transition

The Huron Church is a family that cares for one another.  Even in the midst of our time of Pastor transition, our church is still out doing and in worshiping together.  We welcome visitors every Sunday morning.

Newsletter for January

Hello Church!  It is Marjory writing this month’s pastor’s message in the newsletter.

In November, I asked some of you, mostly through email, to fill out a survey for a class project. First, to all of those who took it, thank you!  I was actually surprised with the number of responses.  Second, to all the session elders who took an expanded survey, thank you!  

The survey was on our church’s response to a death in our community.  Russ has told me after his own doctoral work how he always comes away with pride for what a great church Huron truly is; and I echo this. For a small church, Huron really pulls their own weight.  The survey only confirmed what I thought about the church’s response after a death.  We pull together, offering more than just a funeral but a reception and support.  We support each other through prayers, phone calls, cards, flowers and love.  It was nice to see you all call the church compassionate.  It was always wonderful to hear the pride you all have for your own church in your hearts come through the survey.  

The survey had one surprise to me.  No matter how much volunteer work people said that they did for the church, no one seems to think they do enough.  Perhaps this is what keeps Huron going strong; the thought that we must always do more.  When people get happy or comfortable in what they are doing or in who they are, they get stuck in ruts.  So can the church.  Yet throughout its history Huron has continued forward.  You have never been a large church.  In fact, you have, in many ways, remained the same size throughout your history. Because of the physical building, you really cannot get that big as a church anyway.  These are realities that don’t limit you from striving to be the best and that are truly what makes the Spirit of Huron a church worth being proud of. 

Christmas Unfolds

Watching Christmas unfold through the eyes of children is truly a special sight.  When my oldest was three, we were traveling through New York City.  And there outside one of the train stations we came upon a giant Christmas Tree.  With wide wondrous eyes, she exclaimed “WOW this is a lot of Christmas here!”  She was overwhelmed by the display as it was bigger than anything else she had seen.  Every year since with bright awestruck eyes she points out every decorated Christmas tree she sees.  And that is just one beautiful example of Christmas decorations – there are plenty: from snowmen to Rudolph. From snow globes to stockings; from wreaths to poinsettias; this is the holiday for decorating.  Stores begin putting Christmas decorations up earlier and earlier each year – now as early as September.  But whenever they get taken out and put up the tradition of decorating during this season is contagious.  Some may decorate for Easter and fewer yet will decorate for lent, advent, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and no one ever decorates their home for occasions like Pentecost.  But Christmas is the one Christian holiday we all do.

And so we celebrate the birth of the baby with such color and excitement that it is easy to forget that Jesus’ beginning was anything but.  In fact one might consider his entrance into this world to very dull.  It is pretty specular that from such a humble birth God’s wonder was revealed to be bigger then we all imagined.  That through the simple baby God’s grace was brought into this world.  Mary delivered a baby whose life was bigger than she could imagine – trusting God she pondered all these prophesies in her heart.  And a simple little package, a humble baby wrapped in bands of cloth lying the manger became the greatest gift we come to know on Earth – our Savior Christ! WOW

No wonder we want to spread this message of love, hope, joy and peace through cheer and decoration; through vivid colors and bright presents; through bows and packages bright until our awestruck eyes glimmer with joy exclaiming “Merry Christmas One and All!” 

Today, we heard the Good News of Luke – the angels spoke to the awestruck Shepherd who in wonder and amazement thought “wow, that was an angel – could this be real?” And in that moment they searched in order to find, the greatest gift of all, the infant Savior.

But the greatest decorations and the brightest and biggest packages under the tree are triumphed when we remember what is offered to us through our faith and trust in Christ.  You see the Shepherds who were tending their sheep believed and followed the angels instructions and came upon the infant and with awestruck eyes the angels truth was told. 

It would have been pretty incredible to be one of those shepherds to have witness the angel speak and the heavenly host singing praises.  That would have been a sight for sure and surely enough to make one believe…but unfortunately none of us are old enough to have been witness that.  And yet we still believe! None of us saw the infant Jesus wrapped and lying in a manger and YET we have come to know Christ in our own ways and have come to feel his love and to believe.  One does not have see to believe one has to feel to know.  And we have all felt the love of Christ throughout our lives. 

Sometimes God’s love seems as big and bright and as full as our Christmas decorations.  There are many “big” events in our life in which we are sure that God grace is filling our hearts and we know that the presence of the Holy is here.  But much of our lives is pretty ordinary.  Much of our lives isn’t spent in anticipation of God’s grace, isn’t spent with decorations reminding us of his love.  Much of our lives isn’t spent believing without doubt. 

The shepherds left Mary and her infant knowing that the things the angel told them were true and they came to pass.  Mary was left pondering all that had happened in her heart.  This Christmas let us remember that through a humble beginning God brought us the greatest gift of all – through an ordinary women God’s son was born.  Without lights or presents Jesus was born into this world on a dark evening vulnerable and without shelter. 

