Celebrating One Year!

Friends, 

Today is the one year anniversary of my service at the First Congregational Church of Ripon, and, in an official way, of my service to God's church in general (though I hope I can say I've been serving God's church for much longer than that).  The anniversary of my ordination was also a week ago, August 26th.  In all the hubbub of my life right now-- full-term pregnancy and purchasing a house-- I haven't really taken time to celebrate either of them.  But when I take a moment to stop and think about how important both of these dates are to me, it's clear that they're dates I should celebrate!  

For now, I will simply say in prayer: 

Thank you God for a beautiful year of service to you and your people, for the way this congregation has blessed my family, for partnership, for Grace, for learning and growth, and for potential.  May this year be one of many.  Amen.  

And share a passage of scripture that has been speaking to me as I look back on the year:
1 Corinthians 3:5-10
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.  According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.

Thank you friends for working with me, for listening to my ideas, for challenging me, and for encouraging me.  

Sermon Reflection Times TWO! | August 18, 2013; August 25, 2013

Hi Church and Church Followers!
I skipped last week's blog post, and I regret it because I liked the message I preached.  You see, the truth is (thou shalt not lie) occasionally I skip a blog post because I am not particularly pleased with the way the message comes across and I feel like it's one that I'll just let slip through the cracks.  They're all on the website, so if you REALLY want to listen you'll almost never miss one.  But last week, the post slipped through the cracks simply as a matter of prioritizing my work week, and the blog post fell to the bottom of the list.

So here!  I still won't do a full reflection, but I will post the MP3 and the scripture references.
August 18, 2013
Read: Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19; Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Listen: Patience


August 25, 2013
Read: Psalm 71:1-6, Jeremiah 1:4-10
Listen: God Is Still Creating
Dig a Little Deeper: 
Here are Meister Eckhart's words.  Originally written in German, this is a translation done by Matthew Fox.

"The Word of God is always 'in the beginning'. And this means that it is always
in the process of being born and is always already born.
     Now it is the nature of a word to reveal what is hidden. The Word that is
hidden still sparkles in the darkness and whispers in the silence. It entices us to
pursue it, to yearn and sigh after it.
     For it wishes to reveal something about God.
What is my name? What is your name? What is God's name?
Our name is:
          that we must be born.
And the Creator's name is:
          to bear.
The soul alone among all creatures is generative
like God is.
               We all are meant to be mothers of God.
In this birth you will discover all blessing.
    But neglect this birth and you neglect all blessing.
          Tend only to this birth in you and you will find there
all goodness and consolation,
     all delight, all being, and all truth.
 [...]
Every day a person bears fruit a hundred times
     or a thousand times or countless times giving birth and becoming fruitful out
of the noblest foundation of all."

Here's a Wikipedia article about who Meister Eckhart is.  I think I've said this before... I'm a shameless Wikipedia fan.  I know it's not for important citations, but it's awesome for quick info!

I'm interested in what you think about the idea that God is STILL creating and forming.  This is a big theological discussion.  First of all, it is an ancient and ongoing discussion about Theism vs. Deism.  Did God create the world and then step away from it (Deism), or did God create the world and continue to be involved in it (Theism)?  Second of all, the question is how much of a role does God play in your life today?  Do you think your life is predetermined by God (predestination) or that you have free will, and God is continuing to play a role in your decisions about your own future?

I'd love to have a sit-down and chat discussion about these things, but for now you can feel free to leave a comment.  Where are you on the Deism vs. Theism spectrum?  Where are you on the Predestination vs. Free Will spectrum?  And with those in mind, what do you think of the sermon I preached this week?  Is God Still Creating you?  

