This Sunday we are celebrating the work of our little church and encouraging people to step forward and serve according to their gifts and passions. Here are some of the worship pieces we will be using: –One of my favorite calls to worship from Ann B. Day, which you can find here. –A hymn I…
I spent my first Monday morning Sabbath of the new year reading, praying, writing, and drawing my way through the first part of Jan Richardson’s retreat for Women’s Christmas. I commend the retreat to you–men and women alike. One of the sections of Jan’s retreat led me to my prayer journal and back to one…
My blogging/pastor friend Marci Glass is giving star words for Epiphany. The general idea is that you receive a word to contemplate, a word to help guide your thinking about God and your relationship with God in the coming months. She gave me the word “desiring.” So now I’ve written it on a star.…
Hear is a call to worship based on two of the lectionary readings for this coming Sunday: Isaiah 60:1-6 and Matthew 2:1-12. People of God, arise, shine, for your light has come! The light of Christ has come into the world. Immanuel. God with us. So arise, shine, for your light has come! And we…
I’ve been enjoying some end-of-the-year posts from other bloggers and thought I would do one of my own. So here are a few highlights from Spacious Faith’s second full year! I’ve become a contributor to a few great web sites: Mennonite Weekly Review Huffington Post Christian Century TextWeek Liturgy Link I’ve developed creative worship, retreat,…
(A reflection on Luke 2:22-40; excerpted from this sermon.) So Christmas has come, and there sit Simeon and Anna in the temple—looking to, longing for, waiting for the messiah. It is a long hard waiting, with no Advent calendar to mark the days, no due date given. What, really, is the point of their waiting?…
Here is a worship service designed for families with children to do together on Christmas morning. A brief time to acknowledge the incredible gift of Jesus before we start tearing into all the gifts under the tree. This worship service is my Christmas gift to you! Along with this blessing (adapted from Sunday’s sermon): May…
I took a picture of our lit Advent candles for my blog post a few days ago. My 14-year-old daughter saw the picture and said, “Wow. Our house looks pretty in that picture.” Not to say that our house in reality is not also pretty–in it’s own messy, disorganized way. It’s just to say that,…
I’ve been having lots of fun over at Tony Jone’s blog, Theoblogy, today. He has some theologian trading cards to give away and is asking folks to contribute limericks if they want a chance to win! I have become a bit addicted to writing these little lilting gems, and ended up with four of them.…
Here is our candle-lighting call to worship for this coming Sunday. The Advent Conspiracy theme is “Love All.” One: This morning, two days before Christmas, we light the four candles of Advent: the candles of hope, peace, joy, and love. All: We gather to worship our God, whose love reaches to the heavens. One: We…
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