There’s this great story in the Bible that shows up in all three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26).  The story goes like this… Jesus is teaching and healing in the town of Capernaum.  He is inside of a house and a large crowd has gathered around him, so many people, in fact, that the house is overflowing with folks. A few men bring their paralyzed friend to the house, and seeing the crowd, climb to the roof and boldly cut a hole in the roof, subsequently lowering their friend directly in front of Jesus.  Jesus responds to this audacious act by healing the paralyzed man.

None of the gospels indicate why the friends of the paralyzed man did what they did. Perhaps they hoped that Jesus would be able to heal him. Maybe they wanted their friend to hear the words of Jesus and somehow be transformed by his teaching. Probably they didn’t know what would happen.  All we know is that they wanted their friend to have a front row seat to Jesus.

Perhaps that’s why many of us come to church on Sunday mornings. We come because we’re thankful. We come because we’re broken. We come because we’re lost. We come because we want a front row seat to Jesus.  We’re not sure what will happen, but we come to find out and maybe, just maybe, be transformed by Jesus’ life-giving word and sacrament.  

We’ve done a little more furniture-moving in the church lately. We’ve removed a front pew and modesty panel on the epistle side of the church in order to make space for a pray-ground for children. In this comfortable space prepared just for them, children will be able to move around a bit more than they can in the pews. They will be able to engage the lessons of the day through materials prepared just for them. They will be able to see what the clergy and others are doing up front because they will have a front row seat. Yes, a front row seat to Jesus!

I realize that it causes a stir whenever furniture is moved around in the church.  I understand that many think that children should remain still and quiet in church. I get it that what we have done with the furniture will not be everybody’s cup of tea. But can’t we agree that of all those in the church who should have a front row seat to Jesus, it should be our children?  I’m not sure what might happen in the hearts and minds and souls of our children when they get a front row seat, but I can’t wait to find out! 

My hunch is that the men who cut a hole in the roof of the house caused quite a stir in Capernaum.  I bet that the folks in that town were talking about that day for years to come.  One thing I am absolutely sure of… the life of the paralyzed man was changed forever.  And all because his friends wanted him to have a front row seat to Jesus.  Thanks be to God.

~Father Art

The messy withdrawal of American troops and civilians from Afghanistan, the fires in California and in our own Minnesota, the hurricanes in Louisiana and Texas, the impending and inevitable problems associated with climate change, the political chaos in Haiti, the political division in our own nation, the racial turmoil unleashed by the killing of George Floyd, the pernicious and persistent thread of Covid-19, the perennial challenges of homelessness and hunger in our communities, the strained relationships and everyday grinding challenges of our personal lives…

That is at least part of the story of our lives these days.

While the characters and the specific events of the story have changed from year to year and generation to generation, the fact that the world is overall messy and, in places, utterly shattered should come as a surprise to no one. As I say often, the world is amazingly beautiful, but it is also spectacularly broken.  Yep, beautiful but broken… that about sums up the situation. And yet…

There is the rest of the story.

The rest of the story is that it was for this beautiful but broken world that Jesus came. Jesus came to reconcile us to both God and to each other. Jesus came to restore the dream that God originally had for the world when God created the world.  Jesus came to heal the infirmities, to bind up the broken hearts and broken lives.  Jesus came to piece together all the broken parts of creation into a harmonious union.  Jesus came to glue it all back together again so that we and the rest of the world might be not just as good as new, but even better than before.  That is our belief.  That is our faith.  We proclaim it in church on Sunday mornings, and we live it with our lives every day of the week.  Or at least we should, because…

God is counting on us to be heroes in the story.   

Howard Thurman, the prominent author, theologian and civil rights leader said, “Don’t ask what the world needs.  Ask what makes you come alive and go do it.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive!” Jesus came in order to bring us alive, with the expectation that alive folks help to bring about more aliveness in folks!  Resurrection, God’s act of bringing alive the crucified Jesus to life again, is not simply a story from way back when.  Resurrection is The Coming Alive Story that God is writing right here, right now in this beautiful yet broken world.  And each moment God is inviting us to be heroes in that story.

