St. Paul & St. Andrew's Sermon and Prayercast: Recent Episodes
St. Paul & St. Andrew
From the historic St. Paul & St. Andrew on Manhattan's Upper West Side comes a weekly reflection on scripture, justice, love, and our lives.
Dear Friends,
Fear is a near-constant companion with us these days, isn't it? Some of the fear we carry is deeply personal. Some of it comes from what is happening in our city, our country, and our world. Some fears are immediate and specific; others hum quietly in the background. But fear has a way of doing more than making us afraid. It can shape what we notice and what we imagine is possible, even dictate the choices we make.
So what do we do with our fear? Can we acknowledge it without allowing it to direct us? And where does our faith go when fear is so present? We'll wonder about this together this morning. I hope you'll come to wonder and worship with us.
With love,
Lea
"The Kin-dom of Heaven is like a mustard seed... No, wait, it's like yeast mixed into flour... Maybe, it's like buried treasure? Or a valuable pearl!" Matthew 13
This week we're presented with four more puzzling parables. Jesus desperately wants his followers (including us) to understand something about the community, the way of life, that he is calling us into. But it's evidently a bit hard to describe.
Jesus uses parables not because they clear everything up, but because they force us to think, and maybe to change. Join us this Sunday as we continue to puzzle through the parables!
K
PS: Please plan to stay after worship for a fabulous Cook-Out/Eat-In. Feel free to bring a salad, side dish, or dessert to share. Or just yourself!
“He put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field’” – Matthew 13:24
This week, Jesus tells us another parable about sowing and reaping—but something’s different. Something’s off. The wheat and the weeds look exactly alike! Can you tell them apart? Can you judge which is which? Is that your decision to make?
Jesus wasn’t in the business of reinforcing our binaries but disturbing them. We can see all around us the dangers of dividing the world into us versus them, the guilty and the innocent. Jesus knows that humans aren’t so simple. The wheat and the weeds are mixed in our fields.
As our church and our community try to embody the justice and compassion of the kin-dom of God, our path will not be free of obstacles. It will not be free of ambiguity or uncertainty. So we must rely on the gracious and liberating God who knows us and loves us deeply.
And that is good news!
Peace,
Jacob
This Sunday's lectionary text is a parable many of us likely know well - the parable of the sower. As I've sat with it this week, I keep thinking about the stories we're part of - the story of this nation, the story of this community at St. Paul and St. Andrew, even the stories we tell ourselves in our own heads - and how all of them shape who and whose we understand ourselves to be.
The word "parable" means to overturn, to cast aside. Jesus used them throughout his ministry not to comfort or confirm, but to challenge. Parables are meant to move the hearers to reconsider the status quo, to disrupt complacency, and to invite curiosity around how things might be different.
That's work I know this community is about. It's also hard work - it's not easy to find something new in something familiar, on our own. So I'm looking forward to sitting with the parable of the sower together this Sunday and to whatever new ground it might open up for us all.
With hope in the power of a disrupting gospel,
sally
"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 11:29-30.
As Jesus was forming his community in ancient Palestine, his leadership contrasted greatly with the imperial leadership that oppressed his people. To be a leader offering ease and rest, gentleness and humility was radical. This was the marker of a servant leader.
As we celebrate the 250th birthday of this country, I am thinking about who we are as a collective and who we ought to strive to be as a world leader. What if we offered the world a Christlike gentleness and humility? What if we posed a light burden on the world instead of the heaviness of imperial might and control? What if?
I wish you all a peaceful Independence Day and look forward to exploring the model of Christ with you this Sunday.
Blessings,
Aurora
“You are the salt of the earth but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled under foot.” – Matthew 5:13
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his followers – tells us – to stay salty. As we celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride this month and this Sunday in particular, it feels like a fitting exhortation. After all, Stonewall was a riot, as they say. But what does that mean for us in this moment? This moment of unrelenting assaults on trans people, continuing genocide, ICE’s ethnic cleansing terror campaign, massive attacks on civil liberties and civil rights, ongoing climate crisis… and so much more. I found some clues by taking a deep dive into Mark Kurlansky’s history of salt (all 484 pages of it) and reaching for inspiration from the fierce resistance of our queer and trans ancestors. I can’t wait to share it with you!
See you Sunday!
- Benz
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword." - Matthew 10:34
That saying of Jesus has got to be among his most controversial. Really, Jesus? Aren't you our Prince of Peace, who departed from your disciples with the words, "Peace, I leave with you, my peace I give to you."? And didn't you chastise Peter, saying, "Those who live by the sword, die by the sword?
But Jesus was never one to shy away from controversy, and even conflict.
At the end of last week's New York Annual Conference meeting, our bishop congratulated us for avoiding contentiousness and disputes. And yes, that made it a welcome respite from some years. But, as we all know, without conflict, there can be no change.