Whatever we may be without this Christmas season let us be filled with the love that God had for us knowing that he sent his only son to come to know humanity not for the awestruck wonder of our lives sometimes but for the quiet and vulnerable moments that make up most of our lives.  And that the biggest present doesn’t fit under the tree and can’t be wrapped for it is God’s grace and mercy.  Let us accept the amazing grace that is the Christ Child and spread the love of God now and forever knowing and pondering that God has even more planned for us.

Move over pumpkin spice, it is still apple season!

I recently saw a post on FB that said something along the line of "apple, the original pumpkin spice."  It was suppose to be a knock on the latest trend of people searching out pumpkin spice, even the gas stations are now offering pumpkin spice coffee.

But let's face it we live in the heart of apple county.  My children teeth on apples and at this year's NY State Fair our youngest fell asleep in his stroller with an apple in his hand!  Nothing, not even pumpkin pie, beats a good apple pie and the smell of apples are what truly bring me into my fall season.  Others can have their pumpkin spice but I prefer to stop and smell the apples.

We often call summer our "busy" time but when fall begins and school starts and Sunday school starts and everything else starts I look back at what I thought was a "busy" summer and think - wow I had so much time to relax!  Life is truly busy.  No matter what time of year we are busy people living in a world that brings with it stress and worries. 

Some people choose to live into the world and forget about the fact that God doesn't sit on a pretty chair just relaxing but instead can and does do for us.  When we remember to not live of this world but live in this world a disciple of Christ our lives do get better.  When we remember to take a look at what God has done for us, we live lives that much more grateful.  When we have a relationship with the Divine, the busy doesn't seem so overwhelming. 

Yet the temptation to forget about God is all around us.  The temptation to give into this world sits in front of us.  I encourage you this season to stop and remember God.  To give God a nod or two and lift up your relationship - knowing and being assured that through this relationship you are able to find hope, love, courage, joy and most importantly grace.  Trusting in God gives us opportunities we didn't know existed.  Live into the Kingdom this fall and find the grace that abounds through our lives!

August Newletter message

Throughout the summer months the church is in Ordinary Time.  And it does seem pretty ordinary; summer with the hot long days that get filled to the brim with the comings and goings of all the ordinary things of life.  Sure there are some highs and lows in our summer with vacations and memories but most summers are ordinary.  In fact most of our life can seem pretty ordinary.  But Ordinary time in our church is anything but ordinary.  It is the time in our church calendar that we hear the Word both written and preached about how we respond to God in our life.  How do WE respond to God in our life?  The non-ordinary times of our calendar year we are either hearing about Jesus, anticipating Jesus, making room in our hearts for Jesus, accepting Jesus or the Holy Spirit, or celebrating the triune God.  But not now, now it is about how we go about in our ordinary lives incorporating our Christian identity.  And what better time than one of the busiest seasons? What better time for us to be focusing on responding to God in our life than when we are in the midst of full days?  I know that at the end of a busy summer day I think to myself I don't think I could have fit anything else in!  And yet God is calling us, reminding us and giving us this time to do just that - to make sure there is room for God in our lives. This Ordinary time runs 32-33 weeks a year (depending on the calendar dates for the Baptism of the Lord and Epiphany Sunday).

I am reminded of the passage in Joshua 24 that proclaims "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord".  During Advent we prepare ourselves for Christ to come into the world, at Lent we work on our personal relationship with God and on Easter we celebrate in Salvation. Now we are called to respond in the world as a Christian, as someone with a relationship to God, as someone who serves the Lord.  On Sunday we listen to sermons that show us how to live in response to God, we hear about Mary and Martha, we hear about the Good Samaritan, we hear about those Jesus healed, we learn how to pray and most importantly we learn that responding to God means more than just having a relationship to God during the Holy times but means that in all that we do, in all that we speak, we serve the Lord.  When life is busy, God is there; when days are full, God is here; when life gets messy, God is there; when life got scary; God is there.  I would say this is true “more than ever" but I think the better way to say this is: as always it is important to invite God into our lives.  For with God comes a message of hope, a feeling of love, moments of joy, a sense of peace, grace that abounds and love that remains.

This Summer has been more than just "ordinary" we will forever remember the loss that has come to our nation with the loss of lives at the hands of others, at the losses in the world around us (Paris and Turkey to name a few) and at the great sense of political divide.  We could easily let the cares of the world overwhelm us.  We could easily let the negative rhetoric engulf our hearts.  We could easily fall into the trap of shutting the door to God.  We could easily think God doesn't care.

