From the Pastor

An Unexpected Good Bye

2011-06-12T23:13:28Z

As many of you now know, we had to terminate one of our employees on Friday for a breach in security that our accountant discovered when reconciling our accounts. I must tell you that releasing him was the hardest thing I have had to do as pastor and supervisor of the staff here at UCC. There is another space, and another time, to share the details around the events that unfolded and plenty of time for our congregation to recover and work towards filling the vacancy of that position. But what there hasn't been, is space for us to process the vacancy his departure leaves in our hearts and in our lives, and so, I'd like to designate a little of this cyber space to that good cause.

Outside the Box: Video Blog

2011-06-07T17:05:20Z

I was invited by a group of guys who host a website called Two Friars and a Fool to submit a video blog on sustainable living. The concept of their website is to host a theological conversation that allows people to "pull up a stool, grab a beer, and join the conversation."

I had a great time putting the video blog together and I invite you to join the conversation. What do you think about Sustainable Living as a Christian discipline? How should Christians be thinking about environmental conservation?

Here's my video, but check out the ironic and humorous responses by the Friars and Fool themselves by clicking here.

Sustaining God's Body by Janetta Cravens-Boyd from Two Friars and a Fool on Vimeo.

A Christian Response to Bin Laden's Death

2011-05-05T19:54:29Z

On Sunday evening Navy Seals killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan. President Obama addressed the nation, recalling the terrible affects of "that bright September day" darkened by terror and loss of innocent lives. We have not been, and are not, at war with Islam, the President reminded us. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, but a murderer of Muslims. His murderous leadership affected Muslims and Christians and people of other faiths without distinction. He has been called the "Hitler of our time," though I do not know if that is a fair, or just, comparison. What is comparable is that he used death as punishment for racial, ethnic, and religious groups, and used violence to instill fear and terror to men and women in this country and in others.

The news of Bin Laden's death elicited a wide array of responses from jubilation, to patriotism, to sorrow. We should not forget that any triumph seen in this event has come at the expense of a long and difficult war. As American people, we responded to violence of September 11 with the personal service of the men and women in our military who gave their lives -- and with great sacrifice to their families -- to prevent our nation from ever again experiencing that kind of violence. As citizens, we bear the costs of this arduous battle.

There is, I believe, within our Christian tradition, room for us to experience the relief that at last a significant chapter in the "war on terror" is ended, while

A Good Good Friday

2011-04-22T20:34:25Z

Here in the University District, the churches in the area band together and create a joint ecumenical Good Friday service. It's a reminder that we all share the crucifixion of Jesus, that his death and resurrection were based out of God's great love for the whole world -- not just for one or two select churches, denominations, or even religions. The last words of Jesus are reflected upon by lay people from many of the congregations in the area. As I listened to the laity from each of the congregations reflect on Jesus' last words from the cross, I was inspired and reminded to the presence of God that appears in diversity. We are united not because we all believe the same, or think the same, but because we pursue God together. And in that pursuit, we are made one by God. This is something of a mystery to me, but it came through clearly in the service this afternoon.

Here are some of the reflections as I remember them on Jesus' last words from the cross.

1st Word, from Luke 23:32-34 -- "Father Forgive them for they know not what they do." By Joseph Drake from Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church

Torture. Was it Jesus' humanity or his divinity that got him crucified? It was likely both, but the question is worth asking. People who are engaged in torture are unable to identify and see the humanity in the person they are torturing. Why is it that Christians are most likely to support torture as acts of intelligence or national security, when our own savior and God was tortured? Are we the ones who still do "not know what they do?" This June is the national campaign to end torture, as part of our Christian witness, this is part of our call to do.

2nd Word, from Luke 23:39-43 -- "Truly, I tell you, you will be with me in Paradise." By Nancy Monelli, Christ Episcopal Church.

This is an exchange between Jesus and two criminals. One of the criminals has eyes to see Jesus as he is, blameless for a crime. The other sees Jesus as a man who can do things for him and calls on Jesus to do his bidding. What is our relationship to Jesus -- do we call on him to do our bidding? It is so easy to be swayed by the crowd as this criminal was. Or do we call on Jesus and see him as Lord? If we avert our eyes and try to find truth from any other source than Jesus, we suffer the consequences and like the second criminal, will be unable to perceive the redemption that is literally feet away.

3rd Word, from John 19:25-27 -- "Woman, behold your son." By Brooke Rolston, University Baptist Church

Here is Jesus declaring new family -- woman behold your son, beloved, behold your mother. What is family and who has the ability to declare it? Who defines adoption, covenants, marriage? Who defines loving covenants between loving adults?

4th Word, from Matthew 27: 45-46 -- "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" By Inge Wood, University Christian Church

This was the moment on the cross when the Creator God was the most vulnerable in Jesus. Last week I heard St. Matthew's Passion by J.S. Bach performed here in Seattle. Listening to the lyrics in my native tongue, German, I heard a new sense of urgency and pain as Jesus declared "mein Gott, mein Gott, warum hast du mich verlassen?"

