What’s Going on at the Church
“Weighing Truth and Life”
The following ideas by John Pavlovitz is entitled, “The Church We Really Need.“ Food for thought!
“There is something transformative and sacred in belonging. If there’s anything a spiritual community should do, it’s this. It should give people a sense of found-ness. Communities that profess to be oriented toward God should be spaces where disparate human beings should find safety upon arrival. They should be marked by the emancipation from striving; they should be such breathing spaces. Jesus set in motion a revolution of radical hospitality and counterintuitive love that defied precedent and confounded those who imagined themselves righteous.
There’s a moment in Matthew’s gospel where Jesus confronted the leaders who believed they had the market cornered on God. He said, “the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you. These people you judge and condemn – they’re getting it. They have my heart! You’re the lost ones.” Now as then, many of the religious people commandeering the name of God have become the very thing Jesus warned the world against. They’ve become infected with hypocrisy, greed, and contempt – and they are preventing people from seeing anything resembling the abundant life Jesus preached about. God has outgrown the box we’ve tried to build for God and we’d better be open to a new thing because this old thing is no longer life-giving.
I see a strangely beautiful congregation assembling: many who claim the Christian faith alongside those who don’t feel at home in the church, people of differing traditions, those who aren’t sure what they believe, and those with no religious affiliation at all. (Maybe this can be called the “Church of Not Being Horrible”), whose members know that diversity is the better path. So, the skeptics, backsliders, doubters, heretics, and sinners are building the redemptive community the world needs. It was the plan all along. People of every hue – men and women, gay, straight, bisexual, and transgender, the religious, agnostics, and atheists – they’re all feeling the pull towards goodness.
More and more I am certain that the church will be (just as in the days of Jesus) one that will be redefined and renovated by those whom organized religion disregards, ignores, and vilifies. It will be composed of the motley assortment of failures, frauds, and messes who realize that the table isn’t big enough yet – but that it’s worth building, no matter what it’s called. Jesus was a carpenter. He knows about building things.”
Blessing and Peace, Ed
Looking to donate to our thrift sales?
If you have any furniture to donate, please take a photo of what you have and send the photos to office@1stpresrahway.org. At this time, we’re not accepting clothes or shoes.
Members usually work on Wednesday’s for our sales from 10:30 am -1:30 pm. If that’s not a convenient time for you to drop off donations, other arrangements can be made. Please email the church office and your request will be forwarded to the “sales crew” so they can respond to your inquiry.
As always, thank you to all who donate. Our sales have been a great success this year because of you!
Important Message from the USRC Board of Directors:
Please read these guidelines about Squier Hall and the formation of the USRC Board of Directors, who will be overseeing the groups meeting in Squier.
As part of the guidelines, please use this form if you have any concerns so that they can be addressed.
Interested in Getting Involved?
We have a lot of different ways for you to get involved – short-term projects, one-time opportunities, working with our livestream technology on Sundays, plus much more. Click on the button below to see what we have on our ‘volunteer wish list’. As more opportunities become available, we will be sure to update our listings.