Irish Monasticism, Finnish of Clonard. Saint Brendan founded several monasteries himself, traveling around the Irish and British Isles, and also to Northern France (Brittany).

The Navigatio Sancti Brendani Abbatis (Voyage of Saint Brendan the Abbot) tells of his legendary multi-year Atlantic voyage in search of Paradise on Earth, the Garden of Eden. It is filled with encounters with demons, sea monsters, saints, angels and unknown sacred communities. Saint Brendan’s recorded birth and death are 484-577. The following prayer is attributed to him. May it bring blessing to you on your voyage through each day.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

Saint Brendan’s Prayer
God, bless to me this day, God bless to me this night;
Bless, O bless, thou God of grace, each day and hour of my life;
Bless, O bless, thou God of grace, each day and hour of my life.
God, bless the pathway on which I go; God, bless the earth beneath my sole;
Bless, O God, and give to me thy love, O God of gods, bless my rest and my repose;
Bless, O God, and give to me thy love, and bless, O God of gods, my repose.

October 27

Give Thanks

Praise the LORD!
Let my whole being praise the LORD!
I will praise the LORD with all my life;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
The person whose help is the God of Jacob—
the person whose hope rests on the LORD their God—
is truly happy!
God: the maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
God: who is faithful forever,
who gives justice to people who are oppressed,
who gives bread to people who are starving!
The LORD: who frees prisoners.
The LORD: who makes the blind see.
The LORD: who straightens up those who are bent low.
The LORD: who loves the righteous.
The LORD: who protects immigrants,
who helps orphans and widows,
but who makes the way of the wicked twist and turn!
The LORD will rule forever!
Zion, your God will rule from one generation to the next!
Praise the LORD!
Psalm 146:1-2, 5-10

Our Psalm for this Sunday is a classic Thanksgiving Psalm. I don’t know about you, but I am not always great about stopping and remembering to say “Thank you.” I appreciate the frequent reminders from the Psalms to live in gratitude, to give thanks each day for Lord has placed before us. It is also a helpful reminder to give thanks to those around us, not just for the things they do, but for who they are.
This month has been “Minister Appreciation Month.” A couple of weeks ago you showered me with an almost embarrassing amount of appreciation. For all of the cards and cakes, smiles and claps you shared, let me say, “Thank you.” I praise the Lord for Union Christian Church (DOC), and all congregations like you. Thanks be to God!

Peace be with you,
Pastor Alan

October 20

Practicing Faith - Building Benches

On Sunday afternoon, our youth built 6 benches for Camp Christian under the direction of Julian Beckwith. Thank you youth! Thank you Julian! Thank you church!

We may not keep it on the tip of our tongue, but “practice” is an important faith word. We “practice” our faith. We begin practicing our faith as early as we begin practicing life, before we have any words to describe either one.

Like so many things today, I worry sometimes that we twist up the “faith process” a bit. Sometimes I think we take a “light switch” view on things In other words, we approach “faith” like we are in a particular place, maybe like a switch with three settings.

• Setting 1)We don’t know "faith"

• Setting 2) We learn faith

• Setting 3) Now that we know faith, and we are ready to do faith

I think there is a much better way to understand the life of faith.

A better understanding is to remember that the life of faith is actually a life of gratitude, responding to the gifts we have received from God. Each day we “practice” responding to God with gratitude. We “practice” faith. We begin “practicing” being thankful, being gracious, before we understand thankfulness or gratitude. When someone gives you something, even a glass of water, you say “thank you.” When you see a parent, a grandparent, or someone who cares for you, you say “I love you.” We are taught to do so before we understand thanks or love. We continue to practice thanks, and love, and faith as we grow and mature and develop a deeper understanding of all three.

We don’t teach faith, master faith and then practice faith. We practice faith, and along the way we learn faith, and a few of us, a very few of us, become recognized as “masters” of faith, of gratitude, of love.

This Sunday, our youth embraced a special opportunity to “practice” faith, a life of gratitude to God, by building benches for Camp Christian. It was fun. We received the gift of materials and preparation from members of our church family. We learned about wood, a part of God’s creation, like juvenile wood and mature wood, early wood and late wood (they’re not the same thing), strong wood and stronger wood. Learning about God’s creation and our relationship to it is always a holy gift to be grateful for. We built something. We got to use power tools, and “sit” on the result of our efforts. We practiced our faith through learning, and doing, and celebrating. We practiced our gratitude to God. You helped us to do so. Thank you Union Christian Church, for helping us all practice the life of faith together.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

October 13

The Hidden Singer, by the Farmer-Poet

Wendell Berry was born the first of four children to John Marshall Berry, a lawyer and tobacco farmer, and Virginia Erdman Berry, in Henry County, KY in 1934. Both of his parent’s families had farmed in Henry County, just northeast of Louisville, for at least 5 generations. 