But God does care!  God does not abandon.  God does not cease loving us.  God is good.  God offers grace and love.  God offers hope and peace.  God offers love and light.  God offers with open arms ready to engulf with a love that is strong and a light that can blind. But the ball is in our court.  We must respond to God.  We must be able to respond in the world, in our daily lives to our Christian identity.

        We are being asked by God to be more than just those who wait for the baby in a manger; more than those who celebrate a birth through the joy of gift giving; more than those who long for a relationship or who celebrate a rising.  We are called to be more than those who sit and receive the Holy Spirit but those who respond to that gift.  Now is the time, as it is always, to respond to the world showing that God is good and that God comes with a message of hope, a feeling of love, moments of joy, a sense of peace, grace that abounds and love that remains.  We are meant to be the light in the world of darkness shining the way to the house of God.  We are meant to proclaim that we will not let the weight of the world or the evil that seems to be consuming it break us from serving our Lord and trusting in our faith.  Let us go out and let the light of God shine!

Let us not lose hope

Romans 12:9-21

⁹Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹²Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. ¹³Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. ¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. ¹⁸If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." ²⁰No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

 

With the violence that we have experienced and felt recently we need to uphold this passage.  It is not time to fall into the trap of proclaiming fear is bigger than God.  It is not time to leave behind all we know in fear.  It is not time to be proclaiming that this is "the worst" it has ever been.  Throughout history we as humanity have stood in the doorway of bad times and seen some pretty evil things.  Throughout history we have at moments or two believed we were living in the "most" violent or "worst" of times and yet we have learned that there is more for the human story than we can imagine. 

 

Let us also remember that throughout our Bible there are people/ places that must overcome in order to be.  I am reminded of Jacob who wrestled with God at the river banks.  There the two wrestled until Jacob's hip was hurt.  This was on the eve of Jacob returning home to a land that he stole from his brother and to a brother he betrayed.  He didn't know what he was going to face the next day, he didn't know what he was walking into and yet he did not let fear stop him.  The injury he sustained from his wrestling with God he lived with forever.  A clear reminder, but God blessed him on that river bank and offered him new life, new hope.   Whatever or wherever our journey has lead us or leads us, the scars we pick up along the way stay with us; we can let them define us or we can move forward to new life and new happiness.  We as humanity can and do reflect on the moments in our history where evil seemed to out weight good; and yet goodness has prevailed.  We have come out with a scar or two, but we through strength and courage prevailed.

 

These moments when it feels that evil is taking over and we are wrestling with God over the big question "why?" Let us not fail to remember that for those who give into God's will; turn over the power to God and listen, great hope comes.  That for those who listen to the wise words in Romans and do not let evil overcome their hearts but instead find ways to love faith prevails.  Jacob after being wounded was blessed and when he encountered his brother later that day was embraced by love.  A powerful example of good overcoming wrong doings and yet the physical limitation that plagued Jacob was a reminder to him of his flight.  We might always remember 2016 as a time of loss and racial divide in this country; and France will certainty remember these horrible moments, as we remember 9/11; but that doesn't mean that all hope is lost.  It doesn't mean that evil has taken over this world, nor should we let it.

 

Take the time today to do good.  To allow God to move in your heart and soul.  To overcome the hatred in your heart with love and most importantly to remove yourself from this moment in time to trust in the grandeur of creation, knowing and believing in good, in God.

 

In response to Sunday

When the unthinkable happens we are left with many questions. Most will never get answers, some answers will open themselves to more and much will be left to speculation.   This never sets well with us, as humans we have a drive for everything to make sense – for our world to make sense.  Probably this goes back to our days of survival – we needed to know what to expect so that we could always be prepared.  One thing about the world we live in, we can never know for sure what is going to happen.  We can however, be sustained by the assurance of God.  For all the earthly things that leave us broken, God’s grace and our faith can make us whole.

I am reminded of the psalms 42 and 43 in which the psalmist is longing for God.  We hear that the psalmist once had a strong relationship and in these moments in which they feel God has abandoned them they hold strong to the memories of their faith.  These psalms have the beautiful language of the soul longing for God and the reminder that: “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.”  It might feel that God has abandoned us during times of chaos, fear or anger.  It might feel the terror is rising above or hate is breaking through the love of God but our soul knows the truths.  Our souls knows that the Divine Presence does not abandoned us at our moments of need but instead walks this path with us: lifting us up, giving us courage and most importantly allowing for moments of grace to befall upon the moments of darkness.  As the psalmist points out, the Holy is our rock and where we take our refuge.  God was not in the evil act that was committed; the Divine however was in present in this disaster and in the works of people following this crime.

No one deserved to die on Sunday mornings mass shooting.  No one human has ever or will ever have the write to judge another human for their actions; or worse to reign down punishment.  No matter what your stance on the Bible and the GLBT community, this was not an action God would tolerate. 