~Father Art  

It has been said that nobody likes change. I don’t buy it. As the weather turns a bit cooler, I hear fellow walkers remark how nice it feels. That’s change. As roads were resurfaced in my neighborhood last year, my neighbors noted how nice the roads had become. That’s change. As some restrictions from Covid have been lifted, many have enjoyed returning to well-loved activities. That’s change. And so, I don’t buy it. People, I believe, tolerate change, even relish change, if that change is something that makes their lives better.

People, however, also like their ruts. They like to do those things that they know how to do. Indeed, many people would more often choose to do something with which they are familiar than to try something that is unfamiliar but which may prove to be better. A classic example is McDonald’s. When on a road trip, many people, perhaps most people, prefer to go to the Golden Arches which offers moderate but consistent quality food rather than to take the chance on a local diner, which albeit an unknown, might have much better food. Sometimes we like our ruts because we are lazy and cautious, as when we choose McDonald’s to an alternative. At other times, however, we like our ruts because the ruts are actually beautiful and life giving. Our continued use of the good old Book of Common Prayer is a prime example of that!

As we begin a new program year at St. John’s, you will notice a number of changes. We are moving from three services to two. We are offering only one occasion for Coffee Hour Fellowship. We are trying a new time of Prayer and Praise for folks who want a more intimate setting to lift their concerns to God. We are experimenting with “Children’s Chapel” that will give our younger members an opportunity to experience the Word of God in language and format that makes sense to them. We have taken a few pews out on the lectern side of the church to accommodate a “Pray-Ground” for children. The clergy of St. John’s will be offering a weekly opportunity called “Clergy Forum” to dig deeper into what it means to walk in the Way of Christ. And these are simply changes that will happen on Sunday morning!

Simultaneously, much of what we will be doing at St. John’s is as it has been. Indeed, the Eucharistic Prayer that we will be using through the autumn is Prayer A, the prayer most commonly used by our church and most others in the Episcopal Church. We will be using the same vestments. We are once again recruiting and employing laity to lead as much as possible in our services of worship. Our adult Bible Study will occur once again on Wednesday evenings and our adult Topics Unlimited study will occur once again on Sunday evenings. Food and Fellowship will once again be offered in the Parish Hall. These are, I believe, good and life giving ruts that have sustained our parish family for years.

My expectation is that with this balance of change and rut, our parish family will be nurtured and strengthened in these challenging days. My hope is that we will all be willing to embrace both rut and change as we come together as the Family of God gathered at St. John in the Wilderness. Come to church this Sunday for Rally Day; be nurtured by the ruts and be pricked by the changes. May God’s Spirit move us forward together and may God be glorified by it all.

~Father Art

In 1774, Ann Lee (known as Mother Ann among the Shakers), along with 7 others, journeyed from England to the emerging United States of America and founded a new religious group.  They called themselves the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, but because of the ecstatic manner in which they danced during their services of worship, they were despairingly referred to by others as Shakers. The Shaker movement was never a large one, but they did make their mark. Many people know two things about Shakers: (1) they were celibate and did not marry and (2) they made beautiful furniture. There was, however, so much more about this curious religious group that made them unique.

One aspect of the Shakers that continues to inspire me is their organic blending of worship and work. For Shakers, the two were part and parcel of the same thing, a life dedicated to the living God. They rotated labor and ministry, so one person would work for a while in the kitchen (and both women and men did kitchen work), then move to the fields for planting and harvesting (again, women and men), then lead worship (and yes, women and men). Unlike so many of us who operate in a compartmentalized sort of way, attempting to “balance” the demands of family and work and church and personal pursuits, the Shakers’ day to day life was much more integrated. Indeed, they understood that work was just another form of worship, another way of expressing their love of God and neighbor. One of Mother Ann’s sayings has become emblematic of their way of faithful living: Hands to Work, Hearts to God.

This coming Monday, we celebrate Labor Day. For many, the weekend has simply become one last summer chance to have a barbeque or to purchase something on sale. Labor Day was first set aside, however, as an occasion to celebrate those who work and to raise up issues of justice for those who labor. The celebration originated during the height of the Industrial Revolution when common laborers often worked 12 hours a day for 7 days a week in order to eek out a subsistence living. The day was meant to give laborers a break from that cruel regime and to highlight the injustices that kept them all but enslaved in unsafe work environments. In some ways, Labor Day was the US government’s secular attempt to communicate the same thing as the Shakers, that is, work is to be honorable and workers are to be valued. And because work is honorable and workers are valued, the workplace should be a place that respects and protects both the work and the worker.

