Of Flowers and Weeds! Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Slug by slug, weed by weed,

     My garden's got me really teed

     All the insects love to feed upon my tomato plants

     Sunburned face, scratched-up knees

     My kitchen's choked with zucchinis

     I'm shopping at the A & P next time I get a chance.

The crabgrass grows, the ragweed thrives,

The broccoli has long since died.

The only things left still alive are some radishes and beans.

My carrot plants are dead and gone,

Hear the rabbits sing a happy song

Until you've weeded all day long

You don't know what boredom means

Chorus

You get up early, work till late

Watch moles and mice get overweight

They eat their dinners on a plate from the hard work you have done

As ye sow so shall ye reap,

But I smell like a compost heap

I'm gonna get that lousy creep

who said gardening was fun

(Parody of Dave Mallet's "The Garden Song")

((c)1982, Eric Kilburn)

So here we are in a garden again and added to it we got the devil

I love the devil some of my favorite music he is in.

Songs like shut de door keep out the devil

Or why should the devil have all the good music or better yet

The devil went down to Georgia he was looking for a soul to steal…

The devil made me do it

“I hold communications with saints and angels, even with Satan himself”. Elizabeth Barton

“I do not fear Satan half so much as I fear those who fear him.” Saint Teresa of Avila

“I don't see any holy wars being fought in the name of Satan.” Glenn Danzig[1]

“If you do not obey the word of God if you choose not to follow his commandments you are going to hell and shall burn in the eternal fire” 

When I was a child there were two basic sermons one always dreaded.  The Catholic priest asking for money or…the catholic priest doing his best at preach hellfire and brimstone which always resulted in crying children and adult rolling their eyes.  Believe me that was the general reaction either of those sermons.

This parable can be harsh even condemning if looked at from the wrong, umm, direction.  It can become hellfire and brimstone, it can become a lecture about Satan and his origins or how he is the king of lies, the big half man half goat thing with a pointed tale and a pitch fork. Right.  It makes a good story and it makes great art. Needless t0o say that is not what I see or hear in this parable.

I lived in the desert for 7 years.  It hardly ever rained but when it did it would really rain and there were flash floods roads were washed out the air become sticky with humidity and dust.  After a good rain or two we knew what was next the weeds!  The desert bloomed with wild flowers of every kind.  The cactus would bloom and plants that had not been green in ages would change color.

Then the weeds would come.

They came in their cars with their campers with their kids and their cameras.  They brought palettes and paint brushes and you would see them out there at sunrise risking limb and life for the perfect picture or just the right light. In order to get that perfect picture they would pay no attention to where they walked, on what they walked on or whose property they were on.  Many would go off on a trail and follow it till they were lost.  Then we would have to send search parties out.

Noticed I just referred to simple tourists excited by Gods display of nature as weeds. Am I saying god is going to throw all those people into the fiery pit just as God bundles up the weeds in today’s parable and burns them.  Of course not.

Weeds are just a flower you did not plant!

Remember last week’s “parable about the seed that falls on rocky soil and can’t take root and grow because of the hot sun? Desert weeds did not get that memo.  They flourish up through the landscaped gravel, the concrete pavers, the fake AstroTurf, even the sizzling, cracked red clay.  Call them nuisance, call them an eyesore, but they are also a miracle of Nature.”[2] A miracle of God.

You see just as a wildflower is beautiful and welcome in the desert-scape, that very same plant is a nuisance when it is in one’s yard and or sidewalks.  Just as every person is a gift of God one day we are a beautiful Flower and the next we are a weed!

So, what is the difference?  What makes one a kind and beautiful creature of God in one place and an annoying weed in another.  Judgement!  Do you here that in this parable?

Let’s reflect for a moment on another parable. We all recall the story of the mustard seed.  You can move a mountain if your faith is only as big as a small mustard seed.  The image is classic you can find necklaces with just a little mustard seed in some glass baubles with a simple search. But let us recall what a “mustard seed is a weed. Unwanted, unruly, unlovely.”  It doesn’t belong in most landscapes oh and it never grows into a tree!

If we pay attention to this parable I think the important bit is this “when the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form so did the thistles…the farm hands asked should we weed out the thistles?”  the answer of course given is no let them grow together.

In other words, this is not our job.  Our job is not to sit in judgement and weed out the good from the bad especially considering last week’s sermon.  I mean did you listen to the metaphors I used?  We are all weeds, we are all beautiful miracles of nature it just depends on how we look at each other and quite frankly this parable is saying do not!  Do not sit in judgement of one another but tend to each other just as the farmer instructs his workers.

Andrew prior shares this story and reflection:

“When I was a young teenager the largest paddock on the farm was overrun with thistles. They grew thick as a crop, about 2 foot 6 tall, after a summer rain. You could not walk through them without being shred round the shins and thighs.

I thought we were very lucky this had happened after the harvest.  I was beginning to understand the problem of weeds and, very clearly, we had a problem. I suspect I had pleasant anticipations of burning off the paddock, always good fun, to rid ourselves of the weeds.

Instead, Dad produced an enormous length of railway iron, from somewhere out the back of the shed, and towed it down to the paddock. Then he chained it at both ends, so that it could be pulled behind the tractor like a huge rake.

I was tasked to circle the paddock at quite high speed for a tractor, knocking over the drying thistles. It turned out that this would shatter the seed heads, leaving a rich summer harvest for the sheep.

Subsequent to my efforts, the sheep were turned into the paddock, and spent a couple of weeks doing very well for themselves. I learned a lesson about what constitutes a useless weed, and about listening to the wisdom of my father.

On Facebook, this week a friend posted the following:

In the year 385, a synod of bishops condemned Priscillian of Avila for heresy: he and six of his followers were beheaded. He was the first Christian to be executed by his fellow-Christians for his religious views.

One historian estimates that in the next 2 1/2 centuries, Christian imperial authorities slaughtered 25000 more for their lack of creedal correctness. (Rowland Croucher)

Here the servants of the householder did not wait for the harvest, or the instructions of the householder, but got busy weeding out the paddock, ahead of time. How much good wheat was uprooted in this cleansing of the crop?

One of the interesting things about plants, is that weeds evolve to mimic the crops we value. It helps them survive. In ripping out the weeds it is not only possible to uproot the wheat, so to speak, but also possible to mistake a good plant for a weed.

We might also remember the stories of husbands, or children, who sought to do Mum a favor by weeding the garden, and who instead removed a prized garden plant.

Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. It should stay that way because, in our ignorance, we know not what we do.”[3]

It is interesting he goes on in his analysis of the text

“I don't find judgement a helpful image, but the text clearly imagines judgement.

