II Advent

From MamaBishop, the Rt Rev. Carol Gallagher reflecting on Luke 20:34-40:

Some days on waking light
filtering through windows dusty
eyes sleep swollen and stumbling
are these feet alive
or dead waking to new life?

Some nights tossing worrying
mistakes tiptoe around me
night visitors in shadow and whisper
I wonder what heaven might be like.

Some afternoons as the sun
burns into my working shoulders
digging in the garden's soil
life hidden away and vibrant
still I hope
to see you again.

I know the promise and ache
for more than a picture to hold
an old scarf you knitted
a brief laugh or song you might
sing me at night when fears
surrounded and you
held me tight.

You are raised to life and I
waiting to know you fully again
can only ache from the distance
knowing we will laugh and dance
again together when I
am raised like you.

Once in Royal David's City

Tree is up - time to decorate -- come Christmas ---

Advent 1

If your heart yearns for a more it doesn’t know,
if you’ve suffered blow after blow
and can barely dare to lift your head,
if you’ve ever wished you’d rather been -
if you’ve bled, or tried to bind a wound
if you’ve cried then tied a knot to choke
the flow of hope before it can open up
a way to disappoint again
and leave you broken
then this is for you.
If you’ve longed, if you’ve wronged,
if you choke on the words to your favourite song,
if you need a Doctor,
or you’re beyond
medical help
then come.
If you’re cracked, if you’re splintered,
if your Winter is just too long,
if this Winter is just too long,
(but the thought of Spring is terrifying,)
then come.
Because Jesus came
for the broken brother and sister,
the ache, the pain and the blister,
the wrong decision,
the open wound
the blurred vision
the won’t-ever-hope-again.
Jesus came
for the insane, the unfulfilled, the searching
the street child, the tramp and the urchin,
the poor little rich girl snorting coke and
cursing, and the man who sold it to her.
Jesus came for those nursing a need,
nursing a drink
out of control,
on the blink,
on the brink,
falling overboard, and about to -
sobbing at the kitchen sink.
Jesus came for those the world drives mad,
for the bad, yes the bad,
Jesus came for the bad,
so if that’s never been you,
then fine, just go, because
Jesus didn’t come for the well, the swell,
“the hell – I’ve got everything I need”
the nothing’s-lacking, the non-cracking up.
He’s not interested in courting the sorted
he came to fill the cup of the thirsty,
the worst, the broken, the burst open,
Jesus came for the sick.
the packed-up, the cracked-up,
the smashed, hopes dashed, and the picked-on,
the meek, the weak, the stuttering,
those who blush when they speak
and the walked-out-on.
Jesus came for the left behind,
for the cheats and the cheated,
the ones who crossed the line
and the ones who still don’t know where to begin.
Jesus came for the people who know how it feels
when you say “sin”
for the broken to open,
to break for those who choke,
for the people who don’t have everything we need,
for the ones who know we need hope.

© Jude Simpson 2007



h/t to Lesley's Blog

Miss Young Person on The Covenant

It is good to be alive

Happy Thanksgiving

O God, it is good to be alive,
and numbered with the people
whom thou has made:
and I thank thee for thy gift of life.

O God, it is good to have the power of thought,
and to seek and learn and know:
and I thank thee for thy gift of mind.

O God, it is good to dwell beneath the sun
in the world which is thy handiwork:
and I thank thee for earth’s beauty,
and thy rule within its laws.

O God, it is good to come to each new day,
and to find the passing years
a cure for wounds innumerable,
and I thank thee for the ministries of time.

O God, it is good to count in word and deed
for ends beyond our own:
and I thank thee for thy use of me
if I have been of any service to thy purposes.

O God, it is good to rejoice and to be glad,
and I thank thee for each person,
for each experience of life,
that has brought me happiness.

O God, it is good to feel the disciplines
that school the spirit,
and I thank thee for the trials and troubles
which have wrought in me some hardihood of soul.

