Luke 11:1-13 About 16 years ago, I attended seminary for the first time – an Episcopal seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I was getting a degree in feminist liberation theology. I was definitely in “seeker” mode. I was trying out new beliefs, new ways to worship. So I was test driving a Quaker silent meeting…
The late Biblical scholar and theologian Marcus Borg said that when someone told him they didn’t believe in God, he would ask, “Tell me about the God you don’t believe in.” Often, it was a God Borg didn’t believe in himself! That quote inspires this Sunday’s service. We invited two folks from our church, Conrad Liiechty…
With assistance from Karen Kreider Yoder, Sharon Heath wrote this History Moment on Radical Hospitality. Our congregation has engaged in what I’m calling “Radical Hospitality” or “Radical Welcome” for the past 40-plus years. Being Pride Sunday, much of my reflection will focus on our calling as a Welcoming Congregation. But that’s by no means all…
Acts 2:1-21 Pentecost is the day when the unthinkable happens. On Pentecost, 120 people sit in an upper room, waiting to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, because Jesus told them this was going to happen. I doubt any of them could have imagined what this meant. And so they wait, in a room that…
Galatians 1:13-17; 2:11-14 Who gets to belong — in any given group of people? Is it everyone? Or only certain people “our kind”? And what do people have to do to belong? What behaviors are expected of them? These kinds of questions are perennial. Anytime a group of humans comes together — even if it’s…
In this First Mennonite’s 50th Anniversary year, we’re presenting several short “History Moments.” This is the fifth in the series by Karen Kreider Yoder. By 2010, we had settled into our new, light-filled worship space at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav. Our congregation was growing! Guests visited and stayed. Young families arrived. Our Mennonite Voluntary Service workers (MVSers)…
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