And so much in our nation and world today demands change.
See you Sunday!
K
PS: Please stay after for our Potluck "Cook Out/Eat In". Bring a salad, side, drink or dessert to share, if you can. Or just yourself!
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” - Matthew 9:37-38
Every summer as a kid, my mom would load our family in the car in the early morning and we’d go blueberry picking. She had a whole system - a belt around our waist holding a plastic ice cream bucket at our hips, and rows upon rows of bushes waiting to be harvested. We became masters of the craft, positioning our hips under our outstretched hands so that as we pulled berries off branch they fell precisely into the container. We'd spend the morning like this, gathering ripe berries and eating almost as many as we picked, until the heat of the day sent us home with stained fingers and full buckets, the berries headed to the freezer to last us through the following July.
I found myself thinking about those summers as I read this week's gospel text. Harvesting is hard work, but it is also deeply satisfying work. It is work connected to the land, to seasons, to community, and to the simple delight of gathering at its peak what has been patiently growing for so long.
In a world where so much human labor is exploited or abused, where the work for justice can feel endless and exhausting, Jesus' words invite the questions: What are we laboring for? What are we harvesting?
This Sunday we'll explore what it means to become co-laborers in God’s harvest, and how Jesus calls ordinary, imperfect people - people very much like you and like me - back to the work we were made for.
Looking forward to being with you Sunday,
Sally
Friends,
We're carrying a lot right now. There is so much hurt in our lives, in our communities, and in the world. This Sunday, we'll gather with a gospel story that invites us to look honestly at that reality and to consider what healing might require of us. We'll also hear the ancient invitation to return to the Lord. Returning to God is part of how we heal. We come back to the Source of life and love. We are renewed, and we are drawn toward wholeness. We need that.
We'll be joined by the wonderful Citrus Singers, whose music will help lead us in worship, and we'll share Holy Communion together. If you're carrying worry, grief, weariness, or simply the weight of these days, I hope you'll come and make some space for prayer, song, reflection, and connection.
As always, there is a place for you.
Toward wholeness together,
Lea
Then God said, ‘Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness…So God created humans in God’s own image, in the divine image, God created them… – Genesis 1:26-27
Friends,
It is always a bit of a mystery and a miracle to me the ways the suggested texts of Revised Common Lectionary manage to speak to the specific moments or contexts in which they land on any given Sunday.
This Sunday, the lectionary points us to the beginning, to the creation narrative found in Genesis 1, where we are assured of our infinite and inviolable worth and value as humans, not because of what we do or produce or because of our holiness or perfection, but simply because of whose we are – God’s beloved children.
At a time when we can’t seem to escape the reality of constant assaults on human dignity in our current political, economic, and technological environments, how might we root into this assurance in ways that transform ourselves and the world?
On Sunday, we will recognize Peace with Justice Sunday in our United Methodist tradition. It is a Sunday that reminds us that the pursuit of peace requires faithful action.
As I sit writing this, people being held at the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in New Jersey are in their 6th day of a hunger strike, demanding improved conditions, humane treatment and freedom. In a letter signed by more than 300 detainees, they have detailed egregious violations of their human and civil rights, not only legally and administratively, but through the physical violence of unsanitary living conditions, spoiled and infested food, and lack of sufficient medical care.
It is a moment that calls for faithful action.
Come Sunday, we’ll reflect together about what faithful action might look like in our own lives, and in the life of our community. In the meantime, scroll down to the section “Delaney Hall Support” for a list of ways you can begin pursuing peace now.
Peace and Love,
Andrea
P.S. This Sunday we will also recognize the graduating high school seniors of our community and enjoy some celebratory cake during coffee hour. Come be a part of the blessing we will offer them as they close this leg of their journey and look to the next!
“Among the disciples were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.” - Luke 8:2-3
Friends,
What a joy it is to be back in NYC and worshipping with you all this Sunday! I grew up at St. Paul & St. Andrew, and you will always be my church family. This community nurtured and encouraged me, teaching me from an early age to live out my faith and put love into action. Those values have led me to mission work as a young adult.
Together this Sunday, we will learn from Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna—women named in Luke's gospel. Their lives and hearts were transformed through Jesus’s ministry to the extent that they decided to leave their homes and travel with him. By supporting his work through their time, resources, and other gifts, they made it possible for many others to experience the same transformation and liberation they found in Jesus.
As a United Methodist Missionary serving in Colombia since 2017, I’ve met many women like Mary, Joanna, and Susanna whose lives have been transformed and who are now working to ensure younger generations have those same opportunities. On this Pentecost Sunday, as we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the Church universal, we will hear more stories of transformation, teamwork, and faith, remembering that fertile ground can nourish seeds even in unlikely places.
Amor y paz,
Hannah Reasoner
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.” — Acts 1:8
Friends,
This Sunday, we mark the Ascension, the day forty days after Easter when, according to Luke’s Gospel and the Book of Acts, the risen Christ is taken up into heaven.