O God, it is good to have thine everlasting arms beneath us,
and I thank thee now for all thy mercies,
both temporal and spiritual,
those I have known, those I have not recognized,
wherewith thou has upheld me
in thy wisdom, power, and love.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heav’nly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

“An Act of Thanksgiving to God for Great Blessings” by Miles Lowell Yates, quoted in Give Us Grace: An Anthology of Anglican Prayers, compiled by Christopher L. Webber. Copyright © 2004. Used by permission of Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. www.morehousepublishing.com

No Anglican Covenant - the blog

No Anglican Covenant Coalition has started a blog to go with the web site, Facebook page, and Twitter presence. An international coalition of faithful Anglicans who believe the proposed Covenant will change the essential nature of Anglicanism by making it a centralized church were experimentation is discouraged, local evangelism is strangled and cultural differences are no longer respected. Join the conversation at Comprehensive Unity: The No Anglican Covenant blog.

XXV Pentecost

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent
enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is
another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about: we plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in
realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very
well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the
way, an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders,ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.


~~attributed to Oscar Romero 1917-1980

from Edge of Enclosure

XXV Pentecost

Sermon by the Rev. Robert Morrison, St. Alban's, Albany, OR for Proper 28, 25th Pentecost.

“If we don't do it, there's no one else who will.” What a challenge that sentence brings to us all! What great encouragement, that someone will be there for whatever eventuality, but especially in time of need. Yet how disappointing – that there’s the possibility that no one else may be there!

Sometimes life can feel lonely and stressful. Sometimes, whatever it is we have to do, sometimes it DOES feel that no one else is paying attention or caring. Yet, as we reflected last week on all God’s Saints, somehow there nearly always seems to be at least one person who’s willing to step in and do whatever it takes for a situation to be celebrated, or defused, or brought to completion.

Actually, that opening sentence comes from a source which I find a little surprising. It was Cynthia Deitle speaking. She’s the unit chief for the FBI’s civil rights program, and she was talking about why enforcing hate crime laws is a priority. The whole quote is, “We are here to help people who have been the victim of an atrocious crime, whether it's police brutality or a church arson. If we don't do it, there's no one else who will.” 1

It’s terrible to be cynical, but I have to admit surprise at the fact that a Government official from a law enforcement agency which some might consider occasionally less than immediate or compassionate – that THAT is the person and the agency which offers such a reassuring comment. After all, we’re much more inclined to laugh at the joke, “Hello. I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help you.”!

Things may indeed be turning around if the official FBI position shows such a sign of hope. What remains scary, though, is the fact that it’s still true that if you and I as individuals – if the BAC – if this congregation – doesn’t do anything, who will?
Maybe that’s what sickened me when I read, last Monday, about “a brawl outside a house party. A woman hit a man, and the man refused to strike back, saying he wouldn't hit a girl. Instead, he vowed to attack the next male who walked by, even if that person was a random stranger.

“That's when 18-year-old Bobby Tillman happened to approach a group of four partygoers. Authorities said they swiftly stomped, kicked and punched him to death while dozens of bystanders watched.
“‘He had nothing to do with anything,’ said Maj. Tommy Wheeler of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. ‘They just decided he’s the one. And they killed him.’” 2

These are supposed to be human beings! What made it worse in my mind was that the day before I’d seen and smiled at a photo of macaques in Japan. “Huddled for warmth,” read the caption, “macaques press their bodies into a vast ball of fur. The monkeys’ relaxed social hierarchy allows high- and low-ranking individuals to share the same tight space.” 3
What is it that allows and motivates monkeys in Shodo Shima to act in such a way that they don’t press any sort of seniority or privilege so that all can not only survive but benefit; what is it that motivates these monkeys that eludes eighteen-year-old human beings in Georgia?

