I know you all have been waiting with bated breath, but wait no longer because the results of the 12 Hymn Nominations are in!  But first, I feel like I should acknowledge that these results were not obtained in any real scientific way, and there were probably a number of factors at play that may have swayed the votes.  For instance, a couple songs on the list had been used recently in worship, which may have unfairly tipped the scales in their favor.  Also, no Advent/Christmas hymns made the top 12, but overall these were well represented in the nominations. At the same time, I was happy to have received over 100 nomination forms and glad that we made a special effort to include the votes of children and youth. All that to say that if your favorite song didn’t make the list, I hope you do not feel dismayed. 

  In the last week and a half our family has enjoyed three excellent and thought provoking films, all based on real life events. Hidden Figures Perhaps the most remarkable and scandalous aspect of this story is that it hasn’t been widely told until now.  Who knew that the US space program was dependent on a black woman figuring out the math so Alan Shepard and John Glenn could make their famous launches, and return safely back to earth?  Our favorite line was when Dorothy Vaughan and her white supervisor meet up in one of NASA’s newly integrated women’s restrooms.  The supervisor says, “Despite what you may think, I have nothing against ya’ll.”  Vaughan replies, “I know.  I know you probably believe that.” The Queen of Katwe This is the story of Phiona Mutesi, a Ugandan girl living in the slum of Katwe, who has become one of her nation’s

  A week and a half ago I went on a weekend retreat with three pastor friends.  We met up in Sylva, North Carolina at the second home of a member of the Atlanta Mennonite congregation.  We got in a couple long hikes, sampled some excellent and just OK craft beer, and had lots of conversation.  In regards to the latter, it was about the opposite of a silent retreat. One of the things we talked about was busyness.  I’ve never quite bought into the language of “work/life balance” since it implies that work and life are two different things.  But being too busy I get.  Specifically, we had some fun talking about what signals tell us that we’re too busy.  For the last number of years, I’ve thought about four main personal indicators for this stage of my life.  1) First and foremost, Am I keeping a weekly (usually

“We believe Christians are called to a committed fellowship of believers.” This is the first of five “We believe…” statements from the CMC Membership Commitment.  This coming Sunday we’ll read that statement collectively as we welcome 19 new members into the congregation.  The new members will participate in leading the service and will receive and serve Communion.  They’ll also share briefly from their faith journey and why they’re choosing to join up with the journey of this congregation.  It’s hard to do all that in one service with 19 folks, so about half will be sharing this Sunday and the other half on the 21st. The new members group met together for lunch after church back in April.  Although it’s hard to speak for the whole group, three major themes that emerged were the values of community, openness to questions, and peace and justice.  It fits with what I have

You have likely started to hear rumors about the upcoming summer worship series.  Starting on June 11 and running through August 13, we will be exploring the results of our 12 Hymns Project (similar to the 12 Scriptures Project from three years ago).  During this worship series, we will center each service around one or two of the top twelve hymns or songs chosen by the congregation by exploring the theology of the words, the context or background, and how the musicality of the song enhances the experience of it.  There will be many opportunities to get involved, especially for musicians.  But before we can make any of this happen, we need your help.  More specifically, we need as many nominations as possible to make this a good representation of the entire congregation.  Nominations for the top 12 hymns began last week and will be accepted through May 14.  Paper