As we approach Christmas, we remember that Bethlehem is a real place with real people whose struggles are not dissimilar from Roman occupied Palestine in the first century.  We also remember that the nativity story, and the subsequent response of Herod, is a story of sanctuary, forced migration, and every day families subject to the violent whims of powerful state actors. Below are two images that the Mennonite Palestine Israel Network (MennoPIN) is inviting us to ponder this year.  Both are new works by the street artist Banksy in Bethlehem.  Note the crowbar in the hands of the angel attempting to create an opening in the separation wall.  The “Peace on Earth*” sign with the Christmas star asterisk is on the door of a new business venture: “The Walled Off Hotel,” which boasts “The worst view in the world,” the towering concrete separation wall around Bethlehem.  It hopes to

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Last evening four of us from CMC attended the annual Faith in Public Life celebration, downtown.  Faith in Public Life is a national organization with several state chapters, including Ohio.  In Columbus they convene a monthly faith leaders breakfast which I attend, have been active in addressing the need for crisis intervention training for city police, and have been in the center of the swirl of our sanctuary work, especially in relating with the media. Last evening, on behalf of you all, we accepted their award of “Faith Community of the Year.”  It was their way of acknowledging this congregation’s willingness to risk stepping forward in offering sanctuary to Edith and the Espinal family, highlighting the

You might remember from a previous blog post that I am in the middle of preparing to be the speaker of Camp Friedenswald’s Junior High Winter Retreat on the topic of “What do we do with the Bible?”  It is a topic I chose because it is something I still wrestle with, especially as I think about how scripture connects with the notion of “Christian formation.”  It is my contention that many Christians, especially those who identify closer to the progressive or liberal end of the theological spectrum, have a much clearer idea of how NOT to read the Bible than how to actually utilize scripture in a life of Christian formation.  As I think about what I want to share with the junior high students in January, I am confronted with the question of what kind of goals and outcomes I hope they walk away with.  Adding something else

  Advent begins this Sunday.  It’s a season of watchfulness, becoming like Mary, making space for Christ not only around us, but within us.  As a congregation we hear familiar texts and sing songs of the season that invite us deeper into the story.  Here are three things to know about Advent with CMC this year: + Worship Theme For the last two months we’ve been contemplating what it means to be Sanctuary People.  Advent will build on this focus with the theme Inner Sanctuary.  We will look to Mary as the primary model of one who made her life a sanctuary, her body a place for God to dwell.  We’ve written a brief Sanctuary prayer that we’ll pray in English and Spanish to begin each service.  We’ve invited other congregations to pray this with us.  The adult choir and children are preparing music and performance for the weekend of

The trees are mostly bare, but there is excess in these late-autumn days; of food, of memory, of longing. Time, in its fullness, spills backward and forward, and with it thoughts of all we have ever loved or hoped to love. Gathered into one, it is a feast of too much. In this is heartache: that we are such small and troubled containers for what is offered. In this is gladness: that we would parse one flavor from the many, one warm gesture, one word, again and again. Assured that even the left overs can feed a multitude. Joel 22 November 2017