This becomes all the more striking when you consider that last verse from the first reading. YES, it looks far more likely that the wolf and the lamb will eat and lie down together than humans can develop and ensure compassion, and justice, and mercy.
Yet we still cling to hope. That’s what we’re about as followers of Jesus. We believe that things DO change, however slowly. We believe that, somehow “It gets better”, no matter how horrendously some treat others.
God WILL make all things new. We’re so impatient, though. We want the new NOW!

The seventeenth-century Puritan theologian, John Owen wrote that “God could, if I may so say, more easily have made a new world of innocent creatures, and have governed them by the old covenant, than have established this new one for the salvation of poor sinners; but then, where had been the glory of forgiveness? It could never have been known that there was forgiveness with Him. The old covenant could not have been preserved and sinners pardoned. Wherefore, God chose to leave the covenant than sinners unrelieved, than grace unexalted and pardon unexercised...” 4

This talks about our seeming insatiability for instant gratification and everything shiny, and it can make us think our own personal needs and agendas should come first. But that’s not the way it should be. God’s agenda comes first – and that CAN annoy us. So much so that when our way isn’t followed, when we have to step back to let another person exercise her gifts, even when we risk some form of abuse, we need to remember that God’s goal is for the entirety of creation to be renewed. Not just wolves, not just lambs, not just cattle – not just human beings, but everything!

But how we chafe at the bit when we don’t find our own desires met. An Op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times put it succinctly with its headline: “‘America the timorous.’” Then it went on, “Our self-image is one of bold action. In reality, Americans resist change, pressing the government to act boldly only when a national calamity forces it upon us.” 5
This isn’t an indictment of us alone, however. I think it’s human nature to resist change, no matter what the promised outcome. It’s human nature to shrink back when something new or unusual surfaces. It’s human nature to become defensive when we feel threatened. But the point of Jesus’ conversation is that, actually, this is NOT what human nature is supposed to be like. Even if everyone else around us seems to be losing his or head and panicking or being greedy, or being violent, Jesus encourages us to hold on to the hope which can never be taken away from us, no matter how disturbed we may be.

More than that, though. Because the hope and the promise of the renewal of everything, we must be willing to stand with the FBI unit chief. We have to stand with others until they can trust enough to know that they’ll be renewed as well as us.
What would have happened if even one more person had stood beside Bobby Tillman? It’s possible that the savagery would have continued, but at least Bobby would have known that he wasn’t alone, and would never be alone.

Jesus wasn’t kidding when He spoke of wars, and suspicion, and fear. He Himself was subjected to so much of it that He knew what can happen to us. It filled Him with such sadness to see some people struggling to conform to society, not matter what was happening; struggling to maintain the status quo or better in their own personal lives while doing very little struggling to encourage and support others that they might find that special someone who shines so much hope-filled love and light into their lives.

THAT’S what the message of hope is all about. THAT is what it means to be renewed. And we need to remind ourselves of this again and again. Jesus calls us to be a people of risk-taking. Jesus calls us to not only SAY we believe. Jesus wants us to DO what we believe. As is obvious – to believe is an active verb, not a passive noun.

Often it seems that the easiest way to deal with conflicting views, or difficult situations, or controversial decisions is to behave in an attitude of anxiety or fear. That’s where Neil Gabler, the historian, journalist and author of the LA Times OP-Ed article seems to perceive many in this country right now.

“Instead of bold adventurers confronting our demons,” he concluded, “we are a nation of the frightened, hoping to turn back the clock and railing against the only tool that can really help us: action.”

I agree. Action is necessary. But I have to define it by saying that your actions and my actions are to be built on unshakable faith, and hope, and love.

This where Paul’s words seem to hit home so strongly on point today. We’re tired of seeing those headlines about people suffering; about natural disasters; about selfish and stupid behaviour that obliterates human kindness for whatever reason. The readings speak to us in our tiredness and remind us that we CAN be cheerful in the face of stress. So the writer to the Thessalonians begs us all “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers (or anyone else) who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For (we all) know how (we) ought to imitate (the apostles);” The apostles “worked night and day …. in order to give (us) an example to imitate. … Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.”