Understanding Others

Given I start school in a couple of weeks, I thought I'd share an experience I'm going to be a part of this year. A few weeks ago I received an email, sent to all UW-Madison undergrads from the Lubar Institute for the Study of the Abrahamic Religions. The Lubar Institute invited students to apply to participate in their 9th annual Undergraduate Forum which will bring together roughly 30 students (about 10 Christians, 10 Jews, and 10 Muslims) to discuss the following topics for 2 hours each month over the course of the school year:
1. Notions of God in the Abrahamic Traditions
2. Worship and Practice
3. Cultural Stereotypes of Jews, Christians, Muslims
4. Why Should There be Dialogue among Religions?
5. Homosexuality in the Abrahamic Religions
6. Experiencing Religion and Religious Dialogue Abroad
7. Faith and Orthodoxy: Liberal Views vs. Conservative and Fundamentalist Views

This link explains the goals of the Lubar Institute's Forum: http://vimeo.com/52875748

Through a discussion of each of these topics, the goal is to identify an intersection between different Abrahamic faiths. I was intrigued when I read through the email and decided to submit an application. Here is the personal statement I wrote:

I am a Christian. One who is not content. I am tired of my Christian identity being glued to a honeycomb. This  honeycomb appears sweet, but as you look closer you find compartments. And within each of these compartments is a judgment from another Christian or a  Jewish friend or a person a thousand miles away. There are many judgments like:

She’s a Christian and therefore she must not accept my sexuality. She views the words in her Bible as an incontestable guide. I’m sure she believes all non-Christians are going to hell. I doubt she many friends of other faiths. I bet she wishes everyone were Christian.

I am a Christian who is not content, but I am a Christian who is grateful. In an experience like the Lubar Undergraduate Forum I have the opportunity to say:

Hey, I’m a Christian. I like to worship through writing. Gay is ok and my Bible is a bound tapestry of principles, ancient Middle Eastern culture, adventure, deceit, reconciliation, letters and ideas. Through Church and religion classes in college, I’ve learned more about my faith and Christianity and realized that sometimes, these words don’t mean the same thing. I’ve also come to admire questioning. I say, let’s stop causing violence over the answer to who are God’s chosen people, because regardless of the answer, our God desires peace.

I’m a Christian who also wants to be a doctor. I want to be there for a person who is feeling vulnerable, for that person who can’t see what is going on inside of them and who is looking if not for a cure, at the very least for comfort. I do not pray enough. When I do, it’s often in my most defenseless moments. I pray to God for his coziness and reassurance. And I feel better. Other people pray. Christians, Jews, Muslims and Baha’is pray. And they visit their doctor when they’re feeling unwell. If I can learn about the beliefs  they carry close to their hearts, I can provide healing and encouragement when medications fail. I can build their trust by extending the cultural competency they need from me and empower them to celebrate social and spiritual wellness through their spiritual practices.

I am and always have been a Christian. One who writes down her beliefs. Now I’m ready to speak on them. More importantly though, am I ready to listen to the ideas, dreams and fears of others.  I too possess an amber honey that runs syrupy thick with false conclusions about others. Events on the news, from our history and in pop culture have certainly tainted my perceptions of the real identities of people of faiths not like my own. But I yearn to break this chain of wrongful judgment through an authentic understanding of the Abrahamic religions. 

I pray that through collaborative enthusiasm, we each can crumble this honeycomb, letting its honey seep un-tasted into the earth. The Lubar Undergraduate Forum is the perfect medium to express thoughts, cultivate questions, and elicit a positive change in the world through our relationships with each other. I am thankful the opportunity to apply to this program and in gratitude to you for reading my thoughts on faith.

I wanted to share my personal statement with you because, 1) I feel strongly about what I wrote and 2) I believe our church is already a leader at embracing the different Abrahamic religions. This is what I feel most proud about when I say I go to the First Congregational Church of Ripon. We certainly do not all meet eye to eye on issues of current events, other religions and even Christianity, but we have respect for each other and a unique desire to learn.

We demonstrate our longing to learn about people different from ourselves through field trips to a Bahai temple in Chicago, panels at Ripon College, speakers over coffee hour, book clubs, clergy picnics, community vacation Bible school, monthly dinners, partnerships with individuals in Africa and many, more ways. I like that our church represents a vision that acknowledges that we do not have all the answers and that the beliefs of others are as valuable as our own.