41The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I can only understand judgement in this way: judgement is a logical necessity. If we are people of free will, truly human, we must be free to reject the love of God and exclude ourselves from the harvest- if that is what we insist on doing.  But the love of God is such that God will wait forever in case I should change my mind.”[4]

I have said this many time and I will say it again here and now there is nothing, nothing that can separate you form the love of God.  Except ourselves.  We can choose to be separated.  We separate ourselves in our anger.  We separate ourselves in our pain.  We separate ourselves in our blindness.  We separate ourselves in our own guilt and shame.

And if we dare sit in judgement of others oh dear lord…

“I tell you as human one of our worse traits is the way we sit in judgement.  Not so much of others but ourselves.  We are our own worst enemy when it comes to forgiveness.

Farm boys love to have a good burning- as more than a few haystack fires can testify! The church, sadly, is not much different.”[5]

Often, we as Christians as the church may sit in judgement of one or another.  Sometimes we get on each other’s nerves. Sometimes we see a behavior and it triggers something in our own psyche.  We, meaning we humans, often see a behavior in another that annoys us because it is a behavior in ourselves we do not like.  Other times we sit in judgement without knowing the whole story.

When we see something arise in ourselves, which often occurs in hindsight, but we must ask why did I react such a way. We also must ask ourselves what do I not know?

I was once in disagreement with another classmate during the prop 8 fight about how the gay community and the African American community work together or didn’t.  The discussion got pretty heated both of us accusing the other of not seeing the truth. But when we took some air relaxed came back together and listened to each other’s experiences we realized we were both right and how could that be…well his perspective was Los Angeles mine was mainly Detroit.  Two very different cities four very different communities.

Had I just dismissed this as an argument or dismissed my brother as wrong neither of us would learn or grow.at that moment we were both weeds blinded by pride or arrogance because we each knew “I was right he was wrong” which turned out to be true in the end we were both.

“When we “burn” our sinners, they are a scapegoat for our own fears and failings.” How much better it would be if we were more cautious around each other.  If we feel something being triggered, may we explore what we are seeing reflected in the other we do not like in ourselves and offer love, compassion and understanding. We can start by truly trying to love ourselves and forgive ourselves for whatever we hold against ourselves is separating us from the love of God.

Do not reject what God has planted for God truly did make both weed and Flower alike

 “In Matthew 21 Jesus says

Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:

“The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is amazing in our eyes”?

One thinks of other rejected stones; Luther, Mandela, Martin Luther King, a no-account bishop like Romero...

Perhaps it would be best if we did more loving, and trusted God to sort what needs sorting at the end.”

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[1] Brainy qoutes, Satan Qouites, accessed July 19, 2017, https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/satan.html.

[2] Scott Hoezz, July 23 2017 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2016).

[3] Andrew Prior, Feeding on Thistles, 2011, accessed July 20, 2017, https://www.onemansweb.org/theology/the-gospel-of-matthew-2011/feeding-on-thistles-matthew-13-24-30-36-43.html.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Andrew Prior, Feeding on Thistles, 2011, accessed July 20, 2017, https://www.onemansweb.org/theology/the-gospel-of-matthew-2011/feeding-on-thistles-matthew-13-24-30-36-43.html.

The sower and the seed Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

“When we think of the parables Jesus told, the parable of the prodigal son and the good Samaritan come quickly to mind. My hunch is the parable of the sower would be third on our list. Recorded in both Mark and Matthew, this parable is not only one we remember but also one of the few parables to which our Lord gave an interpretation. In case you are already saying to yourself, “Heard that, know that, thank you very much,” I dare you to listen again. You might just hear another twist on this old story.”[1]

So according to one commentary I read the farmer puts his seed in his sack and heads out to the field and starts to sow his seed. “In those days, farmers broadcast seed across a field before plowing. That’s right; seed was first sown, and then gently plowed into the ground. You might find it interesting that this methodology is being reclaimed today by farmers wanting to better care for God’s earth. “No-till” corn is quite the rage in parts of the Midwest. Using refined technology, a farmer can sow and cultivate a corn crop without deep-plowing the field.”[2]

So this farmer broadcast his precious seed, some fell on a well-worn path cut by foot traffic through the fallow field.  Ok I am not a farmer I had to look up fallow means ...It is a plowed then roughly smoothed out field often left to rest for a season or seasons to allow for a recovery period. When the fields were left fallow for a while foot travelers would cut walking paths through the fields, taking the shortest distance between two points. Fencing was rarely if ever used in the first century. So some seed landed on the path. And when it did, the birds quickly enjoyed lunch.

Other seeds, said Jesus, fell on rocky ground. Because there was little soil there, the seedlings sprang up quickly and then withered under the scorching sun. Thorns choked off other seeds, denying them the light of day and the promise of their bounty. Finally, some seed fell on good ground and brought forth a bumper crop yielding thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold. Jesus ended the story admonishing all to listen; listen carefully, deeply, thoughtfully. Listen! Listen Spiritually.

When Jesus says listen this is a soul thing.  This is not meant to be heard and decide you know the meaning and move on.  It means to analyze the story with your soul. Who or what are you in this story.  Can you see yourself as the farmer?  Can you see yourself as the land? What is unexpected in this story is there more than the explanation given?

Some time passes. Probably alone with his disciples, Jesus gave an interpretation to this beloved parable that has endured through the ages. Many believe that our Lord’s explanation of the parable, as representing various kinds of people, is the only interpretation though Jesus explains one meaning there could be more. 

Timothy Owens writes “What if, as I believe, this parable has, can have, and even must have many meanings to it? As with all our Lord’s parables, the key is to listen and let the word take root in our lives.