He completed a BA and then MA in English from the University of Kentucky in 1958. After studying and working in various places in the United States and Europe, he returned to Henry County, KY in 1965, where he has continued to farm, write, and sometimes teach at the University of Kentucky. 

Being about 100 miles from where my dad grew up, an area I got to visit frequently as a child, I can picture the foothills landscape in which the Berry farm is nestled. Wendell claims poet, farmer, writer, activist and academic as his vocation. 

I recently ran across this holy poem by him, that I thought I would share with you today. I hope you enjoy.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan
 
The Hidden Singer
The gods are less for their love of praise.
Above and below them all is a spirit that needs nothing 
but its own wholeness, its health and ours.
It has made all things by dividing itself.
It will be whole again.
To its joy we come together –
the seer and the seen, 
the eater and the eaten,
the lover and the loved.
In our joining it knows itself. It is with us then,
not as the gods whose names crest in unearthly fire,
but as a little bird hidden in the leaves
who sings quietly and waits, and sings.
+ Wendell Berry

October 6

Walking by the Light of Saints

On October 6, 1683, the first Mennonites arrived in what would become the United States. Francis Daniel Pastorius, a German lawyer and teacher, founded Germantown in Pennsylvania. After eating with a group of Native Americans, Pastorius wrote that they “have never in their lives heard the teaching of Jesus concerning temperance and contentment, yet they far excel the Christians in carrying it out.” In 1688, he wrote to slave-holding Quakers in Germantown, urging them to free the people they were enslaving — the first formal abolitionist protest by European immigrants in the American colonies.

Like to conservative Mennonite families who were a part of my life growing up, Francis reminds me that as followers of Christ, we are called to see and celebrate each person around us as a child of God, even when, maybe especially when, they seem foreign or strange to us in every way. My conservative Mennonite neighbors seemed very strange at first glance.

Let us pray throughout this week with hands, voices and heart:
Open my eyes, God of all people, to my neighbor who needs my support, not judgment in this moment. Open my mouth, Holy God, to speak up for them and with them today. Open my heart, loving God, that my speech and actions may be healing to all, and destructive of none.

Pastor Alan

September 29

World Communion Sunday

This Sunday, October 3, is World Communion Sunday. On the first Sunday in October, congregations from scores of Christian denominations and traditions all over the world celebrate communion, remembering our interconnectedness with one another through Jesus the Christ. We remember as well, the unique contributions we bring to Christ's table through our variety of traditions, cultures and experiences. Our worldwide Christian family is larger than we can begin to imagine.

In the words of Desmond Tutu, “God’s dream is that you and I and all of us will realize that we are family, that we are made for togetherness, for goodness, for compassion.”

May we be filled with joy, people of God, to know that we will all be at the table together this Sunday.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

September 22

Happy Birthday! Happy Homecoming!

September 28 is the feast day for Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, born in the year 907, and best known from the Christmas carol that bears his name, “Good King Wenceslaus.” He was said to have a kind, generous nature, and those virtues are memorialized in the carol: the good king wanders out into a bitterly cold winter night, bringing gifts of food and warmth to a poor peasant, pressing into the snow footprints that radiate his warmth — so that other good souls may follow.

I sometimes wonder if we underestimate the power of simple compassion and generosity. There is, perhaps, no better practice to train our own eyes to see those things that are seen by God’s eyes. There is, perhaps, no better way to work toward becoming a people reflecting, even embodying the God of Infinite Love, Healing Grace, and Radical Hospitality. You are a generous congregation, Union Christian Church (DOC). May we celebrate that among so many other things this Sunday. Happy Homecoming!

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

September 15

Living

The fire in leaf and grass
so green it seems
each summer the last summer.

The wind blowing, the leaves
shivering in the sun,
each day the last day.

A red salamander
so cold and so
easy to catch, dreamily

moves his delicate feet
and long tail. I hold
my hand open for him to go.

Each minute the last minute.

