Author Archives: Elizabeth Richardson

The Splendor of Grace

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Easter Sunday C, 17 April 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 65:17-25. Be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating.
1 Corinthians 15:19-26. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Luke 24:1-12. Amazed at what had happened.

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

Good morning! Good job getting here, whether you are here in the sanctuary or here via livestream. I’m so glad that you’re here whether you love this holiday, or you’re just trying to get through it. Maybe you couldn’t wait to celebrate Easter at Emmanuel for the first time in three years, and maybe you’re joining us for the first time ever. Maybe you are here because it matters to someone you love, or you are here for a sadder reason. I love to say, whether you have come for celebration or solace, whether you are energized or exhausted, excited or grumpy, whether you have skipped or stumbled into this Easter celebration, my hope for all of you is that you will leave here today knowing more deeply that you are loved, that even if (and maybe especially if) you don’t feel like you fit in, still you belong with us today. Emmanuel Church is a place where we actively practice belonging to one another no matter what. It’s not always easy, I assure you, but it is always worth it. This is a parish where we focus our efforts and attention not on whether we (or anyone else) will get into heaven, but on whether any heaven will get into us. This is a parish where we focus not so much on implausible ideas, but on fidelity in relationship. Continue reading →

Entering the Gates of Holy Week

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Palm Sunday C, 10 April 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Isaiah 50:4-9a. It is the Lord God who helps me.
Philippians 2:5-11. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
Luke 23:1-49. Watching these things.

1.  They had been enemies.  
You know, each of our four canonical Gospels tells its own story of the Good News of Jesus as the Christ. Each has its own voice, its own intended audience, its own character. I believe that we hear and understand best when we hear the distinctive voices telling different stories, when we do not try to make a puree by blending all of the ingredients of the four Gospels, seasoned with church traditions. Continue reading →

Forgiveness

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Easter 7C, 29 May 2022.  The Rev. John Golenski

John 20: 19-31. Jesus appeared and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.  Then the disciples rejoiced when they recognized the Lord.

Like so many of us, I had plans this week.  My plans included the better part of a day preparing this sermon.  Then May 24th in Uvalde, Texas happened.  Sometimes, in spite of everything we intend, Life intrudes with undeniable demands.  No matter how much effort I put into focusing on the Scripture, Uvalde intruded.  So, this is the unintended, unplanned reflection on God’s Word speaking to what is happening now in our country. Continue reading →

2022

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  • Rector blessing doors with Holy Water20 May.  The Rev. Pamela Werntz blessed the Babcock Doors to the Sargent Lobby at the rear of our sanctuary, where head usher Stephen Babcock welcomed congregants to our services for fseveral decades.  Assisting her are subdeacon Karen King and the Rev. Robert Greiner, with Stephen facing his doors. Although our rector had lifted our mask mandate for the Covid pandemic earlier, vulnerable congregants and many of our musicians continued to wear them.  See also: Timeline 1997.
  • May.  Vaughan Sherrill joined us as Parish Administrator.  She is a great-granddaughter of Henry Knox Sherrill, who was ninth bishop of our diocese, twentieth Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, a founder of the Episcopal Church Foundation, and President of the World Council of Churches.
  • Sept.  Our rector became dean of our diocese’s Boston Harbor Deanery.
  • 11 Dec.   The Chorus of Emmanuel Music sang parishioner Sid Richardson’s Magnificat, which they had commissioned for Gaudete Sunday. Listen to it on our YouTube Channel.
  • Our puppeteer Sara Peattie published on Amazon’s Kindle platform 68 Ways to Make Really Big Puppets.

Easter Play

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The Wednesday before Easter we had a lovely celebration at common art. We spent the morning making Easter eggs. It was great to have everyone working on their artwork with this additional festive activity available. With the holiday and Spring now upon us, spirits have been greatly lifted. The long winter was definitely not easy for many in our community, which made me appreciate our joy so much more.

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Weaving a Farewell Tapestry

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I am thinking of endings today as I recently announced to the community that I only have a short time left at common art. I expressed my gratitude to everyone and told the community how much they have helped me grow. I shared with them the site where I’ll be going for my second internship and explained how my experience with them helped me get this opportunity.

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Trading Cards

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This week I really felt my growth as a facilitator. Over this past year I have worked on building my confidence and my ability to identify what art activities will be well received by the community. While I can come up with many ideas of art to make, not all of them are going to be of interest to the artists. So, in order to lead a successful art-making idea I need to have built my own confidence as well as an understanding of what the community enjoys. I also need to know what small challenges could be embraced.

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Silent Appreciation

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One thing I am coming to learn is to not be afraid of hearing the word no. Even if I feel certain someone will say no, when it comes to inviting someone to participate, I am learning to ask anyway. Not only because it is nice to be included and thought of even when you don’t plan on participating, but also sometimes the answer is yes! This week I made it my mission to go out of my comfort zone and ask people to join my artmaking even if I feel certain they will say no.  While I did get many no’s at common art on Wednesday, I also got so many more yes’s than usual because I put myself out there and was okay with hearing no. This has become a theme throughout my time at common art. I find whenever I push myself to ask anyway, I am so happily surprised by people’s willingness to join in.

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Non-Hate

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Epiphany 7C, 20 February 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Genesis 45:3-11 & 15. He kissed all his brothers and wept upon them.
1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50. Someone will ask, “How are the dead raised?”
Luke 6:27-38. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will be put into your lap.

Most Merciful and Compassionate, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

As I began the process of preparing my sermon for you over the last ten days or so, I found myself surprised by our readings and wondered if you’d recognize them. It’s rare to have a 7th Sunday in Epiphany; I don’t think that there has been one in lectionary Year C in my 20 years of ordained ministry! My first clue that there was something unusual going on was the lesson from Genesis about Joseph encountering his brothers in Pharaoh’s court. We’ve been hearing portions from Isaiah and Jeremiah through Epiphany and, suddenly, unexpectedly, stunning high drama of the end of Genesis falls into our laps? I wonder, how many of you even know the back story. If Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat wasn’t a part of your cultural experience in the 1970’s, or you didn’t have at least half a dozen years of Sunday School, how would you know? Continue reading →

Living in Love

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Epiphany 6C, 13 February 2022.  The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Jeremiah 17:5-10. In the year of the drought it is not anxious and it does not cease to bear fruit.
1 Corinthians 15:12-20. The first fruits of those who have died.
Luke 6:17-26. Blessed…blessed…blessed…blessed….Woe…woe…woe…woe.

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

This morning I want to call your attention to some powerful connections between our readings from Jeremiah and Luke, but I think I’ll leave the brain-scrambling passage in 1 Corinthians about resurrection and the dreadful cantata text for another sermon! The prophet Jeremiah is addressing his nation with judgment and lamentation for abandoning its covenant relationship with the Holy One. He says the ways in which the nation has missed the mark of Love are engraved on the hearts of the people because their obstinate behaviors go so deep; they are marred to the core (heart). Jeremiah uses the metaphor of a dried-up shrub to describe the nation that has turned toward its own strength and away from the Holy One. Jeremiah says the nation is so compromised it will not even see when relief comes, when good comes. It’s an ancient way of saying, “They wouldn’t know a good thing if it knocked them in the head.” Continue reading →