We may not have been aware of it, but we were called here this morning to hear God talking to us about having hope, of not being overwhelmed by people talking about how much destruction there is in our society. We have been brought here to have our life and witness affirmed. You and I have been brought here so that we can stand firm with others. The New Jerusalem is not yet here – it IS coming, of that we can be sure. But there’s work to be done, and Cynthia Deitle’s comment still rings in my ears. Let me change it a little to end with a question about mission and evangelism, and everything else about our lives as Christians. If we don't do it, (who) else who will?


NOTES
1 Cynthia M. Deitle, unit chief for the FBI's civil rights program, on why enforcing hate crime laws is a priority. (Source:Washington Post)
2 “Brawlers beat random stranger to death in Georgia” By GREG BLUESTEIN Associated Press Monday, November 8, 2010 5:17 PM EST
http://www.charter.net/news/read.php?rip_id=%3CD9JC7DSO0%40news.ap.org%3E&ps=1011
3 http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/breathtaking-visions-of-earth
4 John Owen (1616-1683), An Exposition upon Psalm CXXX [1668], in Works of John Owen, v. VI, New York: R.Carter amp Bros., 1851, p. 475 See the book at http://cqod.com/r/rs527
5 “‘America the timorous’ Our self-image is one of bold action. In reality, Americans resist change, pressing the government to act boldly only when a national calamity forces it upon us.” By Neal Gabler 7:00 AM PDT, October 25, 2010 http://link.latimes.com/r/NAT6JL/GBTKX/S1PM6R/UHZZ8/2OI7JH/OS/h

No Anglican Covenant Coalition emerges

Today, on the celebration of Richard Hooker, a new international coalition of Anglicans/Episcopalians has launched a campaign to oppose the Anglican Covenant as it is currently proposed. With the following news release the coalition argues against the Covenant. The coalition believes that the current Covenant will:

*Bring historic changes to the nature of Anglicanism

*Trade a vibrant and colorful Anglicanism for drab uniformity

*Impede local mission and destroy creative evangelism

*Trade local oversight for a centralized decision making

News release:

INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN SEEKS
TO STOP ANGLICAN COVENANT

LONDON – An international coalition of Anglicans has been created to campaign against the proposed Anglican Covenant. Campaigners believe the proposed Covenant constitutes unwarranted interference in the internal life of the member churches of the Anglican Communion, would narrow the acceptable range of belief and practice within Anglicanism, and would prevent further development of Anglican thought. The Coalition’s website (noanglicancovenant.org) will provide resources for Anglicans around the world to learn about the potential risks of the proposed Anglican Covenant.

“We believe that the majority of the clergy and laity in the Anglican Communion would not wish to endorse this document,” according to the Coalition’s Moderator, the Revd. Dr. Lesley Fellows, who is also the Coalition’s Convenor for the Church of England. “Apart from church insiders, very few people are aware of the Covenant. We want to encourage a wider discussion and to highlight the problems the Covenant will cause.”

The idea of an Anglican Covenant was first proposed in 2004 as a means to address divisions among the member churches of the Anglican Communion on matters ranging from human sexuality to the role of women. The current draft of the Covenant, which has been unilaterally designated as the “final” draft, has been referred to the member churches of the Communion. The proposed Covenant establishes mechanisms which would have the effect of forcing member churches to conform to the demands and expectations of other churches or risk exclusion from the Communion.

Critics of the proposed Anglican Covenant, including members of the new Coalition, believe that it will fundamentally alter the nature of historic Anglicanism in several ways, including the narrowing of theological views deemed acceptable, the erosion of the freedom of the member churches to govern themselves, and the concentration of authority in the hands of a small number of bishops. Two English groups, Inclusive Church and Modern Church, ran anti-Covenant advertisements in last week’s Church Times and the Church of England Newspaper aiming to make more members of the Church of England aware of the dangers of the proposed Anglican Covenant.