In Matthew 5 beginning at verse 38 Jesus speaks about his commandment to “love.”  Jesus pushes the boundaries of his teachings but proclaiming to his disciples that they need to even love their enemies.  He reminds them that pagans love their neighbors, tax collects even love their own for loving your own is easy; what the Sustainer is asking is that you love everyone, even your enemy.  Powerful words.  In a sea of religious misconceptions and a nation that politics are trying to divide us, trying to create an “other” (an enemy or an escape goat), it is pretty easy to love and to be nice to those who are in our “in” group but we are called to love in those “outside” ourselves.  We are called to love all.  We are called to prove ourselves better than the world and worthy of the other worldly Kingdom. 

And here is our test.  In moments like this, moments when our world becomes uncertain and terror strikes our heart; in moments when we fear the loss of those we love and we mourn for the grief of lives taken, we are called to response not out of hate but love.  We are called to not respond with words that create enemies but actions that show evil can’t break the love of God.  We are called not to rationalize what happen but to grieve, rebuild and emerge out of the ashes.  We are called not to create a new enemy but to show love to those in pain.  We are called to change our lives so that perhaps we can be the change that ensures this never happens again. 

If only we lived in a world were truly everyone was accepted.  Where religion, sexual orientation or life choices didn’t define us but instead all saw the light of God in each other.  All saw the possibility of the other instead of being fearful of the other.  Yes this sounds like a place we can’t imagine.  Yes this sounds not possible or worse a pipe dream, but if we start with ourselves and our corners of the world perhaps one day love can shine through the darkness.  Until then, at the moments of tragedy, we look towards God, who is our rock, who is where we find refuge and we long for the moments in which we feel the love warm us.  We watch for the moments in which strangers helped strangers and God was there.  We seek the face of Christ in the lines of people offering blood to help the injured.  We hear God’s voice in the companies who offer support for families to reunite with loved ones or to say their good-byes.  We feel the Holy moving as miracles happen and people survived.  We know the courage it took for some to leave messages to love ones and the Arms of God that help hold them up. 

Let us come together not to lift up the man who took the lives nor the reasons of hate and terror that seeded the event; instead let us lift up the people who lost their life to this act.  Let us remember what true evil causes.  Let us take a step back from our own life and see where we spread seeds of hate, anger, fear and oppression and let us stand together to stop this.  To love all knowing that our commandment from Jesus is to do just that.  Following Jesus is not an easy task, it never was; it shouldn’t be mainstream!  Following Jesus means taking up all this teachings and truly changing not only ourselves but the world in which we live.  Let us as our soul longs for a relationship with God, long for a world in which love instead of evil prevails.  Today – let us take the charge to change ourselves and be better; show one more person we love them; take that extra mile for one more co-worker; honk less at that slow person in front of us; give that person a smile in the grocery store; say hello to that child on your way; and most importantly continue to live into the faith your Rock has called you too.

and just like that....

And just like that...

...it all changes!

I can't imagine the emotional roller coaster Jesus' disciples have been on. Jesus death, the fear of their own lives and then Jesus' resurrection and commission to go out and spread the news.  Wow!

This truly proves that in an instant life can change and it is in this instants of change that we need to turn to God for strength.

No matter how much we prepare, we are never prepared for those moments.  Jesus prepared  his disciples for his death.  He spoke about how he must die and yet when it happened they didn't know what to do.  No matter how plainly he said it, when it happened they acted just as anyone of us would have - not sure what to do next.  We see this in all the Gospels - weather they don't believe the woman, the woman are afraid to tell people about the empty tomb, Jesus finds his disciples in a locked room or it takes weeks for them to begin spreading the Word.  The disciples just didn't know how to respond to the death and resurrection of Christ.

In an instant their life changed.  They went from following Christ, to fearing their life, to watching him die, to learning he rose.   Our life can often change.  We spend much of our life living ordinary lives and living into routines and when that is challenged or changed we often find ourselves in the same state of lost.  But we are called to look upon our faith. We are called to look to our God for strength and we are reminded of the grace of Christ.

Look to God this day for strength.  Look to God in prayer and allow the grace of God to give you hope and light in all situations.

Life might be full of uncertainty but if you keep your faith and place God as your center then you don't need a life full of certainty for you have a God that anchors you, encourages you and most of all fills you with hope!  Let that shine in your hearts today!

MESSAGE FROM REV. RUSS ROTH:

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing

 a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making

 a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” 

                                                                                            (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Huron has had a great year! We experienced some growth this year with the welcoming of Pat Goodsell; while sadly losing two valued members, Dick Palmer and Don Eygnor. We have continued to move forward. Borrowing from the success of our outdoor services, we will be hosting a Presbytery Meeting this May.  This will be the farthest north a Presbytery Meeting will have been held in more than five years that I have been serving. It will, of course, be held outside.  It is hoped this will inspire other small churches to host Presbytery meetings, breaking these meetings out of their mold. 