I have another take on this great story; a twist to the text I invite you to consider. What if the parable could be applied with equal power to every individual life, to everyone who listens? If that is so, all of our lives have worn, rocky, thorny, and yes, good soil in which seed can germinate and grow. What if this parable is about you and me? If so, what is God saying to us? If your life is like mine, you know how daily living creates well-worn paths. We call them ruts. We drive to and from work using the same route day after day. We shop at the same grocery store, fill our tanks at the same convenience store, thankfully attend the same church, and, more times than not, feed our families predictable menus of foods we know they will eat and enjoy. Routines are often required, but sometimes in our relationship with God, routines can become ruts. We can attend church week after week, hear the scriptures read (like this familiar parable), sing familiar hymns, go through the church routine, and in so doing, give the good seed God sows us to the birds of indifference. Trust me. It happens and may be happening even now. Truth be told, God’s seed also falls on the rocky places of our lives. Life, by definition, can leave us cold, sharp, soilless, and rough. Pain, the cruelty of insensitive friends, and the crude comments of strangers can leave us lifeless and unmoved, rocks void of God’s bounty. Thorns pop up in our life’s ground as well. None of us intend to succumb to the cutting brutality of thorns, but there they are, choking out God’s blessings, robbing us of God’s promise.”[3]

But thanks be to God, some seed falls on good ground. When it does, the miracle of germination, cultivation, nourishment, sunshine, rain, and care yield a generous harvest no one thought was possible. It happens in all our lives in ways that leave us speechless. I am thinking today of countless individuals through the years who have started to tell me a story with these words: “You’ll never believe what happened to me today.” Or, “I had no idea God could take what I did and use it to bless another’s life.” Tell your story. Look back and see all the times God sowed good seed on the good ground of your soul, and from that small beginning came a generous harvest that still leaves you amazed. Here is the needed twist in this old, old story. Yes, there will always be people who are worn out, rocky, wasted, and yes, good. But the gospel reminds us there is far more good in all of us in which God’s grace can take root than any of us imagine.”[4]

 All manner of ground exists in the fields that are our lives.  So in some ways we need to clear out our own rocky ness, till our own worn out pathways and then seek out and trim our thorny parts. You know. This is spiritual work.  This is paying Attention to what is happening in our lives and exploring ourselves so weed out was is blocking us from connecting with our faith in healthy ways.

I would add That we need to  pay attention to the sower in this story as well.  Does the sower stop to discern where he is tossing the seed. If the seed is the word of God.  If  Jesus is the sower and this message of his we are now commissioned to be responsible for then we must act as the farmer did in this story.

Do you see where I am going with this?  We are called to walk the path of Christ, we are called to serve our neighbors and the world with abundant grace and extravagant welcome.  This means going out there and participating in projects we know Christ would call us to do.  This means for example, setting up a table at the progressive fair. Letting the world, well Petaluma, know we are still here.  We are Gods people and we have a message to share.

That message needs to be shared and shared just  as indiscriminately as the farmer sowed her seed.  She scattered it afield and waited.  Waited to see what would grow.  In the same way we need to participate in our community and with each event with each opportunity to serve we must not only serve but let people know who we are.  Who we are as a community.  That we are working to bring forth this radical message of an all loving inclusive God.

You see you say it over and over and over again and you offer that welcome that invitation over and over and again and eventually something will grow, someone will say yes.  I want to be a part of that. But you have to be persistent, you must not and cannot be picky about who you might be brave enough to speak to.  Sometimes it may mean you might seem annoying to a person and at another time it may be the most needed invitation someone needs to hear.

We have people who come to the church seeking help.  Sometimes it’s for food, sometimes for gas, sometimes for rent, sometimes it’s for prayer and or just to talk to someone. Most time we will never see them again and other times they maybe a regular visitor seeking assistance.  Sometimes I we may be conned most of the times I suspect not.  It doesn’t matter I treat them all the same. I offer what resources I can, I offer prayer and I always invite them to join us on Sunday.

The results of those encounters I honestly cannot say.  That’s not the point we do not share our gifts, our ministries to see results.  We share our ministries and resources because that is what we are called to do. As you may recall the farmer scattered the seed. It falls where it will but on the occasion that it falls in the right place the yield was a hundred-fold, in another sixty-fold and still another thirty. I hear this part of Jesus parable and I hear …do not worry about the results.

This is about hearing Gods call to care for our brothers and sisters spreading Gods message of all-inclusive love to all we encounter and using words if we must. Through that indiscriminate ministry we are sowing seeds and some, just some may flourish.

So again, I am asking you when you leave this place.  In your spiritual practice and prayer life pray for this congregational and the community around you.  Where are we being called to sow the seeds of Love.  Where do we need to be more active in our community?  Do we need a mission trip?  Do we need to sign up for a habitat project?  Do we need to reach out to our neighbor churches and see if there is something we can do together for we are stronger together than as one little congregation?  Hold these ideas in prayer and remember this is your congregation, your church, let’s make it yours.

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[1] David N. Mosser, The Abingdon Preaching Annual 2011 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2010), 219.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid., 219.

[4] Ibid., 221.

Slow Down Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

"Slow Down" Lyrics

by Chuck Girard | from the album All Those Years

 In the midst of my confusion

In the time of desperate need

When I am thinking not too clearly

A gentle voice does intercede

Slow down, slow down, be still

Be still and wait, on the Spirit of.... the Lord

Slow down and hear His vo.......ice

And know that He....is....God

In the time of tribulation

When I'm feeling so unsure

When things are pressing in about me

Comes a gentle voice so still, so pure

Slow down, slow down, be still

Be still and wait, on the Spirit of.......the Lord

Slow down and hear His vo.......ice

And know that He.........is God

And know that He....is...God

©1974 Dunamis Music[1]

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.  I’ll show how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you will learn to live freely and lightly”[2] – The message

Recover your life! What a warm and welcoming invitation. This is an invitation many need to hear and yet few, very few, take the time to heed.  Even on this day, this day of rest we continue to worship at the altar of Busyness.  Not only do we not heed the message to slow down and breathe but I fear if our bodies didn’t tell us to just stop now and then many of us would run our selves right into the ground until we are facing the wrong side of the grass.

Now this call, I wish it were a commandment, but it is a call, an invitation an open door to a space in the spirit where she says; to come sit, breathe, be in my presence. This call isn’t just for the weary worker or the tired traveler.  This is an invitation to all and especially those who have been so burdened by society they are nearly broken.

This invitation is one to each one of us and to those who are not here and have not heard the invitation.  This is for those worn down by a strict religious creed.  This call is for those who have been excluded from their home communities where they are beaten down and told repeatedly that they are going to hell unless they repent and change.  This invitation is for those who are marginalized in their worship spaces to a point that they are exhausted by attending what should be a prayerful service.

This is a call of practice.  This a way of being of Christ, that one must develop.  There is the practice of an honest and sincere welcome.  This is a practice of community. This is a practice that takes work.  It takes work because not everyone wants to be welcoming at the same time.  Right?  There are days when we can do the welcoming into sacred still space and there are days when we really need to be in that still quiet space for ourselves.

We are blessed that in 2000 this congregation went through an intentional process and wrote and adopted an open and affirming covenant.  Now many of us think of that ONA is just for the LGBTQ community but the way it is written we are proclaiming our self a safe welcoming space for all people.