"If the Anglican Communion has a problem, this is not the solution,” according to former Bishop of Worcester Peter Selby. “Whether those who originated the Covenant intended it or not, it is already, and will become even more, a basis for a litigious Communion from which some will seek to exclude others."

The launch of the No Anglican Covenant Coalition website coincides with the commemoration of the sixteenth-century theologian Richard Hooker. “Hooker taught us that God’s gifts of scripture, tradition, and reason will guide us to new insights in every age,” according to the Canadian priest and canon law expert, the Revd. Canon Alan Perry. “The proposed Anglican Covenant would freeze Anglican theology and Anglican polity at a particular moment. Anglican polity rejected control by foreign bishops nearly 500 years ago. The proposed Anglican Covenant reinstates it.”

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition began in late October with a series of informal email conversations among several international Anglican bloggers concerned that the Covenant was being rushed through the approval process before most Anglicans had any opportunity to learn how the proposed new structures would affect them.

No Anglican Covenant Coalition

Revd. Dr Lesley Fellows (England) +44 1844 239268
Dr. Lionel Deimel (USA) +1-412-512-9087
Revd. Malcolm French (Canada) +1-306-550-2277
Revd. Lawrence Kimberley (New Zealand) +64 3 981 7384

Join the Coalition at Facebook

Follow us at Twitter -- @nocovenant #nocovenant

XXIII Pentecost

Readings are here.

Luke 19:1-10 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much." Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

As soon as we read this Gospel I can almost hear the Sunday School song running through your minds. Though we know this story well, as with all familiar stories it is easy to miss the point Jesus is making. We know Zacchaeus is a tax collector and rich - both things make him despised in his time. Tax collectors were "of the people" but not "for the people." They collected taxes for the Roman Empire which paid for the soldiers who often made their lives miserable. They got rich by adding something on for themselves. We know he is so short that he has to climb a tree to see over the crowds. We know Jesus invites himself to Zacchaeus house to stay with him. So what's the point?

This story is found in between the blind beggar who wants to see again and the parable of the talents - the story of the people entrusted with someone else's wealth and what they do with that wealth. In some ways Zacchaeus is blind - blind to his true self but seeking something. Perhaps he is wondering why his parent's named him Zacchaesus which means "Pure" - and how far he has come from that ideal. He has climbed a tree of his own choosing - put himself "up a tree" by his pursuit of wealth - not a bad thing in itself but by means were less than "pure." Others have also put him up the tree - they do not make room for him in the community - as shown by his need to climb the tree - instead of having a place along with the others. He has great riches - but what has he made of the things he has obtained. Does he feel gratitude or does he think he deserves it because he was clever and earned.

So we find Zacchaeus up the tree of his own and others making. Seeking to see this person of whom he has heard, as much as the blind man sought his physical sight. Perhaps to see with the eyes of his heart that had become blinded over the years. Seeking something more that he even knows. He thought he was just going to see this famous person - but as in most of Jesus' stories - the tables are turned.

Jesus sees him and calls him out -- calls him by name -- "Zacchaeus - pure one" - Jesus fixes his attention on the one who no one thinks is worthy - not the crowd, not Zacchaeus himself. Jesus invites himself to Zacchaeus' house -- not just his home but into the home of his heart -- I am coming to stay in your heart today. Make room. And Zacchaeus does make room - he clears the space that has been occupied with collecting the taxes and gives over and above what was required for atonement for stealing from others.

Jesus tells the shocked crowds - this man is a Son of Abraham - just like you - he is part of you - as you are part of one another- you cannot be separated from each other or the love of God - no matter how lost you might feel, no matter what you have done. You can't be an outsider of the reign of God. You are always in. The message returns Zacchaeus and all who really hear it - to wholeness - salvation - healing of the person and the community.