We were pivotal in starting Jesus Spoke, a bicycle clinic in downtown Wolcott, providing a number of the volunteers, equipment and financing. We will be moving forward with it again this year and hopefully reaching out to the community for youth volunteers.  The past year I have served as Vice-Chair of General Council.  Starting this month, I am now serving as the chair. All pastors are called to service for the work of the Presbytery and this is a great honor to be asked to fill.  However, I am always on the lookout for ways of furthering my outreach here at the church, reaching out to members or non-members. With your help, I am hopeful that we can draw our circle wider and reach out to draw people into a new relationship with God.  Huron is a wonderful light in this community with its mission and outreach. The question for us this year is not how we can expand that but how can we expand our ministry to those that need a welcoming community.  How can we invite more people in and be a new thing for new people?  We’ve been making streams. Let us now bring people in to rest and hope.  

World Wide Communion Sunday

Today is World-Wide Communion Sunday.  On this day people across the globe all took communion.  That might not seem like a pretty big deal, especially to churches and people who take communion every Sunday but today we are reminded that there is more then just us and more then just our church but we are apart of the greater - Church of Christ.

One member of this church once told me how important it was for them to take communion in a pew, with the small shot-glass style cup  and the individual square of bread, as oppose to dipping or drinking out of the communion cup.  She reminded me, an avid fan in which you come up to the front and drip your bread in ONE cup, that communion in the pews can be very powerful!  She stated that she sits in the pew and thinks about all the people who sat there before her and all the people who will sit there - ancestors and those she isn't related to - and it brings the communion to a deeper level. A level that goes beyond just communion with Christ but with in which brings her into community with all those past, present and future.  Powerful reminder of what communion is really about!

We are reminded today that God is bigger and greater than we can imagine. That the bride of Christ - the Church is also called to not just look within our 4 walls but to go beyond our church and into the world.  We are the body of Jesus in the world and to be such we have to look beyond ourselves and to each other.  As we hold the bread and consume the wine we are touched by Christ in our lives and in the lives of all those who call him Savior. 

Let us remember today the number of people around the world who we share in community with.  That we will always have a friend out there in them and more importantly that on this day we share in the vision of Christ as Prince of Peace offering to all the grace and love that only God can give. 

What Church Should Be For Kids

"NO! Church people LIKE BATMAN!" comes booming out of our two year olds voice.  Every day he dresses as a different hero but on Sundays he prefers batman; at some point he came to believe that church people like batman best.  And so almost every Sunday he puts his batman shirt - or on some Sunday's his batman costume on - and heads to church.   Our four-year-old daughter believes that some of the church people are "her biggest fans!" Whatever that means to a four-year-old.  And so they head off to Huron.  They are happy to go to church on Sunday morning and see all the church people.  Sure it makes it more special when some of their friends, or people their age, come but in the end it doesn't matter if they are the only children they feel comfortable there.

Some might think that it is just because they are the "pastor's children" but that isn't the case.  I have seen and witnessed countless times when this congregation goes out of the way to make a children feel comfortable and welcomed in church.  Sure we have a smaller number of kids in our church but having large numbers of kids isn't what makes these children come to church when they are adults.  Statistically, the adults who felt the most welcome and safe in a church building when they were a child are the adults who come to church now.  What a powerful thought isn't it?  Some churches have giant children's programs and spend lots of time teaching children about God but they don't integrate the children into church and the children spend their childhood feeling uncomfortable with the adults.  But not here! 

A few years back we had several smaller children and in an attempt to make it easier on the parents we started offering nursery care for the whole worship service.  Imagine our (as the pastors) amazement when one of the oldest attending members with probably the worst hearing asked where the children were for the first half of church.  When we explained they were in nursery he made it a point to not only ask that they come up for church but talk to parents about how wonderful it is to see and hear children in worship service!  What a welcome.

Each year we hold a Sunday school Sunday in which the children teach the congregation a bit of what they have learned.  Each year the numbers keep getting smaller as some of our children grow up and some just grow out.  But I want to take some time to assure you that even without a large church school program, your efforts to love the children don't go unnoticed.  That the fact that you all care to know the kids by name and shake their hands during passing of the peace is witnessed.  That you all take the time to talk to the children or provide special child-friendly options at coffee hour.  And most importantly that when they come dressed as batman you accept them for who they are. 

And to all those looking for a church out there.  It isn't about picking a church with all the programs for your children to feel excluded from the body.  For studies have shown that those children don't grow up to go to church.  The most important factor to if your children will grow up and attend church is if they felt welcomed at church as a kid.  Huron makes children feel welcomed.  And they truly do make the kids feel like they have "fans" at church.  People who care about them and who care for them; people who pray for them and watch over them. 

