What does Jesus’ lament over the city of Jerusalem in Luke 13:31-35 have to do with racial relations in the US?  What does Jesus’ wilderness temptations in Luke 4 have to do with white privilege?  How does the prophet Isaiah’s proclamation that God is “about to do a new thing” (43:19) speak into your life regarding your awareness and experience of racialization? These are some of the questions we’ll be asking during the upcoming season of Lent – which comes early this year.  Ash Wednesday is February 10.  We’ll be taking the traditional scriptures assigned for the season and pondering how they intersect with our own experiences of race and racism. As a way of getting this conversation going I’ll be hosting Bible studies in our home throughout Lent.  They’ll take place mid-week, for 75 minutes over the lunch hour, with a meal of soup, bread, and fruit provided. 

Last Monday I had the opportunity to attend the gathering of Central Ohioans for Peace where the topic for the evening was a documentary called The Mask You Live In.  This documentary explores how young men and boys struggle to navigate a very narrow definition of masculinity that is forced on them by almost every angle in American society.  The dominant notion of masculinity is espoused everywhere from sports, video games, movies, and TV shows to the many ways, both subtle and overt, that our young men are taught to distance themselves from their feelings, to shun intimate and authentic relationships, and to fear association with anything deemed feminine.  While there are certainly many exceptions to this, I doubt I have to work very hard to convince you of the dominance of this type of masculinity in American culture.  HERE is a link to a video that includes clips from

2015 is gone, but it’s worth remembering where we’ve been and what we’ve done in the past year.  With fear and trembling that I may be leaving out something crucial, here are some of the highlights from the year, roughly in chronological order.  Many of these events happen every year and are part of the annual rhythm of the congregation, others are unique to 2015.  All of them are the work of an active community seeking to follow Jesus Christ and be led by the Holy Spirit: Guest speaker Joseph Sprague shares about ministry in prison and neighborhood + open mic night songs and poetry + Coming of Age celebration and mentor matching for Jonathan L, Fiona C, Ian KK, Elizabeth M, Daniel N, and Aaron K + Gospel music Sunday + serving Sunday breakfast at Community Resources Center + group meals hosted at different homes + Lent “Praying with

On the cusp on another Christmas, we pray that the peace of Christ be known in our hearts and in our world. This past Sunday we ended our worship with a congregational selfie, a.k.a., taking a family picture.  It makes for a nice Christmas greeting card, but was also a way of joining with a movement expressing solidarity with refugees.  Along with a banner of our church name, we held up a banner saying #wechoosewelcome.  This hashtag started through Presbyterian Church USA, with an invitation for any congregation to join by taking a picture with such a banner and sharing it on social media.  The picture is up and shareable on the CMC Facebook page.  It’s a small but meaningful gesture toward spreading the kind of message we believe Jesus taught – and lived, as a refugee to Egypt fleeing Herod’s violent aggression toward boys born in Bethlehem. May we

  This past Sunday was one of the high-holy days of the year at CMC – Music Sunday of the Advent/Christmas season.  Children began the service with a sampling of music they had shared the night before for the Christmas play, the choir sang the songs they carefully rehearsed this fall,  instrumentalists added their wordless language of beauty, and everyone present had plenty of opportunity to participate in the full choir, a.k.a., congregational singing.  And it was a full house.  As far as I can tell, that service and Easter are the best attended of the year. This Advent I’m appreciating the opportunities to reflect on my recent learning tour to Israel/Palestine and one of the things I understand in a deeper way as a result of that trip is the power of singing in sustaining the soul.  I didn’t grow up singing four part harmony and still mumble my