by Melissa Guthrie Loy– Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things… Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth… Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;… Read More →
Midweek Message: Blessings with Roots
–by Melissa L. Guthrie– I’m not the best at math. My friend Jake messed up the math too; he is good with history. Jake and I had not seen each other in years–11 years, we kept saying. After really doing the math it’s been nine years and three months since we’ve seen one another. Either… Read More →
Midweek Message: Give pause
–by Melissa L. Guthrie– While it’s my own loose–very loose–interpretation, in order to “be still” and know that God is God (Psalm 46:10), I sat mostly motionless in a salon chair to highlight my hair. The color of my hair (mostly my roots) means something to me: it feels good on the inside to take… Read More →
Midweek Message: All Things
–by Melissa L. Guthrie– When I prepare the weekly bulletins I find myself singing the hymn titles and song lyrics. “All Things Bright and Beautiful” is on repeat in my mind. Genie Jones also happens to be playing the organ this morning. All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise… Read More →
Midweek Message: Farewell
–Judith Hello Friends, Everything has felt a bit surreal this week as I finish all that I have been working on here and do many tasks for the last time. I want to thank you all for the welcome, generosity, and openness you all have shared with me this past year. It has been an… Read More →
Midweek Message: Church Together as Spiritual Formation
Part 1 in a series of posts exploring who we are becoming as a church community — By Judith Guy — There is a painting that hangs in a friend’s room back in Chicago at the Disciples Divinity House. It is a painting I have seen in many other churches as well. A man with… Read More →
Midweek Message: Thin Places
Judith – – I have been talking to a lot of people about congregational care over the last couple of weeks. And one of the ways I have been framing the conversation is to talk about thin places. Thin places are places or moments when God is seen, when the veil between us and God… Read More →
Midweek Message: Congregational Care
Judith – – One of my goals this year has been to help the church think about congregational care. Pastoral care has often been looked at as something that occurs in the time of sickness, crisis, dying and visiting the homebound. Congregational care expands this vision to people in all stages of life. How can… Read More →
Surroundings
By Judith Guy – – Last night I opened up the Mandala coloring book Lee gave to all the staff for Christmas. I had never colored a Mandala before. I picked out a few colors, but I didn’t plan out how I was going to use the colors. I was just going to color. No… Read More →
Singing: An action of waiting
By Judith Guy – – Music has great power and influence in our lives. There are songs that never fail to take me back to the place and the people where I heard them most. Then there are songs that come to my mind when I am feeling something within me. The Lord of the… Read More →