March 21st, 2025 | Rev. Rachel Williams

Dear Friends,

               We are two weeks into Lent, and I hope you have found a practice or two that helps you draw nearer to God. I wish I could say I have kept to a practice every day consistently, like reading Scripture first thing in the morning or spending some time in meditation. Alas, I know myself and the reality of my situation as a parent of two young children. Sometimes the best effort we can provide is just showing up where we are and looking for the divine in the everyday things that we do.

               If, however, you find yourself still looking for a practice and with a bit of time on your hands, I want to encourage you to participate in one of our many Lenten study opportunities. Each Wednesday until Holy Week, we will participate in the ecumenical noonday service (the service hosted at Memorial is coming up 4/2!). I cannot say enough good things about how good it is for us to gather together to talk about how we, collectively as the “big C” Church, look to follow Jesus and grow deeply in discipleship together. It is good to be with friends who we see throughout the week but may miss on Sunday mornings because we worship in different congregations. It is good to gather, to be reminded that our common call to love God and our neighbor is greater than any of our differences.

Additionally, it’s not too late to join us for our Lenten study of Amy-Jill Levine’s book The Difficult Words of Jesus. This has been an incredibly rich discussion of some of the Scripture attributed to Jesus that just makes us scratch our heads (or skip entirely). If you want to jump in, you have two options: Wednesday evenings at 6:00PM in Maxwell Hall or Thursday Lunch and Learn from 11:30 AM to 12:30PM in the Multipurpose Room. I hope you’ll join us for one of these wonderful Lenten experiences!

With Peace and Love,

Pastor Rachel