So thanks for being our kids fans, thanks for calling our son batman, but most of all thanks for letting all the children be children.  For sitting in the walkways or floors when they are too wiggly to sit in the sits.  For screaming in the basement when they just want to be upstairs.  For sleeping under the table on the chancel when the day has been too long.  For helping them get food at a potluck so parents can have a break.  For knowing their names and showing you care. 

And finally encourage people to send their children our way.  Even if our Sunday school isn't full, it is full of people ready to love their child and show them what God's love is truly about.  

Love Remains and Sustains...

The Bible has a lot to say about love.  In Proverbs 17:17 we find the advice that A friend loves at all times! And in 1 Corinthians 13 we are remained of what love is. 

For the past year I have been working at a Nursing home.  As any ministry job you do learn a lot and truly see how God works in and through us.  Here is a reflection on love and a good reminder as we approach Valentines on what true love really is about.

 One of my favorite units to work in is the memory care - or the dementia unit. You never know what will happen there or what might be said.  But the reason why it is my favorite is because it is a true testimony to love and grace and how that works in the world and in our lives.

Recently I walked on the unit to find a member walking her wheel chair down the hall.  She looked like her hair hadn't been comb that morning and her face just screamed frazzled.  This was not her normal state.  This was not the loving personable resident I knew.  I stopped and addressed her (we shall call her Lilly).  I asked Lilly what was wrong.  It took her a minute to hear me but in one second her face transformed out of frazzled and into relief.  "oh good it is you!"  Does she know my name?  No.  Would Lilly even be able to state I am the Chaplain, probably not; but in that moment she recognized the safety of my face, because through love I have worked with her getting to know her.  "What is wrong Lilly?"  I repeated.  "Well you know...these people here.  Where the heck is he? Why isn't he here?  And these people!"  Soon I realized she was talking about the nurse.  The head nurse was out for the week on vacation and so there were unfamiliar faces.  She wouldn't accept their care or help.  She wanted to know where the one she knew loved her was.  Even though she didn't know his name or my name.  She knew the love that transcends the memories and works to bring peace and grace to all.

 I stand in awe of the emotion of love and how it works even when our minds have seemingly forgotten.  It is truly touching when someone with severe dementia response to a family member's presence even when they cannot verbalize or even grasp at the relationship they once had.  It is a testimony to love when familiar and loving faces can calm down even a person's worse frustrated moment because amongst the chaos of life, love can transcend that moment and send calmness into the chaos.

This is the testimony to God's love.  That even when we can't understand the world around us or what is happening - God's love can transcend the chaos and find us.  Even when we feel like all hope is lost or we feel like we are in a room of strangers - the love of God can and will lead us out into the joy of life. 

Life is not usually a picture book of fairy tales but life doesn't have to be a horror story of destruction and death.  Life can be instead a testimony to God and the work of Christ in our life.  Life can be a reflection of our relationship with Divine instead of chaos.   It is all about how we accept and allow or even more correctly how we acknowledge God working in our lives and allow this to transform us.

If love can transcend the disease of dementia and bring some sense of security and safety to people who live in a constant state of confusion and mucky memories - then imagine what God's love can do for you!  It can transcend your situation and bring you out of your tunnel vision and into the reality of Creation. 

I challenge you to watch and open yourself to the love that transcends us and paves for us the path of Divine life and Creation.  I ask you to be aware of when God is offering love above the grey of the day and shinning for you hope and light.  Even on the best of days, God's rays of love shine around us.  I challenge you each day to find that ray of love and allow it to - even if for only a moment - transcend that moment into one of thankfulness and realization.  For love is truly the best and most powerful of our emotions and it is love and not hate that remains with us.

Go and love! Go and be love!  Go and feel love! For love remains in our hearts and minds...

Anchor The Way

Once Again Anchor The Way, our alterative to Sunday morning worship will continue to meet throughout the winter.  Instead of meeting weekly on Mondays however we will meet once a month on a Sunday night.  In order to be able to reach out to all our faithful attendees and in hopes to encourage some new faces we have moved the time from 6:30 start to a 5:30 start for the winter months.


 

 

Corrections to December Newsletter

Dear Huron Members and Friends, 

Some church newsletter corrections and additional information are given below;

The correct day for the lighting of the trees in the Wolcott village Park is Saturday, December 6, 2014 at 6:00 pm.

A group had fun decorating Huron’s own tree after church on last Sunday and it is hoped you will be present to see it lighted with all the others trees. 

Omitted from the monthly calendar was the Huron Session Meeting on Sunday, December 21, 2014 at 6:00 pm.

Pastor Russ has asked that you mark your calendar for December 22, 2014  at 7:00 pm for a Blue Christmas Service of Healing.

