Dear Caldwell, Gail here at the keyboard this week. It’s hard to believe, but Lent begins tomorrow. At 6 pm, we will have an Ash Wednesday Taize service – a time of quiet reflection, Scripture reading, music, and contemplative preparation to begin this Lenten journey. Please plan to be with us in the sanctuary tomorrow …
Pack Your Bags, Caldwell – The Lenten Journey Begins Tomorrow Read More »
Dear Caldwell, We’ve been taking on some big, hard discussions lately – not the least of which is Jesus’ admonition in Matthew 5 that we are to take the initiative in reconciling with our opponents and “enemies.” (Reminder: we will be spending more time tonight unpacking that scripture and Sunday’s conversation tonight at 7 at Hawthorne’s for …
Dear Caldwell, One of the great comforts of life is knowing when we are right and when our enemies are wrong. Feels great, doesn’t it? To fire off that email or Tweet. To share that meme. To grumble about our opponent behind his or her back. Sure, we know that they might not like us much, either. …
Dear Caldwell, We’ve dedicated this year to the theme of Holy Conversations: Who We Are and Whose We Are. As we travel from Sunday to Sunday this week, God gives us many angles by which we can consider those questions. First, as part of Black History Month, we are remembering and celebrating black history in worship and in …
Dear Caldwell, It’s a difficult thing to be “called out.” We say something offensive or hurtful. We forget an obligation. We show up unprepared for something. To be called out is to be told directly that we didn’t do something well, we did it half-heartedly, or we just didn’t do it at all. That’s a tough moment …
Dear Caldwell, I pray that the King holiday granted you some time to rest and reflect a bit on on our ongoing call to build a more just world. Calling, in fact, is at the center of this week’s focus at Caldwell. After our time in worship Sunday at the well with Jesus and the Samaritan woman …
As we have seen and read already in the past two weeks, our theme this year is “Holy Conversations: Who We Are and Whose we Are.” Whose are we? One answer to that question is this: we belong to Jesus, the one whose birth we celebrated a few weeks ago, the one whose baptism we …
Holy Conversations: Sitting at the feet of Jesus Read More »
Dear Caldwell, As I wrote to you last week in the “What’s New for 2020” letter, our year together is already gathering momentum. Our theme this year is “Holy Conversations: Who We Are and Whose We Are.” Our hope is that we can engage in all kinds of conversations and dialogues that continue to answer those questions. We’re mindful …
Dear Caldwell, Greetings in Christ on the eve of the year of Lord 2020! The new year brings all manner of “new things” at Caldwell. As you know, we persist in the idea that the church follows the liturgical calendar rather than the secular one. Accordingly, the church year began in early December, preparing for Christ’s …
Dear Caldwell, As I whisked into the hospital to visit a member today, I passed a young mother holding her newborn, no doubt only hours old. Mother and child had just been discharged. The baby was swaddled in a soft, clean, new hospital blanket. That’s a good thing as they were headed out into today’s damp, …
