Blog

Holy Week at Tabernacle Baptist Church

April 17–20, 2025

This Holy Week, we continue listening deeply, reflecting honestly, and walking together through the sacred story at the heart of our faith. One of the great gifts this year is the opportunity to reconnect with our longtime friends at Pine Street Baptist Church — a congregation with whom we’ve shared more than a century of mission, prayer, and mutual encouragement. This moment of reconnection feels holy, and we’re grateful to walk this stretch of the journey side-by-side once again.

Please Note: The Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services were originally publicized as starting at 6:30 PM. Both will now begin at 6:00 PM.


Maundy Thursday

Thursday, April 17 @ 6:00 PM
Location: Pine Street Baptist Church
400 South Pine Street, Richmond, VA 23220
(Service will last approximately 1.5 hours)

Maundy Thursday invites us into the tender and intimate moments of Jesus’ final night with his disciples, as found in John 13. It’s a night marked by table fellowship, foot washing, and Jesus’ command: “Love one another, just as I have loved you.”

We will begin the evening together in the Sanctuary at Pine Street Baptist Church, then transition into their Fellowship Hall, where we’ll gather around tables for guided conversation, a light meal of hummus, bread, carrots, and fruit, and a time of communion. Through shared space and reflective practice, we’ll explore what it means to love one another in the way Jesus has loved us — sacrificially, humbly, and fully.

Parking is available in the church lot or on the street. Accessible parking is also available. Greeters will help guide you to the Albemarle Street Entrance or the accessible entrance at the back of the building.


Good Friday

Friday, April 18 @ 6:00 PM
Location: Tabernacle Baptist Church
(Service will last approximately 1 hour)

We are honored to welcome Pine Street Baptist into our space for an experiential Good Friday service. Through storytelling, guided reflection, and quiet moments, we’ll consider the grief, confusion, and hope experienced by those who witnessed the crucifixion.

Please plan to eat prior to arriving or prepare for a later supper following the service.


Community Ministry

Saturday, April 19 @ 7:30 AM
Location: Tabernacle Baptist Church

Join us in serving our neighbors through tangible acts of care and presence — a living response to resurrection hope.


Egg Hunt & Cookout

Saturday, April 19 @ 5:00 PM
Location: Fiske Home

Celebrate new life with an evening of food, fellowship, and fun. Kids can enjoy an egg hunt, and all are welcome at the table.
Hamburgers, hot dogs, and drinks will be provided.
Please bring a side dish to share, and bring a picnic blanket or portable chairs for seating.

The egg hunt begins at 5pm sharp, so don’t be late.  Dinner will follow at 5:30pm. 
Contact a staff member or church leader for the Fiske’s home address.


Easter Sunday

Sunday, April 20
Location: Tabernacle Baptist Church

  • Easter Breakfast @ 9:00 AM
    Celebrate Resurrection morning with a warm, shared meal.
  • Easter Worship @ 11:00 AM
    Join us for a vibrant service of music, prayer, and proclamation. He is Risen! Together, we’ll celebrate the hope and new life found in the resurrection of Christ.
    All are invited to bring fresh flowers to adorn our Flower Cross — a beautiful tradition that symbolizes the transforming power of Easter morning.

As we move through this Holy Week together, may we find space for God’s voice, room for holy mystery, and hearts open to the grace that is always unfolding.

No On-Site Programs Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025 —Join Us on Zoom

After thoughtful consideration, key representatives of Church leadership have made a unanimous decision that no church programming will take place on our physical premises this Sunday. This decision was made due to safety concerns related to the current condition of the exterior of our buildings, entrances and exits, combined with recent and anticipated weather events.

Instead, we’ll gather via Zoom at 11 a.m. during the worship hour.

We understand this change may come as a surprise, especially since we’ve been accustomed to using our livestream in similar situations. However, this Sunday will look a little different as we gather on Zoom for a more personal and interactive experience.

Here’s what to expect:

11 am – 11:10 am: A brief formal gathering to center us for the morning.

11:15 am – 12:00 pm Breakout Rooms: After the formal gathering, you’ll have the opportunity to join one of three breakout rooms

Rooms 1 & 2: Guided Conversation on Baptism: Judy Fiske and Sterling Severns will invite reflection and discussion on the significance of baptism in our lives.

Room 3: Epiphany Star Words Led by April Kennedy, this room is for those who didn’t receive an Epiphany Star Word last week or would like to reflect on their word more deeply. You’re welcome to linger and join in a conversation about the significance of these words and how they’ve offered guidance and meaning in the past.

We appreciate your understanding, flexibility, and grace as we prioritize the safety and well-being of our community. We look forward to seeing your faces on Zoom this Sunday as we gather in a new and meaningful way.

Grace and peace,

Sterling, Judy, April, and Vincent (Staff), Jessica C. (Administrative Board Chair), John G.  (Deacon Representative), Donna S. (Chair of Building and Grounds)

Zoom info: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83755397125?pwd=CYl6oOqZcMEvi2f6PGoNN87Lr6Zz5p.1

Meeting ID: 837 5539 7125

Passcode: 123807

One tap mobile

+16469313860,,83755397125# US

+13017158592,,83755397125# US (Washington DC)

Vote on The 2024-25 Fiscal Year (July 1 – June 30) Budget.

Budget Vote for TBC Fiscal Year 2024-25

There were no suggestions for changes to the FY 2024-25 Budget so you may now vote on the budget. Voting opens on June 14, and will end on June 26, 2024. Major financial expenditures like these budgets require at least 50 votes. Click here for a copy of the TBC Budget.

Click Here to vote electronically. Paper Ballots will also be available in the back of the Sanctuary.

Please remember, you need to be a member of TBC to vote and you may only vote once.

Looking Ahead with Hope and Anticipation (Revised)

Over the course of these last two months, we’ve seen God at work specifically through:
– the deepening of relationships 
– growing unity among leadership
– the offering and receiving of caregiving in our fellowship
– and the blessing of renewed hope

The list below offers a roadmap of opportunities for us to continue to gather, serve, and grow together. As it relates to your participation, we encourage you to pray for God’s guidance in your faithful “yeses” and “nos” alike. Which of these events might offer you the most joy and/or sustenance in the season ahead? Are there a handful of events God might be calling you to prioritize? Which events do you need to skip in order to be faithful to a calling God has already placed on your heart? Let’s commit to remain open to the holy nudges and assume the best in one another’s decision-making.
 