It is atonement - at- one - ment. Becoming whole -- It is always there, waiting to come in, waiting to enter our hearts.

The sign of our acceptance comes in the words of Sirach:

Sirach 35:12-17
Give to the Most High as he has given to you,
and as generously as you can afford.
For the Lord is the one who repays,
and he will repay you sevenfold.
Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it
and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice;
for the Lord is the judge,
and with him there is no partiality.
He will not show partiality to the poor;
but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged.
He will not ignore the supplication of the orphan,
or the widow when she pours out her complaint.

The Christ is always asking to come into our hearts - to make a home for that love that passes all understanding that can change the world.

Happy Halloween

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

XIX Pentecost

Readings are here.

The last week or so I have been thinking about the young gay men who have committed suicide after being bullied and harassed. So many people in our world feel that sense of hopelessness that leads to thinking that death is better than life. I cry out with Habakkuk:

O LORD, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you "Violence!"
and you will not save?
Why do you make me see wrong-doing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
So the law becomes slack
and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous--
therefore judgment comes forth perverted.

And then I read the next line:

I will stand at my watchpost,
and station myself on the rampart;

And I think - oh - this is about me and what I am doing or not doing.

Many and maybe all of us have both experienced bullying and been bullies. I remember that as school children we tormented a boy who cried easily. And I remember the times that I was called names and terrorized. There is something about our nature. Like chickens who pick on the one who is different - even to the point of killing that one - we have that little "chicken" bit of brain down deep in ourselves.

Will I stand guard over myself and in our community. It is hard to stand out and speak up when a crowd is going this way. Last week in our online sermon discussion listserve, Propertalk, I was reminded of the scene in To Kill a Mockingbird:

when the white men come at night and surround the jail where Tom, an African-American wrongly accused of a crime, is held? The men are a mob. They do not see Tom; they only see an enemy-red or blue. They are blinded by rage. Scout, a little
girl, watches them. Her father tells her to run away and go home. But Scout doesn't run, and she doesn't fight....

Scout looks at one of the men in the mob and says, "Hey Mister Cunningham, don't you remember me? I go to school with Walter. He's your boy, ain't he? We brought him home for dinner one time. Tell your boy 'hey' for me, will you?"

There was a long pause. Then the big man separated himself from the mob, squatted down and took Scout by both her shoulders. "I'll tell him you said 'hey,' little lady." Then the mob dispersed.

Scout is the agent of God - helping people to return to their selves and become individuals and not a mob. She stood watch and spoke truth to power.

In our town of about 6000 we have a listserve of about 2000 which is mainly for announcing garage sales. Occasionally someone will say something that is racist, sexist or homophobic or other scary thing. At first it seems terrifying that there are so many who agree - then one person will write offering an opposing point of view - one that restores dignity to those being abused by hurtful words. Suddenly allies appear or write notes of support. The world became less scary by the actions of one person stepping out from the crowd.

How do we learn to step out like this? The 2nd Letter to Timothy gives us a hint:

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

In baptism we are asked, "Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?" and we answer with a loud, "AMEN." We can be communities of support and care for all people, we can teach one another to walking in Christ's loving footsteps. We can offer hope to those who feel alone and isolated.
Last week our church camp, that you support through the diocesan assessment and through sending kids to camp in the summer, was the site for a weekend with the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) in Casper. High school students who care and support for each other, especially for those who are gay or lesbian. They spent the weekend using the ropes course for team building and learning more about how to be community who is there for each other. You, Holy Communion, Rock Springs, have become a welcoming church for all who might come seeking hope. We can continue this work and exercise our faith together - so when a moment comes to stand up - we will not fear but step out in faith.

This is being the mustard seed of the gospel. We can be a small seed of faith and hope that grows to a large protective place of respite and renewal -- scattering our mustard seeds of hope to all who need a word of encouragement and knowledge that they are beloved of God, that life is worth living.