The Shakers are long gone, but their legacy lives on. It lives on in the beautiful furniture and crafts that they created centuries ago, but it also persists in the holy notion that our work and our worship are truly one and the same. Hands to work, Hearts to God. I pray that, in this modern world, we may relearn the holy craft of integrating our worship with our work. May what we do on a regular old Tuesday in our workaday week be in the same spirit and with the same level of devotion as that which we do on Sunday in church. May we be ever faithful in our worship and in our labors so that those who witness our lives may see the face of Jesus. And finally, may we continue to work tirelessly for justice for those who spend so much of their lives laboring. May the worker be treated with the dignity and honor due any child of the living God. 

Hands to work, Hearts to God. Thanks, Mother Ann. Those truly are words to live by.  

~ Father Art

There is a sign in the front yard of the church that has space for a message that we change on a regular basis. Currently, the message on the sign is taken from an oft-quoted saying from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry: “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.” On the face of it, the saying seems pretty harmless and non confrontational. I mean, it’s just about love, right? Well, yes, but…

The love that Jesus teaches and the love that Jesus manifests in his life is a courageous, expansive, and very often, confrontational kind of love. The people that Jesus chooses to love are often those whom society (and sometimes even their own families) have chosen not to love.  Many of the disciples whom Jesus accepts and names as “inheritors of the Kingdom of God” were those who were certainly not the cream of the crop. Jesus loves lepers whom society excluded. Jesus loves orphans and women who were considered the least and most powerless. Jesus loves tax collectors whose professional lives had become a daily crime against their own people. Jesus has meals with scoundrels and extends good news to well-known sinners. To the convicted thief who was crucified beside him, Jesus says, “today you will be with me in paradise.” And as a crowning witness to the relentless love exhibited by Jesus, he even prays for those who were responsible for his own death, “forgive them, Father, for they know not what they are doing.”

Now, make no mistake… this inclusive, radical love of Jesus was wildly popular with those disinherited, excluded, disenfranchised folks on the margins of society. Never before had they heard or seen or experienced a love like this. Is it any wonder that when Jesus showed up, those on the margins crowded around him? Sometimes the crowds just wanted to touch the edge of his garments in the expectation that some of his healing love would rub off. Other times, they were willing to sit in the hot sun just to soak in the words of love that Jesus uttered. And then there is the story in the Bible of a blind beggar whom Jesus lovingly heals. The blind beggar is so utterly transformed by the experience of Jesus’ love that he is willing to boldly stand up to the religious authorities who interrogate him and to proclaim his new-found faith in Jesus.

This same love of Jesus, however, also caused A LOT of waves. In standing up for the powerless, he challenged the status quo religious and political power structures. In establishing solidarity with the poor, he often provoked the rich. Jesus spoke in such plain and truthful ways that most in authority were soon looking for ways to rid themselves of the dangerous rabbi. Eventually, as we all know, the powers of this world did find a way as they arrested, tried and crucified Jesus.

Maybe love isn’t as innocent as it appears upon first blush. At least the love of Jesus isn’t. It’s an amazing, marvelous love of grace and mercy and compassion and justice and grace. As such it is great good news to the poor and oppressed and marginalized. The love of Jesus, however, is also a challenge to any system or structure or person who resolutely insists on clinging to power or holding others in bondage. 

Bishop Curry is right. If it’s not about love, it’s not about God. But let no one be deceived about this love of God. It is fierce and relentless. And this love of God will always eventually win.  

~Father Art

There’s a famous story in the Bible about a chance meeting Jesus has with a Samaritan woman at a well in the desert. As you may know, there were all sorts of reasons why Jesus shouldn’t be talking to this woman, and yet he does so anyway. In this rather brief encounter, Jesus is able to confront a major source of brokenness in the woman’s life (her severed relationships with five husbands); he accepts her just as she is; and he offers her hope for the future. In short, Jesus did for this woman what Jesus does for all people – he offers her grace.

But just what is grace? For Christians, grace is the free and unmerited favor of God. Grace is a pure gift. It is offered to the holiest of us and to the worst scoundrel from among us. God knows our lives, our most triumphant moments, our worst failures, and everything in between. God sees us when we are at our best and at our worst. And there is never a moment, never a fraction of a moment when God withholds God’s grace from us. Grace is another word for the unlimited, unbridled love of God made most manifest in the sacrificial life and death of Jesus.