The congregation of the united Church of Christ in Petaluma declares itself to be open and affirming of all God’s people. We commit ourselves to nurturing a faith community where all the people who seek love and grace of God are welcomed and loved, regardless of race, ethnic or national origin,  (in this part of the statement we may consider being an immigrant welcoming and/or a sanctuary church or a Black Lives Matter congregation) we welcome regardless of age ( there is a new curriculum to be an age- friendly congregation),we welcome regardless of gender( there is a call to be careful around our use of pronouns and to be aware that some people do not identify on a gender binary scale), we welcome all no matter their sexual orientation, physical or mental abilities ( is there a group who may want to study what it means to be a wise church which is a program offered by the UCC mental health network), we welcome no matter your economic condition ( perhaps we need to make a stronger connection with cots) we welcome no matter to your marital status ( we need to be aware that sometimes being the single person in a congregation that often focuses on families may be difficult).

We openly welcome and invite all to join in the worship, fellowship, membership, employment and leadership of our congregation, and to participate fully in the life of the church (Perhaps someone has not done so in a long time but always wanted to participate in service, offer companionship to some of our shut-in community or work on our board?  This is your invitation who knew it  has been here all this time).

In affirming the value of ALL God’s people, we;

·      Recognize that we are all created by, loved and accepted as God’s children;

·      Believe God’s children are gifted by God with unique talents and attributes;

·      Believe we are born with God-given dignity, and that all people share the worth that comes from being unique individuals created by God;

·      Respect the dignity and self-worth of all persons.

We believe we are called by Jesus’ teachings to love our neighbors as ourselves. We commit ourselves to reach out (anyone have any ideas on how we may reach out more to our community) we are committed to reach out to all who wish to worship and affirm their faith in God. We commit ourselves to respond to the needs of those who have experienced exclusion, prejudice and discrimination in Christian Churches as well as in society.

Now that I have read all that I am exhausted.  Being Church, Being the United Church of Christ, we are called to hard work sometimes.  That is why we need to take rest, spiritual rest in the Lord.      

Kaji Dousa writes this in Rise up spirituality for resistance

Interrupted!

There is a moment in the middle of the night. I gasp; I audibly take in so much air that anyone nearby will hear it.

I know God most closely in my sleep. For me, the overnight hours are the longest stretches of prayer I know. God and I talk in my dreams. Not exclusively—other voices work their way in as well.  But God’s most transformative healing work happens on my way to or in my sleep.  Which is why an interruption can feel so…disruptive to my soul.

What disrupts my God relationship?  The apostle Paul has a few ideas:

Hardship

Distress

Persecution

Famine

Nakedness

Peril...

All of These work their way into my gasp points of my God-time. As well they should. The spirit of the lord is upon me to proclaim liberty to the captive, and this Jesus-following posture places those of us who do advocacy work at personal risk for any of Paul’s list. And then some.

Here’s the truth: Nothing can separate us from God. But things can interrupt our experience of God. When we are breathing in Goodness- even in a snore- any disruption can make us Gasp for air.

Maybe that gasp is good. Maybe it is helpful to know that, in these moments of interruption, we are in peril if we cannot breathe God in first and foremost.

Your call to follow Jesus may put you at risk. It may make you naked, vulnerable. It may make you the target of trolls with nothing better to do than interrupt your relationship with the Lord.

Amidst all of the Peril: Get your rest. Love your God. Follow Jesus. Know ye that the Lord is good and the Lord is God. And She will always show up, always on time. Even in the still of the night.

And Kaji concludes with this Prayer

I give thanks for your ability to break through it all, o God. Even in my Slumber. Even in my unrest. In Jesus’ name.[3]

Even in her rest she gasps breathing in Gods’ goodness.  This is what is meant and what we need to do we need to lay our burdens down, slow down, rest, reflect, and be present to God with all our busyness, with all our humility and with all our pride.  Everything we have we need to take to the lord, lay it down and rest.

If that means pausing in our day for a minute to say I am here Lord be present with me as I breathe.  If that means you are called to meditation for 20 minutes each day.  If it means that at the end of the week you need to come here and lay all your stuff at the door and come inside for an hour to be present to God then welcome and rest.

Now for some of us this quiet rest is hard.  It is hard for us to be still in the lord we need to move our rest needs to be unrestful, if you will. So, for some we need to take a walking meditation. 

Carefully placing one foot in front of the other and paying attention to the feel of the path under our feet. Breathing deep and taking in our surroundings being keenly aware of our surroundings.  Being aware of the God breathe that is always around us just taking in the rhythm of nature as we walk.  For others that may even be too much, too peace filled. 

For some rest in God may express itself in taking in the heart beat and pace of a city. Watching the spirit of God moving quickly about seeing glimpses of the face of Christ in each passing person.

For others still, there is spiritual reading and reflection.  Lectio Divina a sacred praying of the scripture.  For this you simply find a quiet comfortable place.  Choose a text. Read it slowly caressing each word or phrase in your heart listening for a phrase or word that stands out to you. Take the word or phrase into yourself. Memorize it and slowly repeat it to yourself, allowing it to interact with your inner world of concerns, memories, and ideas.  Just pay attention to where God is leading you in this time of prayer and contemplation.

Some may be more visual in their need to rest with God for t those there is the practice of visio divina this practice invites one to encounter the divine through images. A prayerful consideration of and interaction with a photograph in the magazine, icon, piece of art, or other visual representation allows the viewer to experience the divine in a unique and powerful way.

For others, their time with God may come out through their own artful practices be that in taking time to paint, knit, quilt, bead, take pictures or make music.  Just as we are each one of us the face of Christ in this world so we are each unique in our spiritual rest.  But to have a spiritual practice, a spiritual place that is just for you and God, is essential in empowering us as individuals and as a community to do the work God is calling us to.

So Slow down, be still and rest in the spirit of the lord be still and know God or dance move and find God and make a connection in your unique way.  But always be attentive in your time with God.  Listen for Gods voice in your Life then take up the Yoke, Christs yoke and know whatever it is we are called to do.  We do it not alone, our burdens our not ours alone but shared in and through our relationship with Christ.

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[1] Chuck Girard, Chuck Girard (Originally published as North Hollywood, Calif.Dunamis Music, Waco, Tex: seven Thousand recordss, 1975).

[2] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2002).

[3] Vince Amlin, Rise Up! (n.p.: United Church of Christ, 2017), 41.