5th Word, from John 19:28-29 -- "I thirst," by Monty Wiley, University Congregational Church Untied Church of Christ

With the budget cuts that are going on right now, I have to wonder if we are not responding as the soldiers did, offering vinegar instead of what was needed -- water. This is the cry from a Psalm, one of pain and anguish, of a depth that Jesus understood, that God understood through Jesus.

6th Word, from John 19:30 -- "It is finished," by John Gienapp, University Lutheran Church

What is finished here? Is it the end of his trial and passion, at last an end to the suffering of the last couple of days? Or is what is finished here the end of Jesus' life and ministry? In the gospel of John, these words serve as final punctuation on a life story, Jesus' healing and teaching, demonstrating grace and compassion to God's people. It was a whole life of service, a ministry so that we might see grace and truth. He showed us the meaning of servant and what unity with God really meant. It was a whole life of example and some day too, we will look back on our own lives with these words. Before our final hour, we too will say, "it is finished."

7th Word, from Luke 23:44-46 -- "Into thy hands I commit my spirit," by Kathryn Garnett -- University Temple United Methodist Church

Death was not a bleak experience for Jesus, but a moment of trust as he gave himself to his father. he knew that there was life with his father. As he let go of his human life, he trusted God to take him to his eternal life. This is a model for us, as we too, will some day let go of our human life and embrace the eternal life God has prepared for us. It will be our moment of faith, and trust, in that time as it was for Jesus. A time in which we will also say trusting God, "into thy hands I commit my spirit."

A Good Christmas Story

2010-12-24T18:37:38Z

This is a true story about a little church in the midwest and the beautiful power of giving that changes people's lives.

A few weeks ago, one of the members of the church was sitting in a restaurant and overheard his waitress talking to a table next to him. At the table were people she knew, friends perhaps, and she shared that she didn't have any heat. "No one," this man thought, "should go through the winter without heat. Not in this state."

Today's Sermon for University Baptist

2010-11-21T16:03:22Z

I thought you might like to read the sermon I gave to University Baptist today on Reign of Christ Sunday, as part of the pulpit swap between our two congregations. Blessings --

I heard a story, but I don’t know if it is true. It is a story that has been passed down for at least two generations, but I do not know its origins, though I suspect that it began with someone who was there, but I do not that know for sure. It may be urban legend. Social myth. A story, made up. Or it could be a story that is true without it being factual. I don’t know. But it is the kind of story I can believe in.

The story unfolds. Deep in the heart of the European front during World War II, when the fighting was thick in the trenches dug on the soil of France between the Germans --

Citizens of Heaven

2010-11-10T17:59:13Z

While doing research today for a keynote speech I'm giving on Friday for the Phillips University Legacy Foundation scholars program, I stumbled upon this familiar passage from Milton's Paradise Lost. In this section, the devil says a "man's [sic] mind" can make a heaven out of hell, or a hell out of heaven. Either way, we choose our existence, craft our reality, make our own world. It made me think about several hospital visits I have made in which, in one way or another, the person in the bed more or less said to me as we talked about how they were, "In my body, I'm in hell, but with my mind, I'm trying to live in heaven."

Good Worship

2010-03-29T16:49:06Z

We had a really good Experimental Worship service yesterday. About twenty people came from all walks of life, young and old, students and retirees, children and professionals, from different denominational strains, some from no church background. Food was served potluck style and everyone brought something from their home table to create our community table. Someone had the forethought to bring a salt and pepper shaker -- good thing too! But others brought sentimental items, napkin rings they had made for their children, a chipped vase celebrating twenty years of sobriety, a placemat and dining set that they would normally use when they ate at home.

Our church is hosting Experimental Worship services on the last Sunday of every month through the month of May, to explore what worship could look like in a post-modern or 21st century world. Does worship require pews? A liturgy? A specific kind of music?

Lenten Journey

2010-02-23T17:11:33Z

Each year when Lent rolls around, I'm ready for it. Ready to simplify, to reorient, to be recalled. It's not just an excuse to give up something I should be doing less of anyway: consuming less, eating healthier, drinking less caffeine. My spiritual side understands that many of the things that I do stand in the way, block, the presence of God that wants to grow. I can fill the space that God occupies with any number of things to avoid nurturing it. Staying busy, stress eating, avoiding tasks, purchasing more goods that won't make me happy though i think that they will, but none of those are substitutes for what I really need, time in prayer, meditation, silence, time with God.

We do Lent not because we love self-depravation, but because there is an ember in our soul that only becomes a flame when it's given oxygen by God's breath. The purpose of Lent is to awaken us to the presence of God within us, to become more alive with the holy, to live with greater connection to the Source of our Life.

Church Retreat

2010-02-17T16:52:10Z

This past weekend our congregation went on an overnight retreat with well known author and church consultant, Tony Robinson. We surrounded ourselves with lakes and mountains, rustic cabins, fellowship, good food, rich worship, and our Christian friends. Our church committed to a process of transformation several years ago, claiming a commitment to be reshaped and reformed under God's creative spirit, and this retreat was to renew that commitment and discern together the next chapter in our life together.

Tony lead us in a tri-fold process. The first session looked at how the world has changed from the last century to this century. We know that the way church operated in the last century is no longer viable and