He explains:

Come and join us for a Blue Christmas Service of Healing. We all love the holidays but with all the stress of the season and the memories of Christmases past, we often go into Christmas with mixed feelings. At this service we acknowledge the difficulties that come with the Christmas season in a way that should uplift and inspire us all in the true meaning of Christmas and the love that comes from God.

Falling to Fall

Weather we like to admit it or not the weather is taking a turn to the cold.  We are quickly approaching winter.  We had an amazing summer.  We had a fun and fruitful Strawberry Festival.  We had great confirmation class / new member class which ended with the welcoming of 4 new members plus a baptism at the lake and we still have 2 members to welcome later this month!  That is an increase in 5% of our congregation!  Amazing growth considering yesterday the Presbytery reported that as a whole the Presbytery is down over 300 members. 

Anchor the Way our Monday Night Worship is beginning to wind down October 13 will be the last Monday Night Worship for the Season.  We hope to pull together a few fun Monday Nights throughout the winter months as we did last year.

We had two successful rummage / boutique sales and the men will once again be holding the men's breakfast - which did amazing last year. 

The Presbyterian Churches on the Ridge will be coming together again to support a youth mission day!  Let's send our youth out into this world to BE THE Church! 

As our days grow shorter, don't forget to begin each week at 9:15 at Huron.  

Strawberries and God

This Saturday Russ and Walter began a conversation about how one could theologically connect strawberries and God...Russ and I have since continued that conversation and in doing so have come up with several points to share.  Since we are still all coming down from Strawberry Festival - some having nightmares of mounds of strawberries coming to life, some still dealing with the book keeping of such an event and others feeling excited and relief that it is "over," I thought I would share some Strawberry musings:

1.  The Word of God is like that of the Strawberry plant.  It takes hold, roots in and grows within people, producing good fruit and helping each of us to be the best we can be.  Then when the planet is strong it sends out tendrils.  The word of God does the same thing, sending out new plants, that hopefully land on good soil in which they can take root, grow and continue to spread.  The Word of God thus the Good News of Christ is like that of a spreading Strawberry planet.

2. Likewise, the Love of God is like that of the plant. If you choose to believe instead of the "Word" but that they plant is the "love" of God, love spreads out from the source - God.  The tendrils of love continue to be spread.  Some tendrils will fall on good soil, those willing to feel God's love, some tendrils will fall on poor soil, and never be felt - yet God's love still tried.  God's love is never abandons us, it is us who gives up on God's love. On a plus, many strawberries are the same shape as our hearts - so hey, it is meant to be love, right?

3. Strawberries hold their seeds on the outside, for all to see.  We are called as Christians, not to hid our faith but instead show our faith.  Not to hid our gifts of the spirits or our seeds but instead let them show and sin.  Let us wear our Christianity out for all to see.

Strawberry Festival

This week everyone is reeling in the busy life that is strawberry festival.  Each year we come together, work really hard and have an amazing fundraiser.

So if you aren't volunteering yet, contact Patty there is lots to do! 

If you want to join us for the fun come out to Wolcott park in the morning, noon or afternoon.  Parade at noon :) 

We Lift Ourselves Up

Yesterday the church celebrated Pentecost, tonight at our alternative to Sunday worship, we too will be celebrating Pentecost.  The Birthday of the Church - the celebration of when the Spirit descend to earth and all those baptized in Christ received this amazing and powerful gift.

I was recently thinking of balloons and filling them up with Helium and bringing them to church - for the Church's birthday - because everyone seems to do that on Pentecost, but then I started to really think about this. And I had a revelation for me, but perhaps this isn't new to others.

What happens when we put different thing into balloons and how does that then relate to our relationship with God?  Well when we exhale, we exhale Carbon Dioxide, this is a substance that is the waste of our breathing process.  And what happens when a balloon is filled by our own hot air?  It sinks.  Relate this to God: when we let addiction, sin, food, negative thoughts or general negativity, and the list could go on; then our relationship with God is like that of the balloon filled with Carbon Dioxide it just sinks.

When you fill a balloon of nitrogen, which is what makes up most of the air around us, the balloon, just floats and moves across the air.  It doesn't sink, it doesn't go up it sort of just is.  It is easy to push it around.  Relate this to God: when we just live our lives each day, moving around in the secular world without thought or regard to God.  When we let the busy life of our world let us just float through life without purpose then we are like the nitrogen balloon.  In this analogy, you have the ability to float down a bit or perhaps even float up a bit but that requires the movement by an outside force.

But when we fill a balloon with helium, it raises and keeps on raising.  In fact, when filled with Helium it takes nothing more then the balloon and the Helium to raise, it comes from the essence of what that balloon is.  Relate this to God: when we allow the Holy Spirit to truly work within us - by developing a relationship and trusting it, then we are able to raise above.

