I have always loved stories, the way they can capture human experience, characters and settings imagined by us, but often tell us so much truth about our own reality. Harry Potter, a fictional wizard, teaches us about the reality of …
Continue reading
Faith, Power, & Justice Mardi Gras February 11, 2018 Shelly Wilson Football was a spiritual experience for me once, but not here, I’m sorry to say, at least not yet. It was in New Orleans, after
Continue reading
Two Miles to Freedom February 4, 2018 Andy Bachmann “And if someone forces you to go with them one mile, go with them two.” If you’ve ever sat next to
Continue reading
It is a powerful thing to be a stranger and to be welcomed into a new place – a place that is not your own. It happened from the moment we drove up to First Congregational Church of Atlanta in …
Continue readingShiprah and Puah, the splendidly bright midwives of the Scripture story were prophets, in their way. Prophets work from within the context of exclusion and injustice, name realities, and then show the justice ways. And as Prophets call out in …
Continue reading
It seems odd to be talking about the magi at this late date, doesn’t it? The Christmas decorations have been put away. The tree gasped its last dying breath weeks ago; and when we removed it from the house on …
Continue reading
AB: We’ve made no secret of how we often jokingly refer to the 4:30 Family Service as, “The Running of the Children.” It begins innocently enough; with the sanctuary decked out in its Christmas finest. And the families file in …
Continue reading
This is my favorite Sunday in Advent: Joy Sunday! I love this moment in cyclical time, with the anticipation of Christmas Eve just around the corner and all of the decorations up and festive sweaters in full rotation. It follows …
Continue reading
There is a story in Scripture of this time when Jesus saw a group of ten lepers –those most down and out, sick in body, rejected by the majority culture, alone and hopeless in their segregated community. In the …
Continue reading
An extravagant party is the setting for the parable today. Jesus often uses food, banquets, and eating together to symbolize the arrival of heaven on earth, God’s reign of love made true. But, even in Biblical storytelling, parties rarely seem …
Continue reading
It was two years ago this week on All Hallows Eve that a handful of friends and I finally walked into Cathedral Square in Santiago de Compostella, Spain. These were the final steps of the 500-mile journey we had embarked …
Continue readingSeveral UCG members reflect on what Pride means to them. Mary Fukuyama Good Morning Everyone, My name is Mary Fukuyama and I have been asked to provide some background history about how UCG become an ONA church. Just the …
Continue reading