 Every time two or more are gathered, God brings opportunity for thriving and growth in community. You are a blessing to those of us that have found a home at Tabernacle and a key part of the unfolding blessing we are called to be in the larger community. Steady on, Church……steady on! 

OCTOBER

Saturday, October 21 – Community Ministry
Saturday, October 28 – Leadership Retreat with Mark Tidsworth (consultant)
Sunday, October 29 – Congregational Meeting with Mark Tidsworth (consultant), Sunday, October 29 – 8:00-8:30 PM – Way S’nah Htoo’s Baptism Service

NOVEMBER

Saturday, November 4 – Community Ministry
Saturday, November 4 – B&G meeting with Carson Dean (consultant)
Saturday, November 4 – Remember to move clock back an hour prior to going to bed (Daylight Saving Time ends)
Sunday, November 5 – All Saints Sunday
Sunday, November 5 – Quarterly Business Meeting (after worship), including initial report from B&G’s work with consultant. 
November 10-12       Youth Group to CBF Virginia Retreat at Eagle Eyrie
Sunday, November 12 – Informal Fellowship on the church portico (after worship)
Sunday November 12 – TBC hosting Rachel Pierce’s Ordination Service (3 p.m) Monday November 13 – Book Club Discussion on “Caste” by Isabell Wilkerson
Monday, Nov. 13 – 15 – Annual BGAV General Assembly Meeting at Bon Air Baptist Church Saturday, November 18 – Community Ministry
Sunday, November 19 – Church-wide breakfast in the Fellowship Hall
November 20 – 24 – Mission Team to Metro Baptist Church, NY
Tuesday, November 21 – Tabernacle and Pine Street Baptist Churches join FBC Richmond for a Thanksgiving Dinner and Worship Service

DECEMBER

Saturday, December 2- Community Ministry
Sunday, December 3 – First Sunday of Advent
Sunday, December 10 – Children & Youth Christmas Parties Thursday, December 14- TCCC Christmas Pageant Friday, December 15 –  packing of Christmas baskets
Saturday, December 16 – Christmas Basket Ministry (morning)  + Bruton Parish Concert in Williamsburg (evening)
Sunday, December 17 – Sanctuary Choir will share their Bruton Parish Concert Music during worship. Following worship, we will celebrate with Terry Witt, as she is retiring from the staff after 25 years of service, in the Fellowship Hall
Sunday, Decembber 17 – Voting for the TCCC Assistant Director closes at 2 PM.
Sunday, December 17 – Annual Christmas in the Fan Concert
Sunday, December 24 – Christmas Eve Service

SUMMER 2024

June 12-15   –  Older Children to Passport Kids Camp
June 30 to July 5 – Youth Group to Passport Choices  at Converse College

Stay Posted:
Details each of these events will be shared in the upcoming weeks, via TabWeekly, the webpage, and church calendar. 

What might God do with the dust of our fallen structures?

In light of last week’s headline, World Health Organization declaring an end to COVID-19 as a global health emergency

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

A word of encouragement to those (re)building, (re)viving, (re)missioning, and (re)forming institutions

All humans long for stability. Throughout time, Societies have built structures to protect stability. Call it covid, call it chaos, there’s been a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on. Rigid structures don’t tend to fare well when the ground starts shaking. No structure is meant to last forever and yet when history circles back around we’re surprised by its arrival. Anything we carve or build out of rock, bricks, steel, or glass, eventually falls. Travel to Greece, Rome, the site of the former World Trade Center in NYC, or, (dare I say it) down a long stretch of Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va, historical structures eventually and always buckle under the pressure of the passage of time.

Most any group of people that find themselves finally tasting the “good life” naturally want to build a structure that can maintain, expand, and protect that way of life (aka stability). Think about the destructive cycles that spin chaos into the world from there. If building, maintaining, expanding, and protecting our “good life” requires the diminishing, disqualifying or destruction of the lives of others, expect chaos and prepare to choke on the dust of fallen idols, fortresses, and structures.

I believe God is refashioning us, not only out of the dust of our fallen idols, fortresses, and structures, but also out of the dust being stirred up by the beautiful feet of those walking beside “God with Us”

There’s a moment in the Bible when the disciples of Jesus find themselves awestruck by the Temple structure,“Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what a wonderful structure!” Jesus responds, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” The temple is supposed to be the most stable place on earth, the one place where God’s finger touches the world, therefore the one place chaos can’t possibly exist.

Later in the story, those that arrested Jesus justify their actions based on the audacity of Jesus bringing chaos, the equivalent of kryptonite, into the temple. He doesn’t help his case when he predicts the temple’s destruction or in claiming he will rebuild the temple in three days. To add insult to injury, he claims the new Temple won’t be confined by geography or any other lines we might draw in the sand. No-one-corner of the world will be able to claim this One as their own. This One, is meant to travel. This One is a throwback to the original design. Anyone with institutional memory might call him “Tabernacle”, but most of his followers call him Savior.

Church, I know we’re all longing for stability, it’s natural to do so, especially in our grieving. I want you to know that I join you in deep grieving. So much more, I want you to know that we worship a God that brings order out of Chaos.

Any version of life, built upon a structure that diminishes the potential for thriving in the lives of others, cannot be attributed to the goodness of God.

YHWH didn’t fashion us out of metaphorical dust, breathe air into our lungs, and put us on our feet, only for us to create our own versions of the “good life”. Any version of life, built upon a structure that diminishes the potential for thriving in the lives of others, cannot be attributed to the goodness of God. Any version of the “good life” that leads someone into isolation, separation, or even relational annihilation is a cheap counterfeit. God is good…all of the time. The good life Christ offers is the real deal….the Way, the Truth, and The Life. Walk in the knowledge that we follow a Savior that can take all of the fallenness, brokenness, and complexities of the stories of the past and present, all of the unintentional chaos we’ve unleashed into the world, and somehow bring profound goodness through it. Know that God can, and will, make ALL things for good.

As we move out of this global pandemic, it will be critical for us to understand that it’s not our job to rebuild our temples. God already did that, three days after his son was crucified. The news gets even better. The resurrected Savior is inviting us to tabernacle with him right smack into the middle of the chaos. He’s inviting us to join the search party for those who have stumbled into, or were pushed into, lostness and loneliness. He’s inviting us to join him in the reclamation of the abandoned, to participate in the healing of the brokenhearted, and even in the resuscitation of the hearts of the presumed “righteous”.