A balloon is just a piece of rubber, it has no other purpose until it is filled and becomes an actual balloon.  Our lives can be purpose driven lifting us up by our own faith and relationship to new understandings or our lives can be filled with blah.  Let us dedicate ourselves to following God's purpose and let the Holy Spirit fill us up.

Points of Interest

These are just some things for us to think about:

Only 5.6% of our Gospels contains events that happened upon or after Jesus' resurrection.   Matthew and Mark have only 20 verses in their final chapter while Luke and John both proclaim 53 verses to Jesus' resurrection. 

But over 13% of our Calendar year is dedicated to this season of "After Easter"

So, every year from Easter to Pentecost the same verses are read, the same topics are preached on.  There are 6 Sundays between Easter and Pentecost, according to John Jesus only appears to his disciples 3 times before his ascension.

It is kind of amazing to me that so much of our Christian faith relies on the fact that Jesus did not die on the cross but instead ascended to heaven.  This is important because it proved that Jesus was divine, that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.  But the fact that the Gospel writers, those who followed Jesus the most, spent so much more time telling us about Jesus' life then on his resurrection.
I believe the Good News for us is this - in life Jesus' showed us the way.  In life, Jesus was a perfect example of what a pure relationship with God is.  We are called as Christians to live into that life.  We are called as Christians to proclaim and spread Jesus' teachings.  We do not inherit the Kingdom, if we do not live the way.  We do not inherit the Kingdom by making our minds up after death.  Jesus ascend to new life, in order that all who come to believe may inherit the Kingdom.  His commission to the disciples was to go and spread, go and tell people all that he taught about not just his death and resurrection, which confirmed his divinity, but more importantly about his life.

The passages about the events after resurrection are powerful passages of doubt and truth. About God's love and the amazing grace that Jesus offers.  Jesus appears to Mary, Jesus appears to "unimportant" followers on the road to Emmaus and Jesus appears to his disciples in a lock room.  Such a powerful message to us that no matter who we are, we may experience Christ in our life.  And a stark reminder that Jesus' resurrection was just confirmation of the claims of his divinity but it was his teachings and his life that changed our relationship with God, that gave way to the forgiveness and love that our merciful God has granted.  It was Jesus' death on the cross, the culmination of a life lived in order that we may have new life.

Let us spend the last part of our "Sundays after Easter" trying to discover in new ways what Jesus' resurrection means to us in our life and how these few passages transformed the disciples into fearful, doubtful and lost people into the truth-living and grace spreading founders of the Church today.  Let us let these passages speak anew to us and keep moving us into a deeper relationship with our Savior.  Let us not get caught up in the "familiar" but instead inspired by the power of the Good News!  

Presbyterian Polity Crash Test

Many of you recall about a year ago when we prayed for our fellow congregation in Newark.  Your clerk remembers all too well the 5+ hour meeting in which we as a presbytery voted to place an Administration Commission at the church.  For those who are confused, AC (for short) can be placed in churches and presbyteries for several different reasons, but the one the presbytery voted to in June 2013 was an AC that gave original jurisdiction, essentially taking all authority away from the session. 

This may seem extreme.  And I assure you that the Committee on Ministry did not offer this option to the presbytery with joy but instead a heavy heart.  But we are a member of the PC (USA) which means we are larger than just the few churches.  And in this case, this allowed the church in Newark to bring the Presbytery up on charges - charges of irregularity, both in the process and the decision making. 

Last week I along with 2 colleagues traveled to Albany to represent the Presbytery to Synod along with several representing the session at the Newark church that were replaced with the AC. After a very long day for the trial and another long day of waiting for an answer the Synod found in favor of the Presbytery and the AC at Newark can now move ahead with original jurisdiction.  For the last 10 months much has been in limbo as the decision was waiting to be made. 

Surprisingly, the Bible has several passages that would discourage us as Christians from going to court with each other and to work out our differences.  And yet, so too often we are the first to go against our fellow Christians - our courts and lawyers are full of lawsuits. 

Yet, when we are in conflict, especially a church in conflict with itself, it is easy to triangle your conflict to beyond your group.  This is what happen in this case.  Once one side just got too personal, the other side began to entertain the conflict and before anyone could stop the forward movement of the conflict - it was at a high level and no matter what happened - more conflict was in the future.  Perhaps this ended last week when the Synod found in our favor and everyone can begin steps to move forward.  Hopefully we all learned from this.

Our reading for this Sunday is from Acts 7 and the martyr of Stephan.  We often focus on the murder and the actions of the crowd.  Clearly the crowd had a preconceived idea that Stephan was guilty as they were easily turned.  And we could focus on all the details of the martyr but then we would missed the glory of God.  You see, even in the midst of his martyr Stephan, offers forgiveness to the crowd.

I believe we have learned from this, I believe that Newark can move on for this.  I pray that all those hurt by this can still find the glory of God in the midst of our angry.  I pray that we don't have to go to trial again.