Good morning, friends. My name is Pat Krol, and I’m happy to be sharing my Emmanuel journey with you today. The first time I came to Emmanuel Church was September 2006, because I had just become Executive Director of Emmanuel Music, known internationally for its weekly presentations of Bach cantatas as part of the Sunday liturgy. I knew that Seiji Ozawa, Music Director of the Boston Symphony, where I worked, conducted Bach cantatas here, though I never attended.
Stewardship Reflections
Building Bridges of Compassion and Peace
Good morning! My name is Carol Reiman. I am a newer member of Emmanuel, attending regularly for a little over a year.
The website drew me. The prospect of listening to a Bach cantata as part of the Sunday service–wonderful! The invitation beyond issues of belief. I was interested in revisiting communion, which had been a part of my childhood in an interfaith family. As it turns out, Emmanuel has a warm family relationship with Central Reform Temple, which also holds services in the church. I am delighted to have become a member of that congregation as well. I was also impressed by the programs that provide such things as food, shelter, connection, and art sessions for those with few resources.
Pledging is like a Play-Doh Fun Factory.
Before I begin, I think it would be remiss not to recognize the wisdom and brilliance of the four other women who have preceded me in this by answering the call to share thoughts about pledging to Emmanuel Church in the recent weeks of Stewardship. I’ve been inspired to hear from each of them, and it must be noted that (to my mind anyway) each of them has intricately built upon the work of the others with a through-line and a continuity, with every individual part contributing to a whole that is even greater than the sum of its parts. The overall effect has been beautiful, touching, and as profound for all of you, I hope, as it has been for me. With that, I will frankly admit that it was a very poor strategic decision on my part to volunteer to go last. Seriously, how does one follow that? So let me just say you might want to level-set your expectations right now. Continue reading
God is there.
Where charity and love are, God is there. Emmanuel’s stewardship theme this year is “Love your neighbor”. Over the past few weeks, we’ve heard about different ways that we can think of our neighbor. A few weeks ago Karen King highlighted several places where the command to love our neighbor is found in the Bible. She shared one of her favorites, Jesus telling in the Gospel of Luke the parable of the Good Samaritan. Our neighbors can be those who were strangers but made neighbors thanks to compassion and mercy. Building on this the following week, Carolyn Roosevelt reminded us that the Samaritan made a pledge to the innkeeper to pay for his neighbor’s care. Last week Mary Blocher spoke to us about how Emmanuel ensures that there is room at the inn by keeping the doors open, the programs running, the staff paid, the lights on, and the hospitality flowing. Continue reading
Go together!
God, help us love our neighbor, or at least help us to act like we do, and let acting those acts of love continue to transform and sustain us. Amen.
If pulpit pitches were a competitive sport, no entirely sane person would agree to follow Karen King and Carolyn Roosevelt. Not unless they were willing to do a swan dive off the pulpit as a finale, to up the game. Fortunately for me and for you and any EMT’s here today, this is not competitive. We are in this together, in lock-step, to call on you to commit what you can to support Emmanuel’s continued well-being, its mission of radical hospitality, and its acts of Love. Continue reading
Inn on the Road to Jericho
Good morning! Last week we heard Karen King commend to us the story of the Good Samaritan. We heard how two people–separated by birth, geography, and circumstance–became neighbors because one of them saw the other in need and showed him Love by binding his wounds and transporting him to a safe place. Maybe the merciful Samaritan knew in his heart that the robbers might have set upon him, if the coin-flip of fortune had turned up differently. Maybe his very status as a traveller, and (from Jesus’ point of view) a foreigner, kept that possibility alive in his mind.
Good Samaritans
Good morning! I am so glad to be here and to be with you on this beautiful day. I started coming to Emmanuel during the Pandemic, so I am just getting to know many of you who have been here much longer, as well as those of you who are relatively new like me. I initially came in large part simply because Emmanuel was open; worship was in person, and I needed that. I stayed because the love of God is taught, preached, sung, and practiced here.
Our theme this year is “Love our neighbor.” Versions of this command occur, of course, in many places in the Bible: in Leviticus (19:18), in the Gospels, in Paul’s letters. My favorite is in the Gospel of Luke, when a religious expert asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Continue reading
The Widow’s Mite
Lately I’ve been thinking about some of the contrasts that chase us through life at Emmanuel. They start on Sunday when I walk over the small round disk embossed BOSTON GROUNDWATER TRUST, which is set into the sidewalk in front of the church. It’s one of 800 wells monitoring the groundwater that still covers the 200,000 Maine spruce-tree trunks that were steam-pile driven-in 160 years ago to keep our feet out of the soup below. Sure, I know that part of the motivation for filling the Back Bay was to keep prosperous white Protestants from decamping to the suburbs, and my Irish great-grandfather south of the tracks. But still, there’s no way to get into Emmanuel without at least an unthinking pilgrimage over that magical, invisible, upside-down forest.
Why I Contribute to Emmanuel Church & Why Others Should, Too
The first word that comes to mind when I think about Emmanuel is open-heartedness. It’s clear from the moment you enter the door that all are welcome here, no questions asked, no conformity to one doctrine, one church tradition, one brand of spirituality required. Yes, of course, it’s a Christian institution. But there’s no requirement to comply with a physical attitude – or for that matter, a spiritual attitude – to feel comfortable here. Kneel or stand at the communion rail, if in fact you take communion at all. Pass the peace to those around you, whether it’s the peace of Christ or simply an expression of good will from one person to another. It’s more than possible at Emmanuel to simply revel in the company of the like-minded – or maybe not-so-like-minded – people around you. Drink in the music, which is what got me here in the first place. Continue reading
Grateful Former Wardens
About 25 years ago we spotted a headline on the front page of the Boston Globe stating, “Historic church in Back Bay is about to close and become a concert hall”. We greeted this semi-accurate and hyperbolic announcement with great joy! It prompted us to investigate and soon to embrace Emmanuel as our church home.