Grace has always been a scandalous thing for almost all us humans. Perhaps this is most true for those of us in the Church who should know better. But grace just seems too good to be true.  Surely, we think, there must be some catch! God loves us, we often conjecture, but God also must expect something in return, right?

Well, while God may want us to live lives of love, God’s grace doesn’t hinge on our behavior. God’s love is offered freely and fully whether we get our act together or not. And so, while God may want us to live lives of love, God’s first and foremost desire is that we receive the love that God is offering.  

Now, why would this be? Why would God be more intent on us receiving grace than on us giving grace? Because God knows a big secret…one can’t give what one doesn’t have. If we haven’t received love, we can’t give it either. The waters of love and life can’t be poured from the pitchers of our lives unless those same pitchers have first been filled up.

It’s all right there in the story of the woman at the well! After receiving just a drop of the waters of grace that Jesus offers, do you see what the woman does? She runs back to her town to tell all who may listen about this crazy Jewish rabbi named Jesus who is offering love, free and clear, to all comers. In fact, the story says she is so excited to share what she has received that, in running to her hometown, she forgets to bring her water pitcher with her! The grace she receives is immediately poured forth. And that is exactly how it’s supposed to work. It’s supposed to flow. Grace always originates with God whose very nature pours that same grace into the lives of all. God’s intent is that these same waters of grace will continue to flow throughout God’s entire creation.    

So, our homework this week is not so much to learn how to give grace, but to learn how to receive grace. And the key to receiving grace is to acknowledge that it’s not about us, rather, it’s about God. God loves us not because we’re good but because God is good. So, receive the living waters of grace, freely given by God and let that grace flow. Allow it to flow into your life, and release it to spill out of your life and into the lives of all whom you encounter.  

~Father Art

I was speaking recently to John Brunner, our brother in Christ, as he was leading the work to move the baptismal font to its new position at the west entrance to the church. He was remarking that he often hears the phrase, “They ought to do_____________ at the church.” The blank, of course, may be filled with any number of well-meaning suggestions, some very good suggestions and others, not so good. And then came the wisdom of St. John Brunner… “You know what? They is we.”

Yup, those are some wise words. They is we. As has been said ten jillion times, the Church is not a building; it is the people of God. Our particular way of walking the Way of Jesus, that is, The Episcopal Church, recognizes four orders of the people of God: lay people, deacons, priests and bishops. Each order has a part to play in doing the work of the Kingdom of God, and our theology asserts that no order is more important than any other order. If I were, however, to pick the most important order of the four, I would choose the laity. Why? Because, while bishops, priests and deacons are charged with helping lay folk become the people God is dreaming them to be, clergy really don’t have a job without the laity.

They is we. Yes, they comprise the clergy, staff and key lay leaders of the church, but they also comprise every single person, young and old, male and female, wise and foolish. For the witness of the church to be strong and robust, each of us and all of us must take part in the work. The clergy, while they may have an important role to play in our common life, are not the paid Christians of a parish community. Key lay leaders, while they may almost always be relied upon to step up and get the job done, are not the sole representatives of a parish community.

Most of us have been physically isolated from each other for over a year. During that time and in an effort to keep parishioners safe, the clergy and key lay leaders at St. John’s assumed many ministry roles that truly belong to others, particularly other lay folk. Many of our laity at St. John’s are out of practice in the work of the Church. We are now, however, slowly but ever surely, returning to a more normal way of being church. It is time that all of us recognize and heed the clarion call that they is we.

God’s dream for God’s Church is that all play a part in walking the Way of Jesus. There are so many ways to plug into the life and ministry of the Parish Church of St. John in the Wilderness.  So, step up. Take the hand of Jesus in one of your hands and the hand of a fellow pilgrim at St. John’s in the other. Our friend, John Brunner is not always right, but in this instance, he really is… THEY IS WE.

~Father Art

In 1886, President Grover Cleveland officially dedicated the Statue of Liberty in front of thousands of spectators. The creation of the statue was a joint effort between the United States and France, with the French creating the statue itself and the United States constructing the pedestal on which it stands. A small island in New York Bay, now known as Liberty Island, was selected as the location for the statue. In 1892, shortly after the erection of the Statue of Liberty, the US Federal Government opened a new immigration station on nearby Ellis Island. Between the years of 1892 and 1954, over 12 million immigrants were processed on Ellis Island before receiving permission to enter the United States.

