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Kimberly P Chastain, Pastor
Dear Ones,
What an amazing, nourishing, love-filled time we have had since the last newsletter!
We celebrated the ruby anniversary of my ordination (40 years).
We shared a deeply meaningful Ash Wednesday service (and Pastor Becky and I gave “ashes to go” to record number of students at the university).
Our worship service featured six interactive stations to guide us to understand different meanings of ashes in the life of faith: Loss, Mortality, Emptiness, Weakness, Repentance, and Purification.
We had a wonderful Lenten series on “Art for The Heart” where we worked with pottery, watercolors, fiber arts, wax egg decoration, and drumming. Thanks to all of the special and talented folks who taught us about their ways of creating beauty, and to those who made soup and bread for us every week!
We told the story of Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem and his passion in new ways on Palm Sunday, collecting many hats, gloves, socks and coats to help our guests keep off the cold. Then we all went downstairs to dye Easter eggs for our community pantry and meal guests!
And we had more than 30 participants in our Maundy Thursday remembrance of the Passion, where we reflected on the witnesses who were present when Jesus suffered and died.
We had a beautiful celebration of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday, with the front of the sanctuary decorated with flowers brought from home by families — featuring new banners on the front of the church and in the lobby, and we taught the children to say “The Lord is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!” Then after worship, the children ran around out on the front lawn as we held our annual egg hunt.
We held a scripture memorization challenge — “100 sheep by Good Shepherd Sunday” — that taught the 23rd Psalm to the littles and a variety of other scripture verses to the participants. Lucien Westcott was the youngest participant and… there were many enthusiastic elders! We finished with 100 sheep and two hedgehogs in the pasture (I ran out of sheep) and celebrated with a party during worship, including a Psalm 23 bingo game!
As the summer approaches, I hope you will join me in looking for more ways to connect to each other, to our faith, and to the joy that refuses hate and fear. We know that our community, our nation, and our world are chaotic times. As we nourish our life of faith together, we want to shine the light of hope so that it illuminates not only the dark places, but also the new possibilities that we can bring to life together.
Here’s a poem for you by the Rev. Steve Garnaas-Holmes, from his Unfolding Light project:
Hope is an act
Hope is an act
Abandon your thoughts of thoughts or feelings,
the moods that come and go.
Hope is a practice, an act you can do
even as you mourn, or regret, or dread.
Hope is an act of trust, regardless
of what the future may hold,
trust in the gravity of grace,
the life that sings in all things:
the arctic tern facing an ocean
who lifts her wings, and goes,
the stream that unfurls through the woods,
the roots that reach and curl around stones,
the earth that circles around the sun
one more time, and one more again.
The child who turns to her mother.
The hand of the Healer on every torn thing.
Hope is not wishing but acting.
Birthing. Planting. Getting up.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Kimberly
Greetings friends!
It looks like we have emerged from the cold and rain to the warmer and rain with some sunny days sprinkled in between. But even though it may look and feel a bit dreary, there are signs of life and hope out there which I am looking for anywhere I can get right now.
It’s been a bit rough for many of us with the chaos of the government directly affecting so many of us and those we know or love. We have seen it in church during the week with an uptick in people needing the community meal, pantry, and shelter. And we fear that the worst has not hit us yet with the proposed cuts in other food aid and healthcare.
Becky Kindig, Associate Pastor
So how do we resist the urge to just bury our heads into our work, or hobbies, or families and just try to hunker down and get through for the next several years? It’s really tempting some days. But the need to build relationships and form communities is the answer that will help all of us through together. Yes, there are days that self-care is essential in this work since we are in a marathon, not a sprint. You need to find times to get out in nature, listen to music, read a great story, eat some delicious food, move your body or rest your body, and turn off the news and social media for a while. But the long-term strategy is working together. Jesus built a community of 12 disciples plus other close followers. Jesus was all about restoring people to community when he healed them. And Jesus didn’t go in and directly confront the political leaders, he taught people to love each other, eat together, and reach out to others by inviting people in that weren’t in their circles. And building up those communities that cared for each other got them through and built the wonderful parts of the Christianity we know today.
I know some of you are already community-builders and have a whole network of people you talk with and care for on a regular basis. And I know that for some of us, that skill takes more work. For those that have that skill, reach out to those you notice that don’t. And consider taking a little time if you aren’t already involved at church to use your skills at helping us build or care for the community here. For those that are not born community-builders, start with small achievable goals. Maybe start making a point to smile and wave at your neighbor, or call or send a card to someone you haven’t heard from in a while, or talk with someone you don’t know well at church, or join one of our activities and go from there. And if there is something that would help you form community that we don’t have, let us know and we can help you build it.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Becky
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