To engage with our recorded worship video, please click below. We are so glad you have chosen to worship with us. It builds up our part of the Body of Christ so we can radiate Christ’s light and love into the world.
To download a bulletin so you can sing along, join in the prayers, and read the weekly announcements, please click below.
To engage in the homily alone, please click below.
To download a bulletin so you can participate in singing along, join in the prayers, and read the weekly announcements, click below.
To view Bishop Scanlan’s Homily for this service, click below.
To download a bulletin so you can sing along, join in the prayers, and read the weekly announcements, please click below.
To watch the marvelous Virtual Choir alone, please click below.
We gathered this week in a time of conversation regarding the book by Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ. What I am noticing that completely delights me is that people are asking very basic questions. One might imagine that means they are at the beginning of their spiritual journey. Oh, not so! It actually means they have travelled quite a distance, so they can begin to wonder and question within their faith, where they are not satisfied with what they were always told was true, but rather, they want to know the truth deep within them.
We began our conversation around original sin or original goodness. It is interesting to note that the focus on original sin with the emphasis on the 2nd creation story (the fall) rather than the 1st creation story (the goodness of all creation) came into being in the 4th and 5th centuries and was not a part of the early church writings or theology. It was a very interesting conversation.
This discussion led us naturally into the exploration of the question — if we focus solely on the life of Jesus, without considering his death, what do we learn about the nature of God, about ourselves, and about our relationship with God? A corollary question is — if we focus solely on the death of Jesus, without considering his death, what do we learn about the nature of God, about ourselves, and about our relationship with God?
Some answers offered were:
About his life: Jesus was a teacher, healer, lover, walked alongside people, never gave us, believed people were capable of change, and had a perseverance about him that was astonishing.
About his death: Jesus understands vulnerability and woundedness, there are things worth pushing up against (power, oppression) that is worth risking everything (causing “good trouble”), and that Jesus can enter into, understand, and redeem our suffering.
When we put all of this together, we can realize that we are in relationship with a God who loves us, believes in us, invites us to grow and change, walks alongside us in vulnerability and woundedness and redeems it (offers new life) and is asking us to be healers, which at times, means pushing up against that which is not of God.
We then engaged in a contemplative exercise on Gratitude, launched from Rohr’s statement, “The only way, then, to increase authentic spirituality is to deliberately practice actually enjoying a positive response and a grateful heart.” We drew to heart a recent experience for which we were grateful and asked the following questions:
We meet every other Thursday at 2 p.m. If you would like to join our group, you are very welcome to do so. Just email Mother Barbara for the Zoom link.
To download a bulletin so you can sing along, join in the prayers, and read the weekly announcements, please click below.
To engage in the homily alone, please click below.
We are delighted you are worshiping with us from the safety and comfort of your home. Please settle into our worship and allow your heart to be strengthened, your soul restored, and your body refreshed by this worship service of prayer, scripture reading, glorious music, and a homily.
To download the bulletin so you can read along and sing the hymns, please click below.
To listen to only the homily, please click below. We are blessed to have Canon Chris Streeter to be leading worship with us.
This past week we gathered to explore the ideas in Richard Rohr’s book, The Universal Christ. We meet every other week for lively discussions as well as a contemplative practice that settles our soul, for it is in resting in God that we are restored and can see the broadness and expansiveness of the Risen Christ among us.
This week we began with our contemplative exercise. We engaged in a video of images taken of nature and reflected upon what the images say to us about the nature of God. For Rohr contents, that God is not just the Creator of all things, but is revealed in all things — which means we can learn about the nature of God and be in relationship with God by engaging with nature and looking with “the eyes of our heart”. As we watched the video we wrote down words that speak to us of what we know about the essential qualities of God. Words such as: abundance, provides security, is all about community, trusting, starkness, strength, comfort, new life, turning toward light, always in motion were some of the reflections we offered to one another.
To watch the nature image video, please click below.
We then discussed the many faithful ways that we have dealt with the isolation and sense of alienation from the pandemic by turning ever more closely to the interior “mirror of Christ” within us, to strengthen our connection with the holy. It was a beautiful time of sharing and reflection for the resourcefulness of God to pull us into exactly the right experiences to find solace and comfort.
We concluded our conversation by talking about Sabbath and the natural pattern established by God in the creation narrative: “doing” following by “being” and how this plays out in our spiritual lives, as we yearn to make our lives prayer, rather than incorporate prayer into our lives.
To pray along with Desmond Tutu our closing prayer taken from his book, “Made for Goodness”, please click below.
We meet every other Thursday at 2 p.m. Please email Mother Barbara for the Zoom link.
Join us this weekend to worship together virtually. This is a time of beautiful music, Holy Scripture readings, prayer and the Holy Eucharist — PLUS the gift of the music created by Brian Helman, recently recorded. To participate click the link below.
Click below for the bulletin to join in with the singing and readings.
To listen to Mother Barbara’s call to gratitude for the blessing of God’s grace and love made manifest through the continued recovery of Brian Helman, in heart, mind, body, and soul — listen to the music Brian is able to create now, that shows that what is within his heart can be continue to be a prayer to us and to the world.
Refresh your spirit as you listen, watch and participate in this beautiful and holy time of music, prayer, reading of the Holy Scripture and the Holy Eucharist. Prepare your hearts for a rest and refreshing. Click below to access the bulletin for this service and to participate from home.
To view the video for this service click below and allow your spirit to be filled with joy.
We invite you to engage in a quiet, meditative, and relaxing service which will draw your heart closer to the presence of God through glorious music, sacred scripture, healing prayers, and the Holy Eucharist. We will pray together and open that space within us for the grace we need to be restored. The images have been chosen to reflect the truth of God found in the scripture and sacrament and expressed through the music.
To engage with the service, click on the video link below.
To download the bulletin for this service, please click below.
To download a bulletin to follow along with the hymns, readings, and responses, please click below.
To listen to the homily only, please click below.
To access the bulletin for our 8 am “Church in-person” worship service, please click below.
To access our “Church at Home” worship video, please click below.
To access our “Church at Home” worship bulletin, please click below.