The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom, liberty, and democracy for all of us, but most especially, for those immigrants desperate to find a new life. Indeed, the oft-quoted verses of Emma Lazarus placed upon a plaque at the entrance to the pedestal of the statue, proclaims:

Give me your tired, your poor

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

The Church often uses symbols to communicate the Good News of God in Christ Jesus. Nearly everything that we see, hear, smell, taste or touch in church is replete with theological significance. Among the most powerful of these symbols for the church is the baptismal font. It represents for us death to all that threatens to separate us from God and life everlasting in Christ. The waters of baptism offer true liberty, freedom in Christ, inclusion in the family of God, entrance into the Kingdom of heaven. As such, the proper placement of the baptismal font in a church is important.

At St. John in the Wilderness, the baptismal font has moved around a bit. When the present church building was erected in 1925, the font was located in the room that is now the Chapel. In some ways this made sense at the time as the important status of the font was recognized in its receiving its own room! This decision, however, to place the font in a space apart from the main worship area is theologically untenable, and the font was moved from there to the back corner of the nave. Actually, it was probably moved not for theological reasons but on account of the need for a coat room… but that is beside the point! The back corner was better than in a space apart, but still, for the font to be relegated to a back corner is an assault on the importance of the sacrament of baptism. If baptism is so important to the Christian faith, then why would one place the symbol of baptism off in a corner? More recently, the baptismal font was moved to the front of the church beneath the ambo (lectern). This is actually a pretty good place for the font in that it is very visible and gives prominence to the importance of the sacrament. It is, however, very crowded up front with the ambo, the font and the railing leading to the chancel all taking up very limited space. Further, by placing the font up front, we miss out on an opportunity to do what the Statue of Liberty does for those seeking a new home, that is, proclaim to all those who enter the church that it is through baptism in Christ that freedom and liberty and new life come.

In the next couple of weeks, the baptismal font at St. John’s will be moved once again! It will be in the same place that many, perhaps most, churches place their fonts… in a center position at the back of the church. As people enter the main doors of the church on the west end, the font will be the very first thing that they will encounter. Just as immigrants passed by the Statue of Liberty on their way to Ellis Island, all those who enter our doors will pass by the baptismal font. May all who enter the doors of St. John in the Wilderness and pass by the font know and feel that through the baptismal waters of Christ Jesus, they are loved, cherished, and given new life and liberty. May they know that here at St. John’s they have found a place to rest and be spiritually nourished. May the “tired, the poor, the wretched, homeless and tempest-tost” receive hope in Christ and strength for their life journey.

~Father Art

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28f.)

It has been a long time since many of us have come to church. This Sunday, however, we will, once again, be worshipping inside our beautiful old sanctuary. For over a hundred years, residents and visitors of White Bear Lake have been coming to the old church on the corner of 1st and Clark. They have been coming to say the old prayers and to sing the old hymns and to hear the old stories of the Bible. They have come to see friends and to receive the sacrament of Christ’s body and blood. They have come because they are full of joy and want to give God thanks, or they have come because they are crushed with despair and need to hear a word of hope. They have come because they have nothing else better to do, and they have come because they have so much to do that they crave a place of peace and relative stillness. Men and women and children have come to St. John’s for over a hundred years for a whole variety of reasons, but whatever the reason, they have made the decision to come, to come to Jesus. And so do we.

It has been a long and difficult year: a global pandemic that has affected virtually every nation in the world, persistent racial unrest that has boiled to the surface, political conflict and chaos that have threatened the very foundations of our democracy, the grinding danger of climate change that has been made manifest in catastrophic storms and droughts. And on top of all of this are the regular stresses and strains, the grievances and griefs of our small, ordinary lives. Physically distant and sometimes isolated from each other, most of us have become weary and burdened. Some, if not many, of us are at the breaking point, the burden becoming so heavy that we don’t know if we will last another day.