In this very moment, I believe God is refashioning us, not only out of the dust of our fallen idols, fortresses, and structures, but also out of the dust being stirred up by the beautiful feet of those walking beside “God with Us”. It’s an invitation to breathe again. It’s an invitation to life again. It’s the invitation of a lifetime!

Rev. Sterling W. Severns, Pastor

  • This is an adaptation of something first written in January 2022.

The Wide Spectrum of Mothering

To those who gave birth this year to their first child — we celebrate with you

To those who lost a child this year–we mourn with you

To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stain–we appreciate you

To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you

To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment—we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms–we need you

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children–we celebrate with you

To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children–we sit with you

To those who lost their mothers this year–we grieve with you

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother–we acknowledge your experience

To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood–we are better for having you in our midst

To those who have had abortions–we remember you on this day

To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children–we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be

To those who stepparent–we walk with you on these complex paths

To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren, yet that dream is not to be–we grieve with you

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year–we grieve and rejoice with you

To those who placed children up for adoption–we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising–we anticipate with you

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.

Written by Amy Young

*** CONNECTION CARD: Click here to let us know you were present with us in worship, to ask a question, or share a prayer concern.

It’s Transfiguration Sunday!

IT’S TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY! FEB 19 @ 11 AM (EST)We hope you’ll make plans to join us for this morning’s worship service. We will conclude the season of light celebrating the Transfiguration of Jesus. We will conclude the worship service in a circle of candlelight, turning our attention to the Lenten journey ahead.

FOR THOSE PARTICIPATING IN THE VIRTUAL ACRE:

During the invitation hymn, those participating virtually will be encouraged to log out of the livestream AND immediately log into the zoom link below. This will allow our virtual participants, each holding candles, to be visually seen alongside those in the physical sanctuary. It only would make sense to do this if you’re comfortable turning on your zoom camera to be seen in the circle of candlelight. If you’d rather not be seen, it’s best to just stay in the livestream.

IF YOU’D LIKE TO BE SEEN IN THE CIRCLE OF CANDLELIGHT….

1) Login into this zoom link when prompted:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3425677717?pwd=eTBUWW9vSkx5OHpEZjVhOHdyUHc0UT09

Meeting ID: 342 567 7717
Passcode: 909439

2) Turn on your camera so that you and your UNLIT candle can be seen on the monitor in the Sanctuary.

3) Be sure your microphone is muted.

4) You’ll be prompted to light your candle, when those in the physical room are lighting theirs.

Registration Deadline for this weekend’s: Re-Visioning Retreat, January 13-15, 2023

In decades past, previous generations at Tabernacle set aside time, often full weeks or weekends, to come together purposefully and expectantly. Long ago, these gatherings were called revivals and more recently spiritual renewal weekends.

 Though the format of those gatherings have changed, the longings and expectations of each generation, including our generation, have not wavered. For almost 150 years our local congregation has come together, often in our most vulnerable chapters of communal life, to express our yearning for revival, to pray for inspirited vision, to petition God to give us unity in the (re)discovery of purpose and call. 

The weekend of January 13-15, 2023, our generation will come together, in both the physical church building and in our virtual acre. Mark Tidsworth, our facilitator, will  help us explore the challenges and opportunities standing before the Universal Church and guide our local church in prayerful discernment/dialogue.

We will  introduce three questions as an invitation into  discernment.  

What might God do, in and through us,  if we were to shift away from __________________  and move toward _________________? 

  • member identity to disciple identity
  • attractional to missional church
  • consumer culture to sacred partnering

On Friday night, Mark will provide a format we’ll use for capturing our insights and we’ll continue to gather and glean throughout the entire weekend. This, plus the insights generated during multiple small group discussions, will be funneled to church leadership after this weekend. In turn, the leaders will determine how we can effectively continue to discern together as a congregation. 

The Holy Spirit is prompting our old church to embrace a new day in this new world we’re all living in and we offer our praise to God for what we’re about to see and hear.  Tabernacle, yet again, Christ is on the move, and, yet again, the revived, renewed, and re-missioned Church is called to follow.  


————————————————-
Retreat Schedule:
Friday, January 13 6-9 pm (dinner provided)
Saturday, January 14, 9-12 pm 12-12:45 (lunch provided), 12:45 – 3 pm
Sunday, January 15, 9 – 10:30 am + worship

Cost: 
There is no registration fee. However, we do ask that each participant bring a pack of bottled waters or canned beverages + a sweet/salty snack to share.

Childcare: 
Whereas, we won’t be able to provide a nursery on-site,  we can help offset some of the expense of baby sitting in your homes and possibly identify babysitters.

————————————————-

It will be helpful to us if each participating member of your household registers separately. Please REGISTER BY CLICKING HERE.

A greeting from our Retreat Facilitator

Nov. 21 Zoom mtg postponed

Tonight’s  Zoom Meeting, regarding Fire Protection, has been postponed.

The decision to postpone tonight’s zoom mtg. is based on updated information our lay leadership received this morning. Thanks for your flexibility and  also for helping us put the word out to your classes, committees, teams, and small groups.

We’ll reschedule the meeting after we’ve explored the info we’ve just received. 

Discipleship Pathways

“What would the church look like if everyone in the church used their God-given gifts and talents to equip the rest of the church in such a way that the entire church became more like Jesus?”  For if the whole church looked and lived more like Jesus, how much more would our neighborhoods and cities look more like heaven?

– JR Woodard

The Pastoral Staff has been hard at work in preparing to equip the church in this next season of life together. Early this week, we’ll share the details of what the church can expect. This document will serve as a primer in better understanding why we’re beginning “here” and what to expect from each space we’re creating. Our goal is to prompt each one of us to take a deeper step in our walk with Christ; we make the road by walking. 

DISCIPLESHIP IS THE GOAL

It’s all about equipping the people of the Church to be more like Jesus in a world that needs the love of Jesus.  Christian discipleship is about calling others to join us in practicing a way of life in which we embody (flesh out) the life of Jesus in the context of the world as we journey to fulfill God’s mission together.

  • Discipleship is a way of life, not an intellectual assimilation of ideas or a program.*
    • We must deliberately practice discipleship in our daily lives, if we want to disciple others; It’s essential for us to practice what we teach. 
    • Discipleship is about inviting people to become whole again, to become more like Jesus, overcoming destructive habits and building life-giving habits
    • Discipleship takes place in the street and the sanctuary, the classroom and the living room, its about being “with people” in everyday life
    • Discipleship happens when we are on mission together, joining God in the renewal of all things.