There are of course many demographics our church has yet to reach out too and we have a lot of learning to do in the future. But, I am thankful to worship with members that receive new experiences with love. If God made humans in his likeness, we must be worshiping him when we are in relationship with each other.

A couple of days ago I found out I was picked to participate in the religion forum. I will share my experiences in the coming months!

-Andrea

Sermon Reflection | August 11, 2013

Read: Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Listen: By Faith
Dig a Little Deeper: 

•      The Author refers to the Book of Hebrews as a "word of exhortation" in Hebrews 13:22, which is the same phrase used in Acts 13:15 to describe a synagogue sermon of Paul.  So while it's often called a letter, it's really, in the author's own words, a sermon.  Interesting fact to share at your next cocktail party. 
•      A note about authorship.  I like the way it's described in my New Oxford Annotated Bible:
• "When the New Testament was being formed, this anonymous sermon was attributed to Paul, presumably because of the growing authority of Paul's reputation as a letter writer.  The early church leaders Clement, Tertullian, and Origen, however, acknowledged differences in style and theology between Hebrews and Paul's own letters.  Clement argued that Luke translated Pual's Hebrew original into Greek, while Origen suggested that a disciple of Paul wrote the letter based on Paul's notes.  Modern interpreters have suggested other authors, including Apollos and Priscilla (see Acts 18.24-26).  There is no sufficient historical evidence, however, to identify any person named in the New Testament as the author" (New Oxford Annotated Bible intro to Hebrews, New Testament pg 369).
• Many if not all churches struggle with finding the commitment necessary to get dreams and ideas off the ground.  We see so much potential, so much hope, and have so much faith in our community but each thing we want to do takes action, organization, planning, brainstorming, conversation, etc. etc etc...  I've been thinking a lot about this lately, and that's why in this sermon I hoped to really prod people to consider bringing their ideas to the surface and not just handing them off but helping to execute them and make them happen.  
• I wonder, what ideas might you have for our church?  When was the last time you said, "We should..." about our church, whether it was "we should change that lightbulb" or "we should bring about the Kingdom of God," and what can you do to make it happen?  I'd love to hear your ideas.  I'd love to cheer you on and help you where I can.  

Introducing Our New Christian Education Director!

Hi Church! 

After being so blessed by a wonderful interim Christian Education Director, we have hired Olivia Wetzel to fill the permanent position.  Olivia was the obvious choice for us, as she has been such a great nursery attendant, working with our other nursery attendant Nalani for the last several months.  Our little ones think she and Nalani are just awesome, and we're really glad that Olivia can step up and work with them more often throughout the week.  Olivia will be delivering children's messages, teaching Sunday School, continuing her work in the nursery, and coordinating family/church family activities.  She will also be posting monthly on this blog. This position is in constant re-definition right now as we work to understand what Christian Education means in our community, and Olivia and I are excited to work together with the Christian Education Committee to make that happen.  

Please come meet her and get to know her during coffee hour on Sunday, August 25th.  

Here is the introduction that Olivia contributed to the August edition of The Spire, our church newsletter. 

"Hello UCC Community!

            My name is Olivia Wetzel and I will be serving as the Director of Youth Christian Education! I just finished my undergraduate career at Ripon College and I am currently a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the field of professional school counseling. During the school year, I provided nursery care to the church community, but I am extremely excited to take on this new position as a Christian educator. One of my favorite things about the UCC church is the open and caring environment. In this environment, I feel that I have the unconditional support to help inspire the youth of the church community to engage in their own faith journeys.

