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Parish on Fire

Reflections on faithfulness in a time of uncertainty

Month: January 2020

Made in Our Image

Every time I return to the beginning - to the "in the beginning" of Genesis 1 - I am surprised to find these words in verse 19: "Let us make humankind in our image." God's name may be "I am", but God's pronoun is "We are." It seemed all too fitting for preaching on an … Continue reading Made in Our Image →

LBK Uncategorized 1 Comment January 26, 2020 2 Minutes

Future fires

Several nights in the last week, I've dreamt of fire. It was a return to childhood nightmares, except now they are populated with koalas and kangaroos, and undergirded with the grieved awareness that there are more fires to come. There was a time that Santa Rosa, CA was synonymous with the largest fire. Then, an … Continue reading Future fires →

LBK Uncategorized Leave a comment January 12, 2020 4 Minutes

Post-epiphany

It's almost too on-the-nose to talk about Matthew 2 in our present moment. Read the Epiphany story for yourself, and think about it: A narcissistic puppet learns that his power is not absolute, and then, motivated by his own insecurity, he tries to bully others to take out his alleged competition. When he doesn't get … Continue reading Post-epiphany →

LBK Uncategorized 1 Comment January 8, 2020 3 Minutes

New Year, new conviction

Tuesday night is On Tuesday night, First UMC Santa Rosa hosts Spirit Cafe, a dinner/worship service for anywhere between 90-190 folks (and 10-25 dogs). Most of our guests are experiencing homelessness, though some are housed. Many are food insecure, though some have strong social support networks. There are folks from a variety of racial, ethnic, … Continue reading New Year, new conviction →

LBK Uncategorized 2 Comments January 5, 2020January 5, 2020 4 Minutes

What’s on fire?

Santa Rosa, CA has the fourth highest rate of unsheltered people in the United States, in part because of the 2017 wildfires that burned ten percent of the city. So far, Santa Rosa has struggled with how to respond to present suffering while also anticipating future increased uncertainty.

The same might be said of The United Methodist Church at large.

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