Explore the primary tool we’re using to develop three unique spaces of belonging in Fall 2022.

Explore our fall programming guide

Short on time? Here’s a snapshot of what to expect this fall

* Adapted from Jr Woodard's Creating a Missional Culture: Equipping the Church for the Sake of the World 

A Month of Maintenance Work for Our Home at Grove & Meadow

This report was submitted back in June from Donna and the Building and Grounds Committee. Since it was a large and costly project, we thought for those of you who may have missed it the first time around, we would bring it back to the top of the posts so you can have a chance to read it again.

It’s been an exciting month of activity around our buildings for the month of May and into early June.  You may not notice unless you look hard or unless you are spending time in the choir area or Blue Room!  The members of the Building & Grounds Committee thought you would like to see just how hard folks have been working for needed repairs and renovations, thanks to our partnerships with local experts.  Old World Masonry Restoration, Vassars Services and Jeter Flooring all did an excellent job for us!

To read the full report which includes pictures of the project, click here.

Many thanks to Vincent, Donna and the Building & Grounds Committee.

Fiscal Year 2022-23 Final Budget

This is the budget from the Finance Committee for everyone’s review. Click here to access the budget. There was a zoom call this past Sunday evening at 7 PM for anyone that wanted to ask questions or add input before the Finance Committee submitted the final budget today. If you missed that meeting but would like to view it, click here for the recording of the 7 PM meeting from Sunday, June 5.

The timeline for the budget will be as follows:
Beginning June 8 – please review the budget. If you have any questions please reach out to Margaret Ailes, Jim Soyars, or Dan Herman our Finance Committee members.June 22– Online voting begins for the Budget – Click here to vote electronically. June 26- Paper Ballot in Worship and Vote Closes at 3 PM.

The TCCC Budget can be reviewed by clicking here.

We’re Expecting Company and could really use some help in some practical “once and done” projects…….

We’re anticipating a wonderful season of re-connection and welcome. Now is the time to get ready for company. 

TECHIES

Reset a wifi enable deadbolt and connect to TBC wifi.Deadline – February 15

PEOPLE THAT LOVE SORTING AND MATCHING OFFICE SUPPLIES AND/OR ORGANIZING CABINETS

  It’s well past time for us to pull everything out of the cabinets in our copy machine room and the supply closet just around the corner. We need 2-3 folks to tackle this. Probably would take a day of working together or two half days?  Deadline – February 15

SPREADSHEET PEOPLE…..

* Enter data related to worship attendance over multiple years into a spreadsheet AND create some charts that help us track trends. * Gather some specific content from annual Book of Reports, enter said content into a spreadsheet. Deadline – FEBRUARY 28

PEOPLE THAT LOVE SANDING, PAINTING, and REFINISHING*

We’ve got a small handful of wooden tables and desks that need to get freshened up. No presumptions as to how many you’d knock out. Just let us know what you’re up for and we’ll assume others will do the same. Deadline – FEBRUARY 28

KEY MASTERS…..*

We’re looking for a curious sleuth to go through random keys, attempt to identify matching locks AND/OR label and re-organize our current keys.  Deadline – MARCH 1

Interested parties…..please contact pastor@tbcrichmond.org.   Sterling will connect you to the appropriate coordinator and we’ll take it from there. 

Stay posted as lots of other opportunities will be posted in the week(s) ahead.

RSVP For Wednesday Night Meal – February 1, 2023

Please RSVP For Wednesday Night Meal 

(Revamped) Dinner Church on Wednesday Night

We  hope you’ll make plans to join us for Dinner Church on Wednesday, January 25.  Please note the second iteration of this new ministry model is slightly different from the original:

5:30 – 6 p.m.
Early arrivers will help prepare the physical space

6 – 7 p.m.   
Break break and explore faith (older children – Senior Adult)
* Preschool – 1st Grade will eat and participate in a different space.

7 p.m.
Parents and children head home. Others may do the same or opt to help clean-up and enjoy unstructured fellowship.

7:15 – 8:15 p.m.
Those with a desire to delve deeper into the conversation are invited to gather in the Sanctuary with our pastor.   

Hope you’ll make plans to join us on Wednesday, February 1.  Please CLICK HERE to RSVP so we can plan for dinner. Please RSVP by 7:00 PM Monday, January 30.

***If you would like to attend and bring your own meal, please feel free to do so.***

The cost for the meal will be $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children and youth with a maximum of $20 per family. We will accept cash, check (made payable to Tabernacle Baptist Church), scan the QR Code or Credit/Debit card.

When the Door Doesn’t Budge

When the Door Doesn’t Budge
By Rev. Sterling Severns, Pastor

Life has a way of surprising us with change. One day everything feels familiar, and the next we’re in territory that’s suddenly unrecognizable. It might be a diagnosis we never expected, the loss of a job we thought was secure, or a shift in a relationship we counted on. Or it might be more subtle—realizing that something which once made perfect sense no longer feels like it fits. Moments like these can freeze us in place. We don’t know how to move forward, and we can’t go back. So we wait. And wonder. And wrestle with the weight of it all.

In my own experience, there have been more than a few seasons like this—times when the path ahead felt uncertain, and the world around me felt both familiar and foreign. Everything on the outside may have looked the same, but something inside had shifted. And without exception, each time, it’s taken its toll. The waiting. The weariness. The wondering if anything is actually changing at all. There’s a deep vulnerability in those moments, especially when we’ve asked God for help, when we’ve prayed for direction, healing, peace. We show up to our lives the best we can. Still trying. Still hoping. Still doing our thing. But the silence lingers, and the door we’ve been knocking on stays shut.

The longer we walk in faith, the more we come to see the real change comes not when the door swings open, but when something inside us opens instead. Not suddenly, not dramatically, but slowly, quietly, over time. God doesn’t always remove the stuckness, but God meets us in it, reshaping our hearts, softening the places that have grown hard with fear or frustration. Sometimes, when the exhaustion finally gives way to surrender, we discover that the door was never locked after all. We were just too weary to see how close we already were to grace. We lean against it for support, and somehow, we find ourselves on the other side.

God doesn’t wait for us beyond the threshold. God is with us in the hallway, in the waiting, in the ache. In the quiet work of transformation that begins long before the breakthrough. That is the mystery and mercy of the God who answers, not always by changing our circumstances, but by being unshakably present within them.

So wherever you find yourself this week, whether you’re waiting for the door to open, or wondering if it ever will, may you know you are not alone. May you be reminded that presence itself is a gift, that transformation often begins before we even recognize it, and that grace has a way of meeting us right where we are.

