This De-Covenanting service was the end part of the regular Sunday. The Audio track and the written text of this part of the service are included here.
Words matter, what you say, how you say it, who you say it to – words have the power to build up and to break down, they have the ability to create or destroy, words can help in a situation or thwart a project, they can be used to include or exclude, pull people together or scatter them into different camps. Words can praise, encourage, they can be healing, loving, giving, nurturing, and comforting.
Ordinary regular people who have been watching this story from afar are all of a sudden feeling closer to the events and realizing the human toll this crisis is creating. Questions are being asked about what we as individuals can do? How can we help? Do we have any ability to alleviate some of the suffering?
I’ve made the face too. You know the one: the one where you don’t have what you need to pull this off, and the gap between what you have and what you need is so large as to be paralyzing.
When we join the story from Mark this morning, Jesus’ disciples have returned from their mission. They have been out in the world without Jesus, preaching, teaching; healing, exorcising demons – all on their own without Jesus there as the front man.
When I was a little girl I loved to dance. I would dance with music or without, I loved to skip and twirl in circles especially when I had the right type of dress on – you know what I mean[…]
A few years ago I was the minister in a small town; my secretary Susan was a wonderful asset to me. She had the pulse of the congregation. Susan had grown up in the community and knew the people and knew their history […]
I don’t know about you, but for me this process of changing pastoral relations, which is what we call resigning in the United Church, is not easy.
What a week – hasn’t it been awful, too much violence, too much sorrow, too much craziness.[…]