Monthly Archives: May 2017

Accounting for Hope

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Sixth Sunday of Easter Year A, May 21, 2017; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Acts 17:22-31 In [God] we live and move and have our being.
1 Peter 3:13-22 Always be ready to make… an accounting for the hope that is in you.
John 14:15-21 If you love me you will keep my commandments.

O God of Love, may we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth – come when it may and cost what it will.

Signs of endings are all around us – the end of the school year, the end of another wonderful cantata season, graduations and completions of all kinds are markers on the chronological timelines of our lives. And yet, in our Gospel reading for this morning, chronological time seems to have come nearly to a stop and time seems to be folding:  past, present and future are not so clearly marked.  It’s taken from what is called Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse.” Jesus’ valedictory speech comprises a full one-fifth of the whole Gospel of John, and takes place in the evening before Jesus’ nighttime arrest. This portion of Jesus’ parting words remind me of the instructions that my mother used to leave when I was in high school before my parents went away for a trip (and I always feared that they would leave us orphaned). I am the oldest child, so the list was accompanied by my mom’s admonition for me to use my best judgment. Okay, fine, I would think, I will, but do you know my brothers and my sister? Continue reading →

Soft Hearted

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Fifth Sunday of Easter Year A, May 18, 2017; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Acts 7:55-60 ‘Lord do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died.
1 Peter 2:2-10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people.
John 14:1-14 Do not let your heart be troubled.

O God of our waking up, grant us the wisdom, the strength and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

This morning our deacon, Bob Greiner is away on retreat with other deacons, and so he is missing the gruesome account in the Book of Acts about the first deacon, Stephen, becoming the first martyr because an angry mob threw stones at him until he died. I think the deacons may have been reading ahead in the lectionary when he scheduled his time away. And the stone references in our scripture readings today in Acts and in 1 Peter were on my mind this past Friday as I sat in my study trying to think while stone masons sawed boulders making a stone wall surrounding my next door neighbor’s back yard. The sound of cutting stone is a crying out that reminds me of Jesus’ response to people who tell him to silence his followers. Remember? He says that if they were quiet, the stones themselves would cry out. Deadly stones and living stones, stumbling blocks and building blocks, crushing weights, and substantial foundations – hard and heavy either way.
Continue reading →

Possibility Sunday

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Fourth Sunday of Easter Year A, May 7, 2017; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Acts 2:42-47 They would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
1 Peter 2:19-25 So that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness… .
John 10:1-10 Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate.

O God of life, may we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth – come when it may and cost what it will.

Today is known in church tradition as Good Shepherd Sunday.  Jesus, of course, is known as the Good Shepherd, son of the Best Shepherd!  Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations known to humankind, so we probably all feel like we understand what a shepherd does, but I’m going to review the job description with you anyway.  The primary responsibility of a shepherd is to ensure that a flock gets adequate food and water.  Once that is taken care of, a good shepherd protects a flock from becoming prey or being stolen, and takes care that they are not overdriven.  Shepherding language for figures of speech when it comes to leading people is found in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and of course, Israel.  It’s worth noting that the metaphor of shepherding is generally used as a political metaphor, [1] although politics and religion weren’t so separate in ancient times (and they’re really not so separate even today). Religion is political just as the personal is political. Not acknowledging that is a form of unexamined privilege. Continue reading →

2017

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  • Feb. 5.  At our annual meeting we voted to update our Parish By-Laws.
  • Oct 15.  Rabbi Howard Berman preached about the 13th anniversary of our relationship with Central Reform Temple (formerly Boston Jewish Spirit).
  • Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray by Rosiland Rosenberg is published by Oxford U. Press.  Amazon’s record describes her contribution:  “Throughout her prodigious life, activist and lawyer Pauli Murray systematically fought against all arbitrary distinctions in society, channeling her outrage at the discrimination she faced to make America a more democratic country.”  

    Book jacket, Oxford U. Press

Its last chapter deals with Pauli’s call to ordained ministry. On p. 356, Rosenblatt notes that in 1967 Pauli began to attend Emmanuel, where then rector Alvin Kershaw advised her and referred her to The Rt. Rev. John W. Burgess, who was our diocesan bishop and the first African American episcopal bishop.  

See also Timeline entries for Pauli Murray: 1944, 1951, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1985, 1987, 2012 & 2015.

See also Timeline entry 2007 about the restoration of our former organ:  Casavant Frères Opus 700.