Homily: When the Door Doesn’t Budge

What do you do when the door won’t open—when you’ve prayed, pushed, and persisted, only to find yourself still stuck? This week, Pastor Sterling Severns reflects on Luke 11:1–13, where Jesus responds to his disciples’ request: “Teach us to pray.” With insight from theologian Robert Farrar Capon, this homily explores prayer not as a formula for success but as a deep practice of surrender and connection.

Sterling walks us through the mystery of persistence in prayer—not to wear God down, but to wear down our own illusions of control. Sometimes the door doesn’t open right away. Sometimes it’s not the door that moves, but us. And sometimes, in the weariness and surrender, we discover that God has been with us all along, even before the door creaked open.

Whether you’re questioning, clinging, or simply tired, this episode offers a spacious, compassionate reminder: prayer doesn’t always change the circumstances, but it opens us to the God who is unshakably present in the midst of them.

Homily Transcript

July 13, 2025 Luke 11:1–13 Rev. Sterling Severns, Pastor

The disciples of Jesus have been following him for a while now. They notice that there’s something different about him beyond just his ability to perform miracles and the wisdom teaching and all the things it’s about. The way that he prays, they notice that when he goes off to spend time with God, he comes back kind of with a reset button having been hit or a renewed resolve. They become aware the more time that they spend with him, that there’s something about the quality, or whatever is that’s happening there in his connection with God that helps him in the moments that he finds himself being criticized. On the other side of the criticism, something that sustains him when he’s clearly getting weary. There is something about the quality of the nature of the way that he prays that sustains him. And so they ask the innocent question, hey, how do we pray like that? Teach us to pray now the cross thing at the beginning of our spiritual journeys, when we first start out, one of the great gifts of the initial period of time that we find ourselves just open and aware to the grace of God is that doors just kind of open for us as we go through them, we have a keen awareness early in our faith, In our childlike faith. 

It seems that when we approach an obstacle, a wall, or, in today’s context, a door, we just kind of assume, maybe, I don’t know how to say it, we assume the door is going to open, and it does. Can you remember a time in your life when things felt pretty easy for a lot of you, that was a long time ago? Anybody? Yeah, for most all of us, if not all of us, it’s been so long since life felt that way that we don’t even remember that moment in our lives. Because the longer that we walk in faith, the more we discover as we do life, that more doors are on the way, right? So whereas at first we may just walk through the door or we just assume God’s going to open it and God opens the door, we’re good, but then the longer that we move along, we find that we have to work at it a little bit more. Here’s the great truth that I’d like to share with you in this brief little homily today, the perception of this passage of Scripture is that if we can just nag it, God enough, God will finally be so sick of hearing us that we’ll get what we ask for. 

Robert Farrar Capon, one of my favorites, the quintessential go to for all things. Parables says that so many of us approach God as if prayer is a vending machine. You know, some of you are so young you haven’t used a lot of vending machines where you understand the frustration of putting all the quarters in and then watching your candy bar get stuck as it slowly is swiveling and it gets stuck, and you find yourself doing what, shaking the living daylights out of it, kicking it. And now you’ve gone and hurt yourself, and now you need to feed your feelings. So you’re going to need two candy bars, not one. And before you know it, and finally, it pops out, and Farrar Capon and says, No, that’s not prayer. That’s not what this author is saying, if you walk away from a parable and it tells you what you went into it, assuming that you knew what it was going to say, you’ve probably missed it. It’s not about wearing God out. 

When I was a teenager, I knew that if I needed to get. Way with something I should approach my mom, not my dad. My dad was the hard liner in our house. I so desperately wanted to go snow skiing, which is such a joke, because in central Tennessee, you don’t have a whole lot of skiing options. You might as well be in Dubai, where you have skiing but like, come on. But sure enough, in Crossville, there was this tiny, little one hill ski resort, and I couldn’t wait to get to it, and my mom said, I am not giving you permission. If your dad says you can go, you can go. And I remember begging my dad at first, and then it was very clear that wasn’t going to happen. And finally, I knew my dad’s buttons enough that I knew if I pushed hard enough at this point with where he was in life, he may very well relent, and he did. The weather forecast was terrible. They were calling for ice, and I actually wore my dad out to the point that he said, Fine, just go. And sure enough, halfway there, we got hit on the interstate, and we ended up spinning out of control and almost hit a tree off of the interstate. A tow truck had to be called pull us back on the interstate. We ended up still the vehicle was operational. We were able to go and we skied our little one hill ski trip, and I came home, and to this day, I don’t know that my dad knows that I was in a car accident on the way there. 

It’s not how it works. Here’s how it works. You didn’t get the life that you thought you would or for the religious types, we didn’t get the life that we thought we should have gotten. It didn’t pan out how we thought it would. And when we approach the doors as they come, one after the other, you know, sometimes in crisis, sometimes in deep pain, and other times, we just get worn out from doing the right thing over and over again, and somehow we just lose the ability to see that God is walking with us, that God is with us. In my own experience, I have had this experience multiple times now in adulthood, where I find myself looking at a proverbial door, and thinking to myself, I know how to get this door open. I’ve seen doors just like this door. I know how to do this. And I even assume that God expects me to be the one that opens it, and I end up beating on that door and turning that handle a million times and kicking on that door to the point that I have no energy left in my body, only to slunk down against that very door, and with what little energy I can muster, throw my hands up in the air and say, God, this is the end. I can’t do it. And sure enough, it’s the moment that I say I can’t, that I find that that door that I’m now leaning against, slunk down, just falls open, and I fall forward with this deep awareness that God just did something that I know I can’t. 

It’s Not about God as Santa Claus giving us what we wish for. It’s not about the vending machine. It’s about our persistence and the necessary knocking. That is more about us wearing our own selves out, our egos out, so that we know that ultimately, prayer is not about getting what we ask for but so much more getting a constant awareness that we are not alone. 

Jesus doesn’t say pray, and let’s see if you earn it. He just says it over and over again. Come to Me and, prayer….. intimacy…. is how God does that best. 

Teach us to pray like you do Jesus, Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Your kingdom come not mine. Your will be done, not mine. Forgive me, Lord. Forgive us, Lord, the way that we forgive other people by your example and please enough doors already lead us, not into temptation, but no matter what, just try to deliver us from ourselves and the evil in us. Amen. 

Amen.