+ Denise Levertov

I wonder if maybe this is something like what it means to “live eternally” here and now, to embrace each moment as if it were the most important moment, as if it were both the Alpha and the Omega, as if it were an eternal moment, as eternal gift. May this poem be a blessing in your day.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

September 8

Hands, Feet, and Heart of Jesus

If you find Week of Compassion on Facebook, or online, the first thing you will see are “Thank You’s” in response to Hurricane Ida relief. Week of Compassion helps to make this work possible through partnerships with local congregations and non-profit partners. In other words, this work is made possible by you. Here are a couple I saw:

Northshore Disciples and FCC Sulphur, Louisiana are working to provide and distribute water, food, generators, and gas in needy neighborhoods on the Northshore. Many remain without power and others are unable to return home. Meeting immediate needs is making a big difference.

Park Avenue Christian Church in New York: On my way to deliver lunches and communion for those without power. I have gift cards for ride shares for those without transportation and Whole Foods gift cards for the hot bar for those who will be without power longer than today. HUGE shoutout to Week of Compassion for helping make this possible.

Week of Compassion is active throughout the United States and worldwide. The best way to help those affected by Ida right now is to “Stay, pray, and give.” Designate Week of Compassion gifts to “hurricane” to support Ida recovery.

How to give:
-Give online - https://www.weekofcompassion.org/donate.html
-Text WoC to 41444
-Mail checks to: PO Box 1986; Indianapolis, IN 46206

Designate your gift
"Hurricane" - goes to Ida relief
"Earthquake" - goes to Haiti

All gifts go directly to disaster recovery.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

August 25

Dear Friends,

It is time to share a quick COVID update. While the wide availability of vaccines has offered significant protection for our community and congregation, with the continued mutation of the virus, we are going to be living with this virus for the foreseeable future. With the Delta Variant, the virus continues to spread very rapidly in our community and beyond. So I wanted to share a few of my concerns and a few things offering me encouragement with you all:

Concerns:

• In the Athens Area, ICU wings have been full for the last week, and hospitals are creating new ICU beds as needed.

  • It is my understanding there are 70 ICU beds available in the Athens Area. Since mid-August, the Athens Area has had between 72 and 75 ICU patients daily.

• 94% of regular hospital beds in the Athens Area are currently occupied.

  • The number of beds used changes daily, but has generally trended upward throughout the month of August.

• Today there are twice as many new COVID cases among our children, in all age groups, than there were in January.

  • The number of cases among children has more than doubled over the last two weeks, most of which are too young to be vaccinated. There were 13,020 new cases among children up to age 17 over the last week.

• Active Union members are sick with COVID, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, both at home and in the hospital.

Encouragements:

• We estimate 80% of those attending Sunday worship at Union Christian Church are vaccinated.

• Vaccination continues to offer strong (though not absolute) protection against the COVID virus.

The following statistics are from the Northeast Georgia Health System, including 4 hospitals and 3 other facilities in Lumpkin, Hall, Jackson & Barrow counties.

• Fewer than 1 in 10 patients in the Northeast Georgia Health System have been vaccinated.

• Only 1 in 25 patients in the ICU have been vaccinated.

Each day I ask prayers of protection and healing from COVID-19 for our congregation and our community. Each day I wrestle with the response to this pandemic that I should recommend to our congregation. Please continue to consider your own health conditions as you make decisions about attending locations and events in our community, and in our congregation. And most of all, please continue to consider the health conditions of the most vulnerable among us as you choose mitigation measures (distancing, masks, attention to viral symptoms, etc.) in the community and at church. We continue, always, to respect one another, and trust one another as a part of the Union Church family.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

August 18

Dear Friends,

Over the next few weeks, our scripture readings will come from the Gospel of John, chapter 6. This chapter begins with The Feeding of the 5,000, followed by Jesus Walking on the Sea. The rest of the chapter is a discourse; a conversation, sometimes heated, about Jesus as The Bread of Life.

The author of John draws on Moses and the Exodus to help those gathered understand who Jesus is, whether they be the crowds, the religious leaders, or the disciples. Written generations after the resurrection, the author also weaves in ancient Passover themes, as well as an understanding of the Lord’s Supper, regularly practiced in even the earliest church gatherings, into the conversation about who Jesus is.

The Gospel of John’s “Bread of Life” discourse gets really dense at points. It is a challenge to follow and try to pull out the vital points he is trying to make in this particular episode. I look forward to exploring this story with you in worship. As we do so, let us continue to pray: Holy God, open our ears to hear your Word. Open our eyes to see your truth. Open our hearts to share your love, in all that we do. Amen

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

August 11

The Regathering Committee met Sunday evening for a COVID-19 update as summer draws to a close and the highly contagious Delta variant becomes the predominant strain throughout the United States. Regathering does not currently recommend any universal changes in church activity.
We ask each person to consider the actions they should take to protect the health of our most vulnerable members (those unable to get vaccinated and/or those with compromised immune systems). For example:

• Stay home if you have experienced any of the following COVID-19 symptoms during the last several days, even if you have been vaccinated.

  • fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle/body aches, headache, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, nausea, diarrhea, maybe loss of taste or smell

  • COVID-19 symptoms are very similar to common cold, flu, or respiratory/sinus infection symptoms

• Consider wearing a mask at church and around others if during the previous several days:

  • you have spent time, even a few minutes, with someone with COVID-19 symptoms, or

  • you have been with large groups and do not have knowledge of the participants' COVID-19 status.

If you would like more details about the Delta variant, contact the church office. As we printed in the bulletin, “We respect one another, and trust one another as a part of the Union Church family.”

The Regathering Committee and Pastor Alan will continue to pay attention to the impact of COVID-19 on our community and the church, so that we may continue to maintain a safe worship environment. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

August 4

I Really Don’t Want To, But…

I really don’t want to, but I am digging my masks back out. Like many of you, I am fully vaccinated. I am confident that I am safe. If not quite as protected from contracting COVID-19 as I felt a few weeks ago, I am confident that I am safe from becoming dangerously ill. If that is the case, why am I digging out my masks?
I am sure you have already heard many of these reasons, but here they are.

• The Delta variant is much more contagious than previous mutations and may lead to more severe illness.

• There are several cases of vaccinated folks contracting and shedding the Delta variant.

• The Delta variant appears to pose a significant, dangerous health risk to those of us who are immuno-compromised, whether it is due to a particular health treatment or medical condition, even if vaccinated.

• COVID cases are becoming more prevalent and more dangerous among younger folks. (Vaccination rates are very high among older folks).

• Emergency vaccination is not yet approved for many of our school aged children.

• 68 cases of COVID were identified in Oconee County the last week of July, up from 25 the week before. (CovidActNow.org)

• COVID hospitalizations in Georgia rose from 1,596 on Monday, July 26, to 2,416 on Saturday, July 31. (CovidActNow.org)

I am afraid I could find more, but that is all that my head can hold at the moment. In short, it is time to once again, think about those around me, especially those who are more vulnerable than me. So, even though I really don’t want to, I am digging my masks back out.

Union's regathering policy currently remains the same, but we are monitoring the situation closely and will update our mask and distancing protocols as needed.

Before I sign off, I want to point out that not all of the news is bad. I give thanks for the continuing good news.

• Vaccines offer a very high level of protection, even for the Delta variant, for the vast majority of people.

• Vaccines offer an extremely high level of protection against hospitalization, even for the Delta variant, for most people.

Union Christian Church, sometimes I feel like a broken record when I say again how much you love and lookout for one another, the local community, and all of God’s creation. I keep saying it, because you keep showing it over and over again. I give thanks for you, and your commitment to the needs of the whole community. You inspire me and give me hope. May we continue to promote the healing of our community and all of creation in all that we say and all that we do.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

July 14

Thank You to the Regathering Committee
In late Summer 2020,  the Regathering Committee came together as Union Christian Church (DOC) sought possibilities for getting together regularly and safely, especially for worship.  The Regathering Committee guided the development of Outdoor Worship and has helped the congregation navigate reopening the church to the congregation and the community. 

The Regathering Committee has recommended our facility be considered fully open and available for use by groups in the congregation and community, as it was pre-COVID; we are excited to be sharing our facilities with the community once more.  Union remains cognizant of COVID in our community and are asking groups using the church to do so as well.  The Regathering Committee will remain intact but does not currently anticipate meeting unless called together in response to a COVID concern.  Pastor Alan and Peter Cook will continue to monitor pandemic conditions in the community. 

I don't know if we can say a big enough "THANK YOU" to the Regathering Committee for all they have done.  Their work, commitment, and leadership has been an example of God's life-giving presence in the world.  It has, indeed, been a gospel light held high. 

Thank you, Regathering Committee, for everything!
 
Reverend Alan Cloar, 
on behalf of Union Christian Church (DOC)

Regathering Committee

JR Beckwith, Julian Beckwith, Patti Clark, Alan Cloar, Peter Cook, Angie Eades, Earl Elsner, Holly Green, Alan Hickerson, Patsy Orr, and Gary Wall 

July 7

The Books of Samuel, Uniting the Children of Israel with David

As we spend the next several weeks with David in worship, I will offer at least a couple of articles offering some basic background to Samuel. This week, I thought I would share a general outline. Samuel was composed as one book, that was divided in "later publications" because of size. The books of Samuel carry us from the time of the Judges, when Israel is being led by tribal leaders through the establishment of a dynastic kingship under Saul, and then David. It begins with the story of the birth of Samuel, the prophet, and takes us through the rebellion of David's son, Absalom.