In both tellings of the story, the disciples are called to become witnesses — to carry forward the story of Jesus’s life, his execution at the hands of empire, and his resurrection by the power of God. It is no small thing to bear witness in a world where empire so often seeks to suppress, distort, or control the stories that threaten its power.
Perhaps that is why the disciples are told not to stand staring into the sky, but to return to the work of living, proclaiming, and embodying another way.
This Sunday, we are honored to welcome theologian, author, and speaker Kat Armas to St. Paul & St. Andrew. Kat’s work explores how faith can resist systems of injustice and imagine more liberative ways of being. She is the author of Abuelita Faith, Sacred Belonging, and Liturgies for Resisting Empire — a book many in our Connect & Care groups have been engaging together this season.
Kat will guest preach at our 11:00 AM worship service and will join us afterward, at 12:15 PM, for a moderated conversation on Liturgies for Resisting Empire. Together, we’ll reflect on how spiritual practice can ground movements for justice, nurture belonging, and help us reimagine faith beyond the logic of empire as we live into our call to be witnesses.
We hope you’ll join us for this meaningful Sunday of worship, conversation, and collective reflection — and we encourage you to invite a friend.
See you there!
Pastor Andrea
"Some of the people then joined Paul and became believers, including... a woman named Damaris." - Acts 17:34
Nearly every chapter in the Acts of the Apostles speaks of women disciples and apostles, including this mention of Damaris, who joins Paul as he departs from the city of Athens. By my count, this includes more than a dozen individual women who are lifted up and named, plus another dozen references to groups of women. How did a movement so filled with faithful women become so quickly dominated by men?
This Sunday we'll celebrate 'Mothers and Others Day', a chance to lift up, remember, and honor the women who have played a crucial role in the life of St Paul & St Andrew, and/or a central role in your life. We don't know anything much about Damaris, but I can think of so many 'mothers of the church' who have given birth and life to my faith during my time here. And I am very grateful.
See you Sunday,
K
"The people were constrained from donating any more, because what they had already given was more than enough to finish the work." - Exodus 36
In Exodus, we read the strange tale how during the building of the Tabernacle, all the people are asked to donate what they can to the effort, and soon their generosity overwhelms the workers. 'We have enough!' they say to Moses. 'Make them stop giving!'
After forty-plus years of ministry, I can't tell you how unlikely this story feels to me. Any yet, witnessing the outpouring of support by all of you towards the restoration of our 129-year-old roof, I feel a little like Moses. You have given so much! Unbelievable. But look at the result: we have raised nearly enough to finish the project!
I know you have not given so generously because you are so deeply devoted to the beauty of Spanish tile roofs. Rather, you understand what restoring our enormous roof will mean for the mission and ministry that happens underneath that roof.
And if I can't shout 'Stop!' quite yet, I can certainly say 'Thank you.' You are inspiring.
Gratefully,
K
"Then Cleopas and his friend told what had happened on the road, and how Christ had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread." - Luke 24:35
Luke’s tale of the encounter of two disciples with the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus is a powerful reminder that Easter is not a 'one and done' event, but an ongoing experience that impacts each of us. Those disciples, one of whom is named Cleopas and the other who has lost his nametag, are not the ones we usually read about. Their presence in the story is a reminder that Jesus comes not primarily for the prominent, but for the marginalized and disregarded. Jesus leaves no one out, and no one is left behind.
A painting I love by the 17th Century Spanish master Diego Velázquez, ‘La cena de Emaus (La mulata)’ centers a young black woman in the kitchen preparing the supper at Emmaus. As the scholar Jimmy Hoke points out in his ‘Full Lectionary Queerness’, she seems to be the first one to recognize Jesus – perhaps by his voice – while the other two disciples remain oblivious for the moment. As the song we've been singing goes, no one is getting left behind!
K
“Then Jesus said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ ” - John 20:27
I always thought the passage of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances to the disciples was fascinating, and so funny that we, as many generations of readers, gave Thomas a nickname enshrining his doubt. Really, Thomas just wanted the same proof of resurrection the other disciples got.
The thing I love about this story is actually what keeps me believing in Jesus. He gave Thomas what he needed to believe. Jesus knew Thomas needed closeness, to see and touch his wounds; so he met Thomas where he was. And personally, the knowledge that Jesus is willing to come close and to meet us where we are, is what I need to believe.
I hope Thomas doesn’t mind his nickname. Because to me, Thomas is the one who teaches us what it means for belief to be born. This Eastertide, ask for what you need. May we find our needs met in love, in community, in faith.
See you Sunday,
Sarah
In Matthew's Gospel, resurrection happens multiple times, for multiple sets of people!
First, of course, for Jesus. Before the story even starts, before the women get to the tomