The Holy Adventure Continues
Dear Friends,
Tomorrow is Transfiguration Sunday—the day each year in which we retell the story of Jesus, Peter, John, and James’ trip up the mountain and their encounter with Moses and Elijah. In that story, Jesus is transfigured before his disciples eyes and bathed in the same light as Moses and Elijah. Within the gospel narratives, this story marks the moment that Jesus’ work in the Galilee is complete and he begins traveling towards Jerusalem. In the Christian year, Transfiguration Sunday marks the end of the season after Epiphany. The fullness of the Divine Incarnation—God With Us—has once again been revealed and now it is time walk with God through both the suffering and joy of life.
On the following Sunday, our annual Lenten journey towards the hope of Palm Sunday, the anguish of Good Friday, and ultimately the joy of Easter Sunday begins.
In the story of the Transfiguration, Jesus is changed—but so are Peter, John, and James. It is a reminder that change is inevitable. Our bodies are always changing just as the world around us cycles through the seasons each year. We age, our circumstances shift, our relationships evolve, our communities transform themselves over and over again. Paul Tillich, the 20th century post-modern theologian, famously described God as the ground of being. John Cobb, a contemporary Process theologian, played with that description and offered a new way of naming God: God is the ground of becoming.
God is not just the ground of our being but the ground of our flourishing and our evolving. God is not static just as we are not static. God is the very stuff of change, the call forward, the constant creation and recreation of atoms and molecules and particles, the step into the beautiful unknown. Bruce Epperly, a United Church of Christ minister and a former student of John Cobb, describes the Christian life as the Holy Adventure. God is with us and we are with God and together we are stepping forward into new possibilities.
This week has been full of anxiety and concern, heartbreaking images from Ukraine, fear for the safety of our LGBTQ siblings in areas such as Texas and Florida, and continuing questions about the new normal. Our world is constantly changing, but at the core of our faith is the affirmation that God is present in that change. The Holy Adventure continues and as we see Jesus bathed in light once again this Sunday morning, I invite us all to ask ourselves how we are being transfigured at this time and at this moment? How have we changed over the last year? How has our perspective shifted and our understandings evolved?
Deep peace,
Rob
Join Us For Worship
Join us in person or online this Sunday morning as Pastor Rob reflects on the story of the Transfiguration. Music will be led by CCW Music Director Winifred Brown and Sam Krausz. This week’s worship leader is Judy Smith.
For those joining us in person on Sunday morning, we continue to request that everyone keeps their mask on during worship. If you are attending online, please feel free to turn your camera on during the service and to unmute as we share joys and concerns or share our reflections.
To participate in the worship online via Zoom, please click on the button below.
Living and Serving Together
Coffee Hour Update
As the state prepares to lift the mask mandate at the end of the month, we will begin hosting coffee hour after worship again beginning this Sunday. —the last Sunday before Lent. This week, Pastor Rob will be host coffee hour by sharing some traditional Louisiana King Cake in celebration of Mardi Gras.
Peg Kritzler is coordinating volunteers to host coffee hour in March and April. If you would like to host, please touch base with Peg on Sunday.
Peggy Lavelle Is Joining the Our Place Staff
Peggy Lavelle has accepted a position on the Our Place staff. She will be a part of their operations team, continuing her work of caring for the building and grounds. We are incredibly grateful to Peggy for her commitment to our congregation over the past three years and are excited that she will stay a part of the larger CCW community. Over the next few months, Peggy will be continue to provide bookkeeping services and issue checks. All other administrative issues should be handled by our teams. If you have any questions regarding administrative issues, please feel free to email Pastor Rob.
Christians Against Christian Nationalism
Judy Smith mentioned the work of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Freedom (BJC) and their work on the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign. The BJC works on the national level to protect religious liberty. As the term “religious freedom” has been coopted and subverted over that past few years by Christian fundamentalists, the BJC’s Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign raises awareness of the efforts of some fundamentalist Christians to merge their understanding of what it means to be a Christian with their understanding of what it means to be an American citizen. As always, the BJC calls for us to embrace religious pluralism and to protect the civil liberties of all Americans.