When We Gather

On Sunday mornings, I have the privilege of sitting up front in the blue fabric chair just behind the pulpit before worship really gets going.

For over 20 years, I’ve settled into that chair nearly every week, watching the congregation arrive for worship. Some of you walk in quietly, take a bulletin, and slip into a pew for quiet reflection, while others of you move through the room greeting one another. And then there are those of you in the Virtual Acre doing something similar in your own way—settling in with coffee, saying good morning in the chat, making space for worship wherever you are.

One of the things I’ve come to love about sitting in that seat is that it gives me such a clear view of what happens next. I get to see the slow, quiet convergence as you arrive from all over, carrying the week behind you, your burdens and joys in tow, and gradually our voices begin to join together.

There’s something beautiful about those first notes of the gathering song. It’s one of those sacred moments when our gathered bodies become The Gathered Body—when the many individual parts begin coming together as one.

As worship continues, that sense of shared space only deepens. When some of you stand to share your testimonies—each one unique, rooted in your own lived experience—there’s this mystery where your stories begin to resonate with all of us. When others of you lead us in song, guide us in prayer, or serve in so many other ways, your offerings invite us deeper into this shared experience of worship.

We start to hear our own questions, struggles, and hopes echoed back.

It’s in that sharing, both spoken and silent, that we remember we’re not just a collection of individuals, but brought together by the Spirit of God, learning again and again to share our lives, lift our voices, and find grace in the faces around us.

It’s one of those times when our scattered lives find a shared voice, drawn together by the Spirit, ready to sing grace into the world.


Rev. Sterling Severns, Pastor

Sermon: The Courage of Compassion

In this week’s message, we begin with the image of a watercolor world map—its softly blended greens, blues, browns, and rust hues—symbolizing how God’s love resists rigid boundaries. We explore how the parable of the Good Samaritan brings that vision into sharper focus. Rather than allowing us to shrink compassion to the neat lines we draw, Jesus invites us into something far broader.

Your question, “Who is my neighbor?” isn’t just a curious theological inquiry—it’s a dangerous attempt to limit mercy. In telling the parable, Jesus doesn’t define the neighbor; he makes us ask if we will become the neighbor. The priest and Levite play by the boundary lines while the Samaritan crosses them—paying time, money, reputation, even losing face within his own community.

Drawing on Bonhoeffer’s powerful warning that “the most dangerous question is ‘Who is my neighbor?’,” we explore how loyalty to citizenship, ideology, fear, or convenience can become lines that keep us from the compassion God calls us to. But mercy always costs—and it’s that crossing of lines that signals a radical allegiance to the Kingdom of God over any earthly divides.

Scripture: Luke 10:25–37

SERMON TRANSCRIPT:

Luke 10:25-37

We have a watercolor map that hangs in the church office. It’s been there for quite some time. Now, if you’ve seen it, then you know the way the colors run one into the other, vibrant greens and blues, burnished browns and rust. The borders of that world map are all blurred together. There are no sharp lines that say this country ends right here, and that one well, it begins here. I’ve always liked that about that particular print. That’s why I bought it a long time ago. What I haven’t liked as much about it is that it always makes me squirm a little bit at the dilemma that it presents. There is this universal truth that we have this need to draw lines, and this reality that that need is at great odds with God’s way of blending everything and everyone together like a beautiful watercolor painting, whereas we certainly want certainty. Of course, God is much more interested in the nuance where we want to claim what’s ours God. God wants us to share.

I’d say that picture that tension is a pretty good portrayal of today’s parable. Jesus tells it in response to a question that at its best sounds quite pious, but at its worst, is a very, very dangerous question. Sounds innocent enough, doesn’t it, who is my neighbor? It is a question that is looking for limitations. It’s looking for the lines, the boundaries, for the boundaries of obligation. It’s a question that wonders, who is it that we don’t have to care about quite as much? It’s a question about whether or not we can stay on this side of the road because of who it is that we see on the other side of the road.

Whereas yesterday, it was one person, it made sense to go well today, maybe not so much. Instead of Jesus directly answering the question in True Jesus form, when this dangerous question is asked, What does he do? He responds with a story. It satisfies deeply and it walks, we walk away from it feeling like we’re starving for the answer all at the same time. That’s what makes a parable a parable. After all, in God’s kingdom, neighbor isn’t a category that you fit people into. We know that. It’s the citizenship that we claim, it’s the mercy that has been offered to us that we have to choose to receive this lawyer’s question.

No offense to the lawyers among us. Is a story that is ultimately a story that is told meant to prompt one that is pretty certain of something, and he’s going to walk away feeling starved for the answer. I mean, he quotes well from Scripture at first you know about what the greatest commandment is. What’s the whole point of all of this? Love the Lord your God with everything you are, and love your neighbor as yourself. Okay? Yeah. He knows the words, but he wants to parse them. He wants to define them with lines. He wants to shrink the words. He wants to diminish the meaning. He wants to know the minimum requirement, perhaps, but nope. Jesus isn’t interested in that. He’s not going to let it happen.

Jesus, in turn, responds with a story that explodes the question. You’ve heard it many times before. You heard it earlier today, a man is beaten and left for dead. There’s a priest that crosses over and decides, nope, not for me. And then there’s the Levite, who sees and does the same. The people of faith who know the rules ultimately failed the test. Alright, we all get that right. But then there’s the Samaritan that comes along. Who is the Samaritan? We’ve heard it before, despised other than the Samaritan is the one that stops. The Samaritan is the one who sees. The Samaritan is the one that actually takes the time to act. He takes action, and then he actually pays the price at great cost, not just the financial cost and the loss of time, but something that we don’t often very we don’t really acknowledge very much is he also probably loses face with those that he comes from. You did what with who and how much?

Jesus ends the telling of the story with lobbying another question out, who is the neighbor in the story, not Who is my neighbor, but rather, are you going to be the neighbor? Make note. It’s a question that’s meant to unsettle us, to expose the lines that we’ve drawn, to ask if we’re ready to cross them, to blur them, to get out the watercolors with the paint brush.

We know this story is about crossing lines. Of course, we’ve heard it so many times before, but let me challenge us today to consider this, what borders or lines are drawn in your own life when you’re presented with the question that Jesus asked at the end of the story today, I don’t know about you, but in my piety, it’s very easy for me to point out the glaring mistake that others make where they draw their lines. But it’s not the question he’s asking. He’s saying, Hey, how about you? Where are your lines drawn?

