Daily Connector | My Front Porch | Joanna Suter
When I bought my first house, one of the things high on my wish list was a front porch. It wasn’t a very large porch but there was room for a couple of chairs. I like the way porches look on a house and I think they make a home appear welcoming. I didn’t use it much. There seemed to be a lot of things to do inside my house or in the back yard. My current house also has a front porch. This one goes the length of my home and has window boxes which I really like. I live in a condo community where neighbors are fairly close. I spend a lot of time on my front porch now. There are some hydrangeas there that attract butterflies, various kinds of bees and other critters. COVID 19 has caused me to miss activities that allowed conversation with friends. But
Daily Connector | List of my FIVE favorite books and why | Dan Halterman
I have a list of books read since 1982. My permanent bookmark is two pieces of paper – one on which I write the titles of books I want/intend to read, inside a folded sheet for listing that year’s completed titles with author and date. The books read list is for one year and until 2020 had been filed with the others in a manila folder in chronological order. The books to read list stays with me until both sides are full and the books read crossed off. Early this year I finished copying those 1,089 titles into a Word file, so I theoretically should be able to find the requested “top five.” But that’s a horrible, arbitrary challenge requiring strain and discernment that I’ll forego. I had a bit of help from many years ago when I penciled on the manila folder my favorite titles to that time. Those
Cultivating Beloved Community
On Saturday, March 7, Leadership Team met for a retreat and decided on this as an annual vision for ministry: “We will cultivate beloved community by deepening relationships within and beyond our congregation.” The following day was the last time we worshiped together in our building before the pandemic shut down. Cultivating beloved community has looked a lot different in 2020 than we imagined. The word “Beloved” was spoken over Jesus at his baptism and transfiguration. It’s a reality already true but not yet fully realized for all of us. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke often of the Beloved Community. It was his phrase of choice for the church and society of which he dreamed – one in which harms were repaired, justice practiced, and equity maintained. We could substitute the Beloved Community for Jesus’ phrase of choice – the Kingdom of God. The Beloved Community is like a mustard
Daily Connector | A change of pace | Jayne Reynolds
I recently took a short trip to Wayne County and got to experience some beings that are quite different from me: Spanish cashmere goats and the Anatolian Shepherd who protects them from coyotes. I was thoroughly charmed and grateful for the much needed change of scene!
Three years in sanctuary: A film and a (virtual) gathering
Next Friday, October 2, is Edith’s three year anniversary in sanctuary. Along with these annual markers you may remember the 500th day falling on Valentine’s Day, 2019, and we observed the 1000th day during our June 28 pre-recorded worship service this year. There’s a somberness to these occasions, but also an honoring of perseverance and a holy reminder of why Edith, and we as a congregation, are doing this work. We gather. We mark the time. We honor the goodness. We renew our prayers and commitments. We’re pleased that this three year mark coincides with the releasing of a short (20 minute) documentary film by Optimist. These folks are good, and well-connected. The film will air in March 2021 on HBO, another way of elevating Edith’s story on the national level. It’s called “The Undocumented Lawyer” and is about Edith’s attorney Lizbeth, herself undocumented, and her work on Edith’s