Pride Sunday June 25 Matthew 10:24-39

Matthew 10:24-39The Message (MSG)

24-25 “A student doesn’t get a better desk than her teacher. A laborer doesn’t make more money than his boss. Be content—pleased, even—when you, my students, my harvest hands, get the same treatment I get. If they call me, the Master, ‘Dungface,’ what can the workers expect?

26-27 “Don’t be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So, don’t hesitate to go public now.

28 “Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.

Forget About Yourself

29-31 “What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So, don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.

32-33 “Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?

34-37 “Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me.

38-39 “If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.

That was the message version of today’s reading

“One of the Major complaints of Jesus’ critics was that he ate with those he shouldn’t; his radical egalitarianism at table was threating to those elements of Judeo-Roman Society that fostered separation between people as a way of preserving the imperial status quo.”[1]

Imagine being a young follower of Christ while your parents are devout members of Jewish society.  You are in direct conflict with your parents, you are in direct conflict with your culture and you conflict with custom and law. Your acceptance of Jesus and his teachings have driven a sword between you and your family, you must choose what you know in your heart to be right, to be what you are called to be or to go home and live in suppression trying to give the illusion that all is the same though for you there has been a radical shift in your way of thinking and being.

I should stop here and warn you I am going to use a word that some may find offensive or may be concerned with my use of it that word is Queer.  Queer once a word that was used to demean gay people is now a widely accepted term used for many different reasons.

Charlie Glickman States it this way:

One of the things about the word queer that fascinates me is how many meanings it has. It can be used as an adjective, a pejorative, a noun, an identity, a sexual orientation, and as a gender identity (as in genderqueer). But there’s one use that we don’t hear as much anymore: queer is also a verb. What does it mean to queer something? There was a time when that phrase meant “to mess it up,” as in queering a business deal. While I’m glad that use has gone out of fashion, I like using queer as a verb.

To queer something, whether it’s a text, a story, or an identity, is to take a look at its foundations and question them. We can explore its limits, its biases, and its boundaries. We can look for places where there’s elasticity or discover ways we can transform it into something new. To queer is to examine our assumptions and decide which of them we want to keep, change, discard, or play with. This becomes a practice in transcending the habit of settling for pre-defined categories and creating new ones. And even when we leave something unchanged, we have changed our relationship to it.[2]

So why would I mention all this, well on this Gay pride Sunday I would venture to say that this Church has, to quote Rev. Tom Bohache, a queer sensibility. Now a “A queer sensibility that seeks to stir up and spoil the status quo of imperial heteronormativity will, like Jesus our Christ, be welcoming of everyone; we who have been kept from many tables, both literally and figuratively, dare not keep others from the table.”[3]  This is what my call is, therefore I speak of earth care, accessibility for all, I will address migrant welcoming communities and sanctuary. I will work toward a queer sensibility

Unfortunately, we know we are not there yet.  We must tell people that our church is welcoming and open to all.  Why? And Why fly the rainbow colors? Won’t that just draw attention to us?  Maybe even make us a target? We as united church of Christ and this church by covenant proclaim we are open and affirming.  This congregation voted to publicly proclaim our welcome. And we must proclaim that welcome because there are other places in the Christian landscape that don’t say anything but allow their pulpit to speak for them and often times those pulpits are not the friendliest.  We must proclaim we are an open affirming congregation because kids are still kicked out of their homes, Gay men are still attacked in the street and transgender people are murdered.  These events are not from faraway places but here in America.

My husband and I, by the way I legally could not call him my husband until just a few years ago. Each have our own personal stories and experiences.  Some painful, some joy full and all part of the struggle to reach the day when I do not have to say I am gay and it be a political statement.

I was born and raised in Detroit Mi.  I was adopted a year after my Birth by may parents who also fostered me for that first year. Two years later my brother was adopted and my sister was adopted. As a kid, I had a hard time adjusting.  I always had a social worker in school.  In grade school, I taught my counselor how to play chess, well tried too we usually ended up playing checkers.

I was bullied and picked on. Part of the issues was I had a muscle deformity and so I walked funny as a kid, my ears were too big, I couldn’t play baseball, I wasn’t very socially oriented to kids of my age…whatever, kids will find excuses to tease and or bully.  It probably didn’t help that the longest I was in one school was high school for 4 years.

When I went off to college is when my life changed.  I went into catholic seminary and there I discovered my sexuality. Not the best place to discover that or try to figure it out.  I left after the first year and transferred to school where I majored in sign language studies.  There I found other people like me. (my mother’s words not mine).  I started to get involved in the community and in 1986 I went to Detroit’s first pride rally.

It was Father’s Day, June 15^th, I had been asked to interpreter for the speakers at the rally for the march.  By then I was well known in the community for working with the gay men’s chorus, which I joined in 1983 as their interpreter, as well as serving other events around the city.  Any way it was a big deal, there was a protest march, nothing like todays pride, there were political speeches at the rally stage.  Leaders from the Michigan organization for human rights and other big wigs were going to address the crowd.

So, I am on stage and suddenly I feel this nudge it’s a camera man who wants to film the audience for the evening news report.  I thought nothing of it.  It wasn’t until I got home that I was made aware that the camera focused on me for a bit.  When I arrived home my father’s face was red and my mother was crying.  My family does have a dramatic flair.  My father yelled, my mother cried even more.  They complained because I told them I was at a human rights rally.  I said I was and they asked who rights were I fighting for?  So, I asked the rhetorical question whose do you think.  I think then was when my father used the word faggot and shortly after I left the house. We did find reconciliation and peace eventually.

It is interesting to note that before I came out I was heading out for a date one night.  My grandmother was on the phone with my mother and she asked my mom who the lucky guy was.  Needless to say, I had to make a bee line to grandmothers and have a conversation. Another odd thing or maybe not but at one point I worked for the public schools with mandatory Ed programs for disabled kids up to the age of 26.  Our campus counselor was My counselor from grade school.  I was so surprised to see her and funny thing she tells me “I always knew you were gay but we were not paid to tell you that.”  It seemed like everone knew before I did.

My mother has a group of about 6 women that she went to high school with.  They have been friends all these years and they were always around for special events.  Two of them had openly gay sons.  I think this helped them all to grow as they were their own PFLAG Group.  PFLAF stands for parents and friends of Lesbian and Gays. PFLAG is working to make sure that all people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer are not only valued by society, but take pride in and value themselves. they do this through providing peer-to-peer support, educating people on the issues that are important to the community, and advocating for inclusive policies and laws.

My life since that day took me many places. I was a practicing catholic and went to dignity for services until the catholic church told dignity  They could not meet in a church of theirs any more.  At that point I had to leave, I could not call the catholic church home anymore because I was not welcome.