On the neighbors that we pick are the lines that we choose, the schools that we prefer can become the lines, the conversations that we avoid become the line, the news we consume that reinforce what we already believe. They draw lines. And then there are those lines that sit buried in our hearts, the quiet predator prejudice that we don’t name, the fear of difference, the habit of ignoring pain that feels like it’s way too far away.

Jesus doesn’t ask us to erase all the differences. Of course, he asked us to refuse to let them decide who we’re going to love. He calls us to see humanity on the other side of the road. He calls us to recognize the image of God and those that we are very quick to dismiss. He tells a story to say there is no one that gets left behind. No one outside the reach of compassion, no one God has decided just doesn’t matter. In God’s vernacular, there is quite literally, nobody that’s illegal, nobody that doesn’t have a place in the kingdom of God.

This is a place where the colors, just like skin tones, blend together this kingdom of God. This is a place where boundaries and hearts alike are softened, where what matters isn’t the line, but the bond that we share, that all of us, ultimately, are immigrants in the kingdom of God. I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately. Do I really understand that I am an immigrant in the kingdom of God? It’s the one bond that we share. Citizens in the kingdom of God, immigrants, one and all. Welcome one and all.

Jesus doesn’t tell this parable so we can feel righteous. Aaron spoke to this earlier. It’s real in my life, too, to feel this righteousness bubbling up when we spot the priest or the Levite that’s clearly doing the wrong thing and wag our finger disapprovingly. Jesus has no interest in telling parables that reinforce that we’re on the right side. He tells the story so that we’ll see the places that we cross over to the other side and to become aware of the places in our lives where we are struggling to cross over to the other side, the times where we choose safety over compassion, the ways we justify in action with our piety or our fear or our patriotism.

But he also turns the mirror today to show us the Samaritan, the outsider that actually chooses Mercy, the enemy who becomes the neighbor. He gives a vision of God’s kingdom with no insiders or outsiders. There are no first class or second class citizens here, quite frankly, there are no aliens here, just immigrants, one and all citizens, one and all in the kingdom of God.

And so herein lies the struggle. Which is it, am I a citizen of the kingdom of the United States of America, as I point to the flag in our sanctuary, or am I citizen first in the kingdom of God? Which is it Jesus? We say? And Jesus says, you know, before I answer that question, let me tell you a story.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned us that the question, Who is my neighbor is perhaps one of the most dangerous questions that’s ever been asked before. I will never forget the first time that I’ve ever went to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, dreading it, dreading it, and as I entered being surprised that I was handed a card with somebody’s picture and name on it and a little bit of backstory about where they were from. Do any of you know what I’m talking about? You’ve been through this experience, you weave through the whole museum, not having any idea how this particular story turns out, and when you finally get to the very end, you learn whether or not that person died in the Holocaust or lived in spite of the Holocaust. They just wanted to be sure that we all understood that every single person that’s represented in this big, giant building has a story and a name and a background, every single one of them.

Bonhoeffer says, The Most Dangerous question, perhaps in the world, is this question of who is my neighbor. It’s not a question that wants to expand our love, but determine where the lines are going to be drawn, to know who we get to love and who we can justify not loving not seeing. It’s a question that tries to define who we don’t have to care about. And he called that question a form of rebellion against God, and he was right to carry the cost of compassion when no one else will. Is the call to love that Jesus offers in the story this day.

And you’ll note, even though we don’t want to hear this either, Jesus is not denying in the story that mercy comes for free, Mercy has cost. It will cost us something in the story we know that the Samaritan paid the cost the Samaritan pays with his time, his resources, his vulnerability, and as I said early, the inevitable disproval of his fellow Samaritans to be the one that emerges when nobody seems to think that it’s the right thing to do, or everybody’s terrified to do is truly costly, and it seems to be what the story is prompting us to consider mercy always costs something.

This invitation that we’ve received today to be part of something bigger than we are. This kingdom of Jesus is built on the opposite of anything that is exclusionary. It doesn’t grow through a fear. It doesn’t grow through building walls. It takes shape when someone chooses mercy over caution, when someone crosses a line drawn that’s meant to keep people apart when a stranger becomes neighbor because someone refused to look away, that’s the kingdom he calls for us to enter.

And you’ll note this has been a thread through all the beautiful testimonies we’ve heard today. The thread is not about later, it’s not about some day. It’s about right now, this past week, this day and the day that will follow right now, we get to choose the citizenship that he offers us. We get to carry the passport of compassion. We are called to act like people who remember our own rescue, to remember that there was a time that we cried out for help, and somebody showed up, we are called to remember that this day so that, in turn, we can respond in kind people who don’t measure worth by citizenship papers, but by shared humanity, of a God that loves all, who refuses to Turn away from suffering because it’s inconvenient or complicated and doesn’t fit the political boundaries that we’ve drawn with lines in the sand one after the other.

It doesn’t grow through fear or walls. It takes shape when we choose mercy over caution. The Samaritan didn’t run the cost benefit analysis. He didn’t check the man’s background or his papers or his citizenship. He stopped. He cared. He paid. And Jesus says, now go do the same.

This is not easy work. It is not safe and it is not popular, and it is what it will take, ultimately, to be a full citizen in the kingdom of God that actually gets to experience the joy that comes with that citizenship. It asks us to risk comfort, time, money, pride, to ask for us to put our relationships on the line. It demands that we see the person in this ditch as somebody that could have been us, because there was actually a point in time where it was us, when we’re the ones lying there, broken exposed, needing mercy that we couldn’t repay. Someone crossed over the street to help us, and somebody will again, and in between those bookends, we have the opportunity to be that neighbor.

There’s a song that inspired today’s sermon that I’ll be posting online later today, by John Guerrera, and he puts it so very well. I’ve been listening to it on repeat for the last month, he says, and this is a paraphrase, this, God is building a city where we arrive as immigrants, and you call us God citizens, and you God welcome us as children home.

This is the call. This is the promise, may we have the courage to say yes, and the faith to live as citizens in that kingdom here today, now and forevermore, and all of God’s people said, Amen.

Looking Toward Sunday: Becoming the Neighbor

July 13, 2025 – Gospel Focus: Luke 10:25–37

This Sunday we’ll turn our hearts to Luke 10:25–37—the familiar but ever-challenging parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus tells this story in response to a question we’re still asking today: “Who is my neighbor?” In it, compassion crosses boundaries, defies categories, and disrupts prejudice. As we prepare to worship together, here are a few questions to carry with you this week:

  • I wonder what keeps us from seeing the suffering right in front of us.
  • I wonder how courage and compassion might look in our own lives this week.
  • I wonder who has been a neighbor to you when you needed it most.
  • I wonder how God might be inviting us to “go and do likewise,” embodying mercy, justice, and grace in real ways.