There is a lot that happens. Through the majority of these stories, God is in the background, rather than the forefront. Still, God is there; God is active.

Here is the bird's eye view of the books of Samuel:

1. Samuel is chosen as God's Prophet The story begins with Samuel's mother, Hannah, and the birth of Samuel, followed by his apprenticeship under Eli. (1 Samuel 1:1 - 4:1)

2. The Philistines and God's Covenant Chest The Covenant Chest is captured by the Philistines, and returned. (1 Samuel 4:1 - 7:2)

3. Samuel Leads Israel (1 Samuel 7:2-17)

4. Saul Becomes Israel's First King Samuel acquiesces to Israel's clamoring for a king, Saul is chosen, and finally acclaimed. (1 Samuel 8:1-12:25)

5. Saul's Battles, Saul is rejected by Samuel Saul has early success, but also displays bad judgment, and lack of trust in God. (1 Samuel 13:1 - 15:35)

6. David, the Future King David Is Chosen as the future king, spends time in the royal court, and flees. (1 Samuel 16:1-31:13)

7. David Becomes King We follow the story from Saul's death until David captures the Jebusite city that is renamed Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 1:1 - 5:10)

8. David Consolidates the Kingdom This section details David's Kingdom and it's relationships with neighboring kingdoms. (2 Samuel 5:11-8:18)

9. David's Family and Sins In this section, the holy history of Israel pulls know punches regarding the, sometimes devastating, humanity of David and those around him. (2 Samuel 9:1-20:26)

10. Concluding Traditions about David Here we find a collection of stories that have not been already incorporated into the Book of Samuel. (2 Samuel 21:1-24:25)

Already, this year, we have shared the story of David desiring to build the Temple from section 8, when we first came back into the sanctuary. We remembered God selecting David through Samuel from Section 6, to begin our "David" series. Last week, we skipped forward to David bringing the Ark to Jerusalem, also from Section 8, because it seemed a better selection for July 4th than the story of David and Goliath. We will backup to the story of David and Goliath in worship this Sunday, also from Section 6. Frankly, I'm not sure what this sermon will look like. I covet your prayers for Godly wisdom between now and then. In the following weeks, we will continue with stories from the last three sections of this outline.  

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan

June 30

Celebrating our Hopes
This year, July 4th falls on Sunday. Many of us will have an opportunity for a long weekend, perhaps to travel, or gather with family for the first time in quite a while. Whatever your plans, I wish you a joyful holiday weekend.

Our story for Sunday will be the story of the Ark being brought to David’s new capital of Jerusalem. In this passage we see glimpses of the twelve tribes working to bind themselves into a “unified people,” a “unified nation.” Even in this relatively small landscape, they have different patterns daily life, different demands for sustenance in each of their particular corners of the holy land. They have, even in these relatively few generations, different traditions and practices. They are a diverse (and stiff-necked) people. They sound a bit like us sometimes.

We will also see in this passage, that David can be mistake prone and hot-headed. Can’t we all? And yet, they celebrate. They do not celebrate their perfections, but their hopes, and trust in God’s providence. I pray as we celebrate July 4th this weekend, we celebrate our hopes for this sprawling, unique nation and all who live within its bounds. I pray we celebrate the best of our Declaration’s and Constitution’s vision, in order always, to “form a more perfect union.” And may we work, always, to bring those hopes and visions into being as a Christ-shaped among our manifold and sundry neighbors.

See you Sunday!
Pastor Alan

June 23

Dear Church,

Over the next several weeks in worship, we will be sharing the story of David. Specifically, we will remember the following stories:

• God demanding Samuel continue to look for the future king of the children of Israel, until they finally bring the boy David in from the fields.

• David brings the Ark to Jerusalem

• The story of David and Goliath

• David is anointed king

• Nathan confronting David with Bathsheba and the death of Uriah

• The story of Absalom's rebellion

The lectionary readings for this summer contain several more stories of David. We are going to miss some of them. David is one of the most important characters in the Hebrew Bible. I am grateful the lectionary offers us this opportunity to spend this time with David during his high's and his lows.
See you Sunday!

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alan