Exploring Faith and Community • Macalester Plymouth United Church April 20, 2020Rev. Corinne Freedman Ellis We are fond of the expression for this period of time, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” As a staff, we’ve been talking a lot about sustainability, not just in work but in life. Now that we’ve made it out of the crisis sprint, now that we…
April 2, 2020 By Rev. Jeanyne Slettom “Candlepower” is a now-obsolete unit of measurement for luminous intensity. Last Sunday, when many of us lit candles during the online worship service, the term became a very present metaphor for measuring the luminous intensity of a worshipping community that, despite the need to remain physically distant, is…
Exploring Faith and Community • Macalester Plymouth United Church November 5, 2020 Rev. Corinne Freedman Ellis Dispatches from Thursday morning: waiting is hard. Waiting is hard even when we know to expect it. Every Advent we await the birth of Jesus. Every Holy Saturday we sit in the dark and anticipate the joy of Easter…
Exploring Faith and Community • Macalester Plymouth United Church October 30, 2020 Rev. Corinne Freedman Ellis I’m excited to report that I’ve been receiving group coaching around balancing productivity, community care, and self-care in the middle of a pandemic. We are in the very beginning stages of our work together so I’m certain I’ll have…
Exploring Faith and Community • Macalester Plymouth United Church October 15, 2020 Rev. Adam Blons Are you getting a lot more emails these days? I couldn’t easily find statistics, but I would say my email volume has at least doubled on a daily basis during the pandemic. Along with managing the increase, each communication feels more important…
Exploring Faith and Community • Macalester Plymouth United Church September 14, 2020 Rev. Adam Blons Bill Gates, whose foundation focuses on global health issues, started an August 5, 2020 Gates Post blog entry this way: “A global crisis has shocked the world. It is causing a tragic number of deaths, making people afraid to leave home, and leading to economic hardship not seen in…
Exploring Faith and Community • Macalester Plymouth United Church September 3, 2020 Rev. Corinne Freedman Ellis I follow self-described “clinically depressed motivational speaker” Glennon Doyle on social media, and if you’re a social media person, I’d highly recommend doing the same. She names what so many of us are feeling but perhaps aren’t brave enough…
Exploring Faith and Community • Macalester Plymouth United Church August 27, 2020 Rev. Adam Blons The Sufi poet Rumi said: “The morning wind spreads its fresh smell. We must get up and take that in, that wind that lets us live. Breathe before it’s gone.” Air is life, and yet the air is currently at the crossroads…
Exploring Faith and Community • Macalester Plymouth United Church July 2, 2020 Rev. Adam Blons During one of my first church interviews, I learned about a partnership between a white suburban congregation and an urban African American congregation. The partnership started with a shared Bible study in people’s homes. From there it grew to pulpit exchanges, choir…
Exploring Faith and Community • Macalester Plymouth United Church July 30, 2020 Rev. Adam Blons The work of the church continues, not just here at Macalester Plymouth United Church, but through our local and national denominations. Both the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA) work on our behalf, advocating for social justice, nurturing the church…
Saturday, August 29 at 2 pmWe will gather via Zoom. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86032004475?pwd=anJsb04xQXBFMW0xZmh1a3Vza0RtZz09 Meeting ID: 860 3200 4475 Passcode: 022897 Click here to view the Livestream of the service at 2 pm on Saturday, August 29. Click here to view the obituary. Click here to view and/or download the bulletin for the service. Memorial gifts can be…
“If racism is not about hate, then the answer to racism is not love. It is justice. “