But there is great good news that is proclaimed to any who would receive it! Into the exhaustion of our lives and into the brokenness of our world, God sends his son Jesus. In his inexhaustible and unbroken love, Jesus comes to redeem and to restore and to save. This was true in Judea millenia ago, and it is just as true in our world today. Jesus comes. Jesus comes not in some distant, theological or theoretical way, but in a close, intimate, incarnate way. Jesus comes in a way that makes a difference, a real difference in our lives. Somehow, through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, God has created a space of refuge. Christ stands ready to comfort, ready to restore, ready to empower and equip. And as Christ comes to us, so Christ also beckons us to come to him.

I realize that “altar calls” are not something that Episcopalians are wont to do, but really, don’t many of us long for a “come to Jesus” moment in our lives right about now? Don’t we yearn to hear Jesus say deep into our inmost selves, “come to me and find rest for your souls?” After journeying through the trauma of this past year, don’t we want to trade the yokes that we have been carrying for the yoke of Jesus? If so, then Christ stands ready and willing to take the bundle of whatever we have been carrying and to give us a better, a divine bundle filled with the stuff of peace and hope and light and life.

This Sunday I invite you back to St. John’s to say the prayers and sing the hymns and hear the stories and receive the sacrament. I invite you to come to Jesus for, indeed, you will find rest for your souls.

~Father Art

Guest blog by Megan Jahnke

Our family has a sweet dog named Storm. She is a 1 ½ year old Husky/Malamute mix and is a VERY active dog. She requires daily exercise which is often in the form of walks – we walk her twice a day, every day. Often when we tell people this, they wonder if that kind of commitment is daunting – I mean, we need to carve almost two hours out of our day, each day, just to get in her daily walks! But my answer is no, walking her is actually one of the best moments of my day. We brought Storm home in January 2020 and three months later the world shut down. Storm became my saving grace, my escape, because, when you are a mother of three young boys and you can’t send them to school, or bring them to the zoo, or even make a trip to Target to distract them, you need something that offers you a moment to escape all the chaos! Storm became that escape – an hour to myself where I could pop in my earbuds and listen to a podcast or just listen to nature as we strolled through the neighborhood and I took a moment to breath.

The last 14 months have been so hard for so many. We continue to live through a life altering pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 3 million people worldwide. It has caused us to shift our lives completely – we started working from home, putting distance between ourselves and our coworkers, having to shift to virtual interactions that lack so much of the interpersonal communication we experience during in-person interactions. Parents became teachers, and teachers took on a surmountable task of trying to connect with and teach their students over a computer screen. Many were alone in their homes, missing family and friends, wondering when they would once again feel the touch of another human. Political leaders caused division among us and hateful words were said on both sides of the spectrum. As a people, we were all experiencing the pandemic differently and even separately, but we were never alone. As a collective people we walked through this pandemic together and together, we are forever changed.

As we begin to move out of the height of the pandemic, we are a changed people. What life looked like as we walked into the pandemic, it will not look the same as we walk out. As someone who is vaccinated and able to once again hug my family members, I still find myself shying away or stepping back to give myself distance. I find myself fearful for my young sons who are still not able to get vaccinated – while we are moving out of the pandemic, their lives are still at risk. I feel like I am living in this strange limbo, knowing we are making progress in the fight against Covid, but also having an acute awareness that we aren’t totally there yet. 

Throughout the entirety of the pandemic, the church has had to navigate what life looks like for their congregations. Bishop Curry and our local diocese, ECMN, has continued to put emphasis on living the Way of Love through this pandemic. How would Jesus call us to love our neighbors well through a deadly pandemic? In a recent email sent by Bishop Loya addressing the CDC’s recent changes to Covid guidelines he suggested that our decision making be “guided by questions of what love looks like, what it means to be fully inclusive, and what it means to seek good for the other, particularly those who are marginalized in any way.”

As we move forward as a church and community, it may not always be graceful and we may not always see eye-to-eye. We will all move at a different pace and will all have different levels of comfort. Some will be ready to take off their masks and others will feel more comfortable remaining masked. Some will feel ready to attend worship on the lawn and others will still prefer to attend virtually. But, as we move forward, however slow or fast, my challenge for us is to always move forward in the Way of Love, seeking to treat one another with care and to make decisions that reflect the love of Jesus to ALL of His people. And, I encourage you to find that one thing that gives you a moment to breath. This has been a challenging road to travel, but just know, we can do hard things and you are never alone.