Posts

When We Don’t Feel Alive: A Prayer of the People

Leader: Friends, we come together in chaotic times, holding out hope for resurrection. Just as Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, we too may face doubts and fears. Our faith informs us how our Lord was crucified, drew his last breath, and descended to the dead. Death took Jesus […]

A Ministry of Ending

Would we close? Or could we keep going?  It was the question that occupied my mind as I drove to meet with a denominational leader about my congregation. And it was the question that came at me from every side as I began my ministry as a solo pastor of an urban congregation in St. […]

We are Three

“But they are dead; those two are dead! Their spirits are in heaven!” ’Twas throwing words away; for still The little Maid would have her will, And said, “Nay, we are seven!” -from “We Are Seven” by William Wordsworth   This year, 2019, National Siblings Day occurred the week before Holy Week. National Siblings Day […]

A Geek’s Guide to Holy Week

A Geek’s Guide to Holy Week “This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.” A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the King of the Universe, though he was […]

Ask a Young Clergy Woman: Holy Week Pro Tips Edition

Dear Askie, It’s Holy Week in my first call! I’m a solo pastor at a small UCC church, and I’m trying to gear up, but I’m not really sure what to expect or what I need to do. The liturgies are prepared, the sermons are written (well, mostly written), the bulletins are proofread, and I […]

Homesick for Holy Week

Ah, Holy Week. Slightly odd worship services most churches only do once a year, complete with lots of minuatie and logistical details that easily lead to long “notes for next year.” There’s trying to say something novel, or, if not novel, at least somewhat profound and maybe even somewhat memorable, about something that has been […]

Good Friday: A Service of Shadows and Stones

Our congregation has used Taizé, Tenebrae, and narratives of the Passion in past Good Friday services. I grew up in a congregation that often used the 7 last words of Christ as a focal point. I wrote this liturgy to combine some of these elements, but also wanting to add some concrete way for people […]