            I am greatly looking forward to working with not only the youth of the church, but also its adult members in discussing different topics in faith and also organizing events for the church community as a whole. To kick off the start of Sunday School, I would love to meet you at coffee hour after the service on August 25^th! Hope to see you there! Continue to have a safe and fun summer!" -- Olivia

Peace to you all!
Pastor Joanna

            

Sermon Reflection | August 4, 2013

Read: Psalm 49 and Luke 12:13-21
Listen: The Good Life
Dig a Little Deeper: 

     It is perhaps no coincidence that I talked about letting go of material goods just after receiving an accepted offer on a house.  If I remember correctly, I preached on a similar thing shortly after moving here ( Click Here: Do I Own Too Much?). 

     Kate Huey wrote a beautiful reflection this week (she always does, and I always send you to her.  I just love her words.)  In it she includes this great, simple little side note: 

"My brother John was telling me about his recent efforts at "simplifying" - that is, getting rid of too much stuff. He said that he and his wife decided to ask themselves two questions to help them decide whether to keep something: 1. "Do we really need this?" and 2. "Really?"Good questions for the man in Jesus' story, and for us as well."

Keeping the entry short this week.  Come worship with us this coming Sunday!  Or any Sunday!  Have a blessed week this week, everybody.

Sermon Reflection | July 28, 2013

Hello Church! 

Let me tell you some things that are exciting me:

• Our youth had a brat fry fundraiser on Saturday and they raised $637.35!!  Along with a Matching Grant from the Webster Foundation, which matches up to $500, we were able to just barely break our goal of $1100!  How cool is that?  I'm really proud of them.  
• With this money, they will be going to Chicago to participate in a weekend of mission experiences including serving at soup kitchens and food distribution centers, witnessing the wealth disparity in the city of Chicago as they drive through both wealthy neighborhoods and neighborhoods in poverty, and on Sunday morning attending worship at Lawndale Community Church, a church much different in worship style and size from our own.  The program that is leading this trip is called Center for Student Missions.  You can learn more about it here.
• The community-wide VBS is coming up! I'm anxious to see how this goes, as it will be my first year seeing it in action.  The goal is to host 200 of the communities children in this way, and so far there are already 133 registered!  If you're interested, go here to register: http://www.riponvbs.org/
• We have officially hired our new, permanent Christian Education director, Olivia Wetzel!  Her job at the church is to work with the Sunday School kids and help develop opportunities for fellowship for everyone, but especially for young families, in the church (ie: ice skating, trivia nights, movie nights, retreats, etc.).  Olivia is a recent graduate of Ripon College and is going on to get her Master's Degree at the University of Oshkosh in professional school counseling.  She'll be posting here on the blog once a month, so look out for her posts!

Okay, what's really cool is that this is a lot of stuff about youth and children!  I like that kinda stuff because it's an area where I see our church evolving in the next few years, and I'm feeling confident that we have the right people-- from volunteers to paid staff like Olivia-- to lead the way.  

Now, sermon reflection. 

Read: Psalm 85 and Luke 11:1-13

Listen: Help me and Thank you

Dig a Little Deeper:  

     The book that I referred to during my sermon, "Help Thanks Wow" by Anne Lamott can be found here on Amazon.  I might suggest checking your local bookstore first (I see nothing wrong with Amazon, but I always try local first!) but if you don't find it there or don't have a chance to get out anytime soon, now you have the link.  Also, Amazon has a Kindle Edition. 

     There are about 10 million ways to talk about this passage from Luke.  I do have an appreciation for the preachers who dissect the Lord's prayer and help us remember why we say it every single Sunday.  I even appreciate the preachers who do a sermon series on it, using one line from the Lord's prayer each Sunday for several weeks.  But it didn't seem like quite the right time for that here, this week.  Instead I wanted to talk about asking God to help us in times when we feel completely overwhelmed.  I've met a lot of overwhelmed people since coming to Ripon.  This is a town full of people who DO THINGS.  Lots and lots of things.  And while I know they are often fulfilled and glad to serve, I also see people get overwhelmed more often than not. 

     So I wanted to share my image of God the Organizer.  My new favorite image, at least for this point in my life.  This is the God who sorts and stacks and arranges and helps to make our lives make more sense.  I hope you like this image of God too.