Last Thursday I was preparing for today’s service of communion and anointing. I pulled out the little bowl—hand-formed and glazed a brilliant blue—that we use for anointing oil. To my surprise, the bowl still contained ashes from Holy Week. So there I was in mid-December, trying to pour the ashes on our lily plants and…
It is a story most of us know well. The woman and man traveling to his hometown for a census. The baby born, wrapped in cloths, and laid in a manger. Casual observers would know nothing about the angel who visited Mary or the agony Joseph had gone through when he learned his fiancée was…
(To be sung to the tune of . . . Oh, you can figure it out.) I’m dreaming of a Mennonite Christmas, the kind that all the righteous know, where gifts are handmade or maybe fair trade, and wrapped with last year’s bags and bows. I’m dreaming of a Mennonite Christmas, with every Christmas card…
The first Sunday of Advent this year, our worship service at Peace Mennonite focused on the issue of time–particularly the distinction between Chronos and Kairos. During December, Chronos, or chronological time, is emphasized in many ways. The secular world tells us how many shopping days we have until Christmas. At home, many of us use…
Spacious Faith 