When my father passed away the September before last (has it really been so long?), a good friend gave me a very special devotional book. I have read it often and more often than not the daily selections strike a chord in me that I haven’t heard in a long time; chords that sound good…
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Truth be told, I make quite a few resolutions throughout the year. The many changes I intend cannot wait until the last day of December–so all year I need to offer myself “helpful” advice and make renewed commitments to change my lifestyle to include the healthy habits I believe in. I turn over not just…
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I’m a lucky fellow because I love my job. Sure, it has its frustrating moments- but on the whole I get to do the things I love with people I love in a place that I love. It doesn’t get any better than that. And this Advent season, I feel that love ten-fold. As the…
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Last Sunday we lit the candle of peace on our advent wreath. Today the world seems as far from that peace as it does from the love candle we will light this week. The rhetoric of violence and exclusion in our national media has risen to a fever pitch, even as trees are decorated and…
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Sometimes there are certain things that we say in a sermon that people just remember forever and ever. And we get reminded of those things on a regular basis. While I’d love to tell you it’s the beautiful way we unpacked a certain scripture passage, or the poignant way we brought light to a difficult…
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I know, I know, it’s just Thanksgiving, and I’m already celebrating the ball drop. But actually, in the historical church calendar, this week marks the end of one year and the beginning of another. Sunday, November 29th is the start of Advent, the first season in the church year. (So get those little calendars full…
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Before I left for my sabbatical (which was AMAZING, by the way…thank you!) our Social Justice Committee was pondering ways we can continue and strengthen our work on behalf of the environment, and the church. Earlier this year I accepted an invitation to serve as a board member on the Community Weatherization Coalition- an incredible…
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Recently our church moderator, Nancy asked the gathered congregation to reflect upon some favorite moments at United Church of Gainesville that come to us with the arrival of the fall season. Lots of favorites came to mind: First Sunday back after school starts when we have Gathering of Waters. Gator football…not exactly church-related, but we…
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Watch as we zoom right into the year 2015. 50 years after our very first year as a congregation we find ourselves at a crossroads. As a congregation we’ve experienced birth, growth, change and evolution. In honor of all this forward-thinkingness, we decided it was time to take the website to the next level. No longer…
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