Let’s also pray especially for our youth group at Passport Camp this week—that they would experience God’s love and guidance in powerful ways.

I hope you’ll join us Sunday as we listen for Jesus’ call to become neighbors in a world so desperate for compassion.

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Sterling W. Severns, Pastor

______________
Image: Vincent van Gogh, The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix), 1890. Public Domain. Courtesy of the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

Pastoral Reflection: Grace at the Start


Rev. Sterling W. Severns, Pastor

This past Sunday, we chose to begin worship at the table. Before prayers or offerings, before much else was said or sung, we paused to share Communion—passing trays from one to another, serving and being served, bread and cup in our hands.

It wasn’t about earning anything, or proving ourselves ready. It was about acknowledging something true before anything else: that grace is given. That God provides. That all of us come hungry in one way or another.

In these tender and challenging days, when so many questions swirl about what comes next, there is something quietly powerful about starting there. To recognize that whatever happens begins not with our certainty or our planning, but with God’s own generosity. That nothing we’re about to do—our singing, our praying, our listening, our giving—creates grace. It simply responds to it.

Passing the bread and cup among us reminded us of our shared dependence. It was a small act of trust: receiving what someone else handed us, offering it in turn. A way of saying we cannot provide for ourselves alone. That God is always the one who moves first, offering what we cannot make ourselves.

For those who would like to reflect more on why this small shift in the order of worship can matter so much, I want to share this thoughtful piece that speaks to it beautifully: Grace at the Start: How Moving Communion Changes Everything.

I keep thinking of these words from Rachel Held Evans that many of us have carried with us:

“This is what God’s kingdom is like: a bunch of outcasts and oddballs gathered at a table, not because they are rich or good, but because they are hungry, because they said yes.”

Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church

It’s an image worth holding onto.

Because whatever questions we’re asking about the future, whatever uncertainties wait for us beyond the doors of this sanctuary, we begin by acknowledging the grace already given.

And in serving and being served, we remember who we are.

People who are hungry. People who say yes.

People who find, again and again, that God meets us at the table.

Pastoral Reflection: No Turning Back

Sterling Severns

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”

– Annie Dillard

No Turning Back

There’s something unflinching about Jesus here.

Luke says he “set his face toward Jerusalem.”
It’s the moment he stops wandering and starts going.
Not drifting. Not hedging.
But choosing the road ahead—come what may.

He’s honest about it.
Bracingly so.
He says following will cost you.
He says you’ll have to let go of “but first.”
He says you can’t plow straight if you keep looking back.

And it’s not cruelty that makes him speak this way.
It’s love that refuses to lie.
He knows the road leads through suffering.
But he also knows it’s the only road that leads to life.

I think there’s mercy in that clarity.
A grace in being told the truth about what matters most.
Because when you know the cost, you get to choose freely.
And love that’s chosen freely is the only kind that lasts.

I imagine us standing there together in that moment.
Hearing his voice.
Not with shame. Not with fear.
But with a holy honesty that says:
“Yes. Even this. I’ll follow.”


I wonder:

I wonder what “but first” you’re holding onto these days.
I wonder what you’d have to lay down to follow more freely.
I wonder what you might gain on the other side of that choice.

Looking Ahead

As we prepare for worship next Sunday, I hope you’ll take time to read ahead in the Gospel—Luke 10:1–11, 16–20.

Jesus sends seventy others on ahead of him.
He doesn’t weigh them down with baggage.
He sends them lightly, with trust and purpose, to bring peace and healing wherever they go.
He tells them to say: “The kingdom of God has come near.”

If this week is about choosing the road,
Next week is about walking it—together.

And there’s hope in that.
We don’t walk alone.

I wonder:
As you read and pray this week,
I wonder what it would mean for you to go lightly.
I wonder how you might speak peace into someone’s life.
I wonder where you might notice God’s kingdom drawing near.

May God grant us the grace to see clearly,
the courage to choose freely,
and the love to walk this road with one another.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Sterling W. Severns
Pastor

Will You Help Lead Us?

As we step into a new season of worship, we’re inviting you to help shape what comes next.

We’re navigating a meaningful time of transition in our worship life, and now more than ever, we’re leaning on the gifts of our whole church family. Whether you’ve helped lead worship before or you’re open to trying something new, we’d love for you to consider stepping in.

Scripture readers, prayer leaders, singers, instrumentalists, testimony-givers—there’s room for all kinds of voices. If you’re willing to give it a try, we promise to support, guide, and walk alongside you every step of the way.

It’s not about perfection. It’s about presence, growth, and faithfulness.

Let’s do this together.

Create your own user feedback survey

Emergency Operations Plan

The Buildings and Grounds Committee is pleased to introduce our new Church Emergency Operations Plan, which was developed to help our church respond effectively and calmly in the event of an emergency. This plan outlines procedures for various situations, including medical incidents, severe weather, fire, and other potential risks.

We encourage all members, volunteers, and staff to review the plan and become familiar with the key steps. The Committee will be hosting training sessions in the fall for staff, leader, and members of the congregation to better prepare ourselves for emergencies. 

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions regarding the Emergency Operations Plan, please talk with Kyle Kennedy or email him at Kyle@kyleandapril.com.

Click Here for a copy of the Plan.

Thank you!


Last Sunday in worship I shared a small piece by Frederick Buechner called Sacrament.  It begins with these sentences: “A sacrament is when something holy happens.  It is transparent time – time when you can see through to something deep inside time.”  Something sacramental began on Sunday as we celebrated our shared ministry of over 45 years.  We celebrated connection to God and to one another and we stood on the edge of time looking backward and fearfully beginning to peek forward. 

I cannot thank you enough for 45+ years of shared ministry.  We have walked together and sung together through joy and sorrow always looking to God for the way through.  As I step away from “professional” ministry and the congregation steps into a time of change and discernment we can both walk boldly into sacramental time when our awareness of the Holy that surrounds us will guide us on the road forward.  Last Sunday was an amazing experience of celebration and remembrance.  Let it be a sacramental beginning for both of us

Thank you for sharing life and music in the service of God with me.  The road does indeed lead on with God’s guidance.  I can’t wait to see what is around the next turn. 

Grateful,
Judy