In 1982 I met Brian.  Brian was the first person to address publicly that he was living with AIDS in Detroit.  His story was heard and as he relayed his pain and anger I saw someone who needed a companion.  After his speech was over I sat down next to him introduced myself to him and we had a great conversation.  I became the person that he could talk to about anything with except AIDS.  His life was educating people about AIDS he talked and lived AIDS every day. So we agreed no AIDS conversation.

Through Brian I saw the everyday struggle and what was needed.  I and a few friends formed health education association Detroit.  We were the first organization to directly fund people living with aids in order to pay emergency bills like electricity, gas etc.  In those days I spent many hours driving around Detroit  ( remember it’s an hour across town) chasing down board members signatures so I could pay many a heating or electric bill or buy some groceries.

In 1984 I had to say farewell to Brian as he did succumb to AIDS.  I was one of the few people who refused to wear what we called full Martian garb to visit.  I wore a face mask just to avoid infecting him with any cold I might be carrying. I did get to visit before he passed but he was asleep and I did not want to disturb him.  If I knew then what I know now about death and dying I would have seen that it was his last night.

Since then I do not know how many I had to say good bye too.  Aids took hundreds of thousands lives in the 80’s and 90’s.  I saw intelligent brave men slip into dementia.  I witnessed strong hearty men become shells of who they were.  The struggle for meds and dignity seemed to take forever and still goes on in many places today.

I lived in Worcester and Boston and moved to San Francisco in 1991.  Ah what a great experience October 18, 1991 I arrived in san Francisco after a 3-month journey across the united states from Dorchester Mass.  Staying at a nice little boutique hotel, getting ready to find an apartment, the morning of the 19^th the sky was funny.  It was getting dark instead of light.  Oakland firestorm had started.  When we did get an apartment and my mother asked where we were living I told her watch the 6 o’clock news they are interviewing a hooker on the street outside our building. We had a studio at Polk and Geary for 800 dollars a month.  The walk-in closet was so big we put our bed in it and used it as a tiny bedroom. I started working for the ARK san Francisco at their vocational training center for developmentally disabled adults. I had worked with his population close to 15 years.

Shortly after moving to SF I was introduced the imperial court system and all the glamour and fundraising that goes with it. For those of you who don’t know;

“In 1965, Jose Sarria proclaimed herself the Empress of San Francisco, and laid the foundation for the formation of the Imperial Court de San Francisco. Today, the International Court System (ICS) has over 65 chapters in the United States, Canada and Mexico, making us the second largest GLBT organization in the world. On October 23rd, 2015, The International Imperial Court System Celebrated its 50 Anniversary”[4]

Jose Sarria in 1961 was the first openly gay candidate for a public office in the united states and I am proud to say a friend. I love the imperial court system and all the nonprofit work they do. It was because of the Imperial court system that I met miss Ginny.

Ginny was a man who lived as woman without surgery.  She came to all the court fundraisers and events her wife would bring her in her wheelchair.  Though she was technically a straight man she found solace and acceptance in the gay community.  There was no place Safe for her in her community.  It wasn’t safe for transgender people in San Francisco yet and they had to be cautious about how they lived.

One of my friends from the transgender community was  candy sweet, she was a big ole lovable girl.  I mean big she needed two seats on the airplane.  she sewed all her own clothes and beaded all her own Gowns. She loved to perform and was well known, respected and loved around the city and yet.  On her way home one night she was attacked and killed we still do not know who did it or why.  But because nothing was stolen we can guess it was a hate crime.  But that was before there was such a legal disclaimer. I have actually lost three of my friends to Hate crimes it is impossible to comprehend or even process.

 So, a year after moving to San Francisco I declared my candidacy for grand duke. This is a public campaign and people vote, it was fun to run. Unfortunately, my boyfriend at the time was not as socially engaged as I and he said if I won I was out…well I won and I moved out the next day.

It is funny because that triggered a few things for me including burn out form caring for the extremely multiply impaired.  I went on a journey to find new job and new ways of surviving in SF. I found myself a little job working for a tour company that specialized in day trips and casino trips for the senior community.  I drove a 15 seater that had a tv and everything. I drove from sf to Jackson ranchera my stops were in alameda and up through the delta, with stops in Pittsburgh, antioch, rio vista and Isleton. I eventually worked my way up to VP in charge of PR.

I will never forget a super happy day in San Francisco it was august 1998 and we had a new headline on the cover of the Bay area reporter.

"No obituaries were filed with the paper for this issue, a first since the AIDS epidemic exploded in San Francisco's gay community," Timothy Rodrigues writes in the Aug. 13 issue of the Bay Area Reporter. Rodrigues laces this good news with a few words of caution. "That doesn't mean that there were no AIDS deaths in the past week; next week's issue may have more obits than usual," he says. However, "after more than 17 years of struggle and death, and some weeks with as many as 31 obituaries printed in the B.A.R., it seems a new reality may be taking hold, and the community may be on the verge of a new era of the epidemic," he says, adding tentatively, "Perhaps." (Rodrigues, B.A.R., 8/13 issue). An accompanying editorial, titled, "Death Takes A Holiday," states, "We tried not to get too excited about it too soon. ... So we waited patiently, quietly, to see how many this week's mail would bring. And then there were none. ... Although we fully expect to receive more obits than usual next week, for such is the nature of life and death, we also hope to see a time when issues of the B.A.R. without obituaries are commonplace" (Bay Area Reporter, 8/13).[5]

This is just some of my story.  I am just one story and this has actually been a few peoples story.  But this story, me I wish I had you when I first came out.  I wish I knew that there was a safe place where gay straight bi transgender questioning people can gather and worship safely without Judgement.  Maybe, just maybe my friends would have lived longer, maybe just maybe one young person would not have committed suicide.

Maybe just maybe someone, someone here today has experienced the acceptance they have always sought because we are an open and affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ and that is why we need a rainbow outside.  That is why we need to proclaim it loud.  We need to be the safe alternative for Christians so that they know there is a loving God that made them perfect just the way they are.  Please let you Queer Sensibility Continue to Shine.

On that note, I also want to say happy ordination anniversary to Bill Johnson for it was 45 years ago today that he was the first openly Gay man to be ordained to mainline ministry. It was 60 years ago today that the united Church of Christ as a denomination came into existence.  So happy anniversary to the denomination and we forgot to mention that technically two weeks ago was this Churches anniversary the first church to vote to become United Church of Christ. So Please let you Queer Sensibility Continue to Shine. Let us continue to be a place that honors and welcomes the marginalized.  Happy Pride Sunday.

---

[1] Deryn Guest et al., eds., The Queer Bible Commentary (London: SCM Press, 2006).

[2] Charlie Glickman, What does Queer Mean, April 6, 2012, accessed June 20, 2017, http://charlieglickman.com/queer-is-a-verb/.

[3] Guest et al., The Queer Bible Commentary, 514.

[4] Imperial Court System, 50 years of Noble deeds, 2015, accessed June 21, 2017, http://www.impcourt.org/8-about-us/213-about-us-2.

[5] California Healthline, Aids Deaths: Bay Area Reporter Posts No Obits, August 17, 1998, accessed June 22, 2017, http://californiahealthline.org/morning-breakout/aids-deaths-bay-area-reporter-posts-no-obits-endstoryhed/.

Lets talk about some B.I.G.S. Mathew 9:35-10:8

A tourist collected a few of the signs in English that monolingual Americans traveling abroad must contend with:

In an airline ticket office in Copenhagen, there is this promise: “We take your bags and send them in all directions.”

A Swiss restaurant announces to its customers that “Our wines leave you with nothing to hope for.”

An Acapulco hotel posts a sign assuring its customers that “The manager has personally passed all the water served here.”

But my favorite is a sign spotted in Paris. One of the city’s finer hotels invites its visitors to “Please leave your values at the front desk” (1)

As a church I believe we have not lost our values but, sometimes , we tend to store them away and pull them out when they are convenient. Our values are meant to be the place from where we act and how we respond to this world in Christs love and yet often we hesitate to act as called for fear it will change the way the church acts, it will change the way the congregation looks or it will change the way the Church grows.

Dr. Mickey Anders shares this story:

“Many years ago Betty, a prominent citizen of our community and church, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She lived with the disease for eight years deteriorating a little more each year. About two years before she died our church hired a new minister, Mickey, and he began visiting with Betty. When she died and Mickey began to prepare his sermon he realized he never knew Betty as everyone else had known her. He had witnessed Betty striped of inhibitions and totally dependent on others to care for her. All he had ever heard her say was, “I love you.” All he had ever seen her do was smile.

At Betty’s funereal Mickey shared this observation with us and used an onion as an analogy to her life. An onion starts with a core and adds layers as it matures. As in life each experience and thought is layered to our core. Mickey pointed out that Betty’s core was love and he met her without any layers. “What is your core made of?” was his question to the congregation. I was not sure what my core was made of at that time, but I wanted my core to be love, too.”[1]

I would hope, actually I believe, the core of this church, of this community is love. I would suggest to you that our text for today contains the clues to our core values.

Matthew 9:35-38 says: “Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.  But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest.'”

Here the text of Mathew is taking Jesus’ ministry and moving into a broader context.  The twelve are named and then sent out but not just sent out to do Jesus’ work, but to continue his ministry. Now Jesus, according to Mathew, focuses his ministry on the Jewish Community.  Which is fine for now but of course the ministry moves beyond that.

“Matthew’s text moves from one phase of Jesus’ ministry into the next. For the past two chapters, Matthew has been busy stockpiling healing and miracle stories one after another in order to build an indisputable case that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah”[2] This is Mathews intent that Jesus ministry was in the beginning for and about the Jewish people but later that ministry, well as we say in today’s context, evolves.

Yet we are just at the end of chapter nine and the beginning of ten Jesus is not challenged for his exclusionary vision until chapter 15 more than half way through Mathews story of Jesus and his ministry. You see in chapter 15 Jesus meets a Canaanite woman who challenges his belief that his ministry is only for the Jewish people.

Oh how often has the Christian faith been used to exlude?  How often has Justification for so much pain and suffering been through the misinterpretation of the sacred scriptures?  How often does it continue?

Listen to Leviticus “17 Speak to Aaron and say: No one of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the food of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, one who is blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19 or one who has a broken foot or a broken hand, 20 or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or a man with a blemish in his eyes or an itching disease or scabs…” (Leviticus 21:17-21)

Because our denomination can trace its history all the way back to the pilgrims and the puritans we can acknowledge the great pain we have caused by being exclusionary and yet, we can be very proud for many times we are the first to break down those barriers that call for the exclusion of others.

Rev. Sam Sewell wrote the first anti-slavery pamphlet in 1700.  The old south meeting house upset about an unfair tea tax inspired the first act of civil disobedience the Boston tea party in 1773 and quite frankly we as a church have maintained that tradition of civil disobedience for all these centuries.  The

1817 -“Rev. Thomas Gallaudet went to Europe to learn new forms of communicating with those without hearing. He opened the Connecticut Asylum for the Education of Deaf and Dumb Persons in 1817, supported by voluntary contributions and subsidized by the state.  In 1856, the school for the deaf later named Gallaudet University opened in Washington, D.C.”[3]

In 1853 the first woman pastor was ordained.

 In 1858 we became the first community to openly defy slavery laws “Members of First Congregational Church in Oberlin, Ohio join others from Oberlin College and the local community, both blacks and whites, in defying the Fugitive Slave Law. They rescue a captured runaway slave, John Price, from the hotel where he is being held in nearby Wellington, Ohio. Twenty are arrested and held in jail in Cleveland. Price is hidden and sent along on the underground railroad to Canada. The Oberlin Wellington Rescue Case helps raise opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law, one cause of the Civil War.”[4]

In 1972 the UCC ordained its first openly gay pastor being the first mainline protestant Church to ordain an openly gay person.

1976 the “General Synod elects the Rev. Joseph H. Evans president of the United Church of Christ. He becomes the first African American leader of a racially integrated mainline church in the United States.”[5]

In 1977 we had the first person to lead UCC disability ministries.

In 2005 we become the first mainline protestant denomination to affirm same gender marriage.

This curve of our own history actually shows we are kind of slow learners.  I mean for thousand s of years the church movement from before Christian history was exclusive.  We discriminated and hated in the name of God.

This denomination has a radical history in the united states and yet I would say we are still learning, still growing, still evolving. The first ordained African American pastor was in 1785 and yet we are still protesting and seeking equality for people of color.  We acknowledge we still have a long way to go.

The first school for the deaf was established in 1856 but not until 1970’s do we officially have a ministry that intentionally seeks out equality for those with disabilities and only 7 churches in the united church of Christ are recognized as accessible to all, and only two conferences one of which is northern California Nevada.

Considering the first church to serve the LGBTQ community was started in 1968 and stonewall riot was in 1969 to be the first mainline denomination to ordain an openly gay minister was a pretty sharp curve towards equality and yet... Yet there are 5032 churches in the UCC and only 1300 proclaim they are  ONA.

Of ordained Authorized ministers 3528 are women and 3672 are men and 10 identify as transgender.

What does all of this have to do with us?  Why am I spilling out this long history of how the churches ministry evolved and is evolving?  It is for the love of Christ we have got work to do.

 I praise you for this church is very accessible and should the board find it prudent I believe we can become one of those accessible to all churches in no time.  This church proclaims it is ONA and statistically we are very ONA and that is good.  But you cannot just be ONA you must proclaim it.  You cannot be just accessible to all you must tell people.  You cannot be a church that proclaims that no matter who you are or where you are in life’s journey you are welcome here, inside the walls of the church, you have to tell someobody.

So how do we tell somebody?  How do we reach out to our neighbors and friends and let them know that we are alive and well and care about our Brothers and sisters in Petaluma.  How do we let people know we have a story to tell?  How do we let people know that we are a unique congregation who really want to do more than just sit on a hill on a quiet Sunday and enjoy the worship and then go home?

We need to seek out our neighbors, we need to reach out to those in need in our community.  We need to be the church that shines on the hill as an example of what the kindom of God can look like here and now. At annual gathering many spoke of how the UCC is the best kept secret in the Church.  It is time to start sharing that secret.

General Synod is Coming up this is the gathering of our Churches nationwide exciting new things and ideas always comes out of this conference.  I do not know what I will hear or learn at this conference but I can share with you what has come out of a conference in the past.

Core Purpose

Drawn together by the Holy Spirit, we are a distinct and diverse community of Christians that come together as one church, joining faith and action. In covenant with the church in all of its settings, we serve God in the co-creation of a just and sustainable world as made manifest in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Core Values

Continuing Testament

Our faith is 2000 years old. Our thinking is not. God is still speaking,

Extravagant Welcome

No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you're welcome here.

Changing Lives

Never place a period where God has placed a comma

Bold, Inspirational Goals (BIGS)

1. Bold, Public Voice

The UCC is a bold, widely-known and respected public voice of Christianity in service of God's ever-unfolding mission.

2. Welcoming, Reachable Congregations

There is a welcoming UCC community of faith that is accessible to all — no matter who they are or where they are on life's journey.

3. Engaged Discipleship

Every UCC person is well-equipped to be growing in faith, biblically-literate, theologically conversant, and active in the national and global mission of the church.

4. Excellent, Diverse Leaders

The UCC has a wealth of prepared, excellent leaders that reflect the diversity of God's beloved community.

Initiatives (as of May 1, 2014)

Reading Changes Lives

A sustained all-church literacy initiative that acknowledges that literacy is a social justice issue and seeks to educate the wider church about literacy's impact on a wide range of social justice issues. An inaugural "One Read" will be launched in September 2014, followed by "March Forth for Literacy" in March 2015 with measurable goals. Additional events and projects will continue throughout 2015.

Extravagance UCC

Launched in July 2013, Extravagance UCC is a new church start and online community that is accessible to all who want to experience and deepen their faith in relationship to the United Church of Christ, without regard to geographic location.

The Congo Initiative

The Congo Initiative is a programmatic emphasis of Global Ministries, the shared ministry of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).  Introduced in July 2013, this 18-month initiative addresses the Congo crisis by working with our churches and Congolese partners in the areas of advocacy, education, people-to-people exchanges and fundraising support.

Justice Leaders Engaging & Developing (LED)

Justice Leaders Engaging & Developing (LED) is a flexible, biblically-grounded, non-issue-based justice curriculum and training program designed to engage and develop justice leaders for the church and community.  The newly expanded program includes webinars focused on justice best practices and strategies to support individuals and congregations following their initial training. 

The Stillspeaking Leadership Institute

A unique leadership development network designed to equip, connect, and sustain lay and clergy leaders within the United Church of Christ of all ages and diversities with creative and cutting-edge leadership skills to further the mission and ministry of the church.

Intercultural Ministries Rising

An inspiring model of ministry approach toward Intercultural Multi-ethnic (I'M) Ministries that is led by prepared and committed clergy and laypersons.  Extravagant welcome is demonstrated through justice engagement, and diverse practices of hospitality and accessibility, vibrant worship, and faith formation. 

The Stillspeaking Worship Institute

An inspiring model of ministry approach toward worship, hosted by diverse local churches or other settings, with an emphasis on the experience of culturally diverse, accessible and replicable approaches to worship — with lived, shared experiences as the primary teaching tools.  The first Institute will be held in fall 2014.

Testimony!

Since 2006, more than 250 new UCC congregations have opened their doors, establishing progressive justice-minded faith communities across the United States. That equals more new congregations than at any other time since the 1960s. The Testimony! initiative is working to support even more new UCC congregations that are demonstrating great promise for growth and vitality. The initiative has already raised more than $325,000 toward its initial $1 million goal.

The "Faith, In" Project  

Introduced in July 2012 at National Youth Event, the "Faith, In" Project is a missional "God is still speaking," ministry and marketing initiative that further positions the United Church of Christ in its engagement with God's movement in the neighborhoods, towns and cities where God calls us to serve.  More than 150 congregations have already lifted up "faith, in" their local communities, and the project continues to bring focus to innovative and community-engaged ministries across the life of the UCC.

Mission 4/1 Earth 

Mission 4/1 Earth was introduced, with measurable environmental goals, as an all-church mission initiative during the 50-day Eastertide period in 2013.  During this short time period, congregations planted more than 140,000 trees, participated in more 600,000 hours of environmental care, and wrote more than 50,000 advocacy letters about environmental justice.  Mission 4/1 Earth's initial event raised significant awareness around the church about climate change and environmental ministries. Congregations continue to participate in designated Mission 4/1 Earth projects and program[6]

Now these were national initiatives some are ongoing some have changed their names or morphed into something new. But the idea is we are called to be more than just Sunday.. we are called to reach beyond these walls.  We need to let Petaluma know about our extravagant welcome.

So I want us as a congregation to pray, to imagine, to dream BIG and let’s get to work to reach out and be intentional in our commitment to welcome all.

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[1] Dr. Mickey Andrews, Compassion Workers, 2005, accessed June 13, 2017, http://www.sermonwriter.com/sermons/matthew-935-108-compassion-workers-anders.

[2] Ibid.

[3] UCC, UCC Firsts, 2014, accessed June 14, 2017, http://www.ucc.org/god-is-still-speaking/firsts/ucc-firsts.html.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] UCC, UCC Vision Plan, http://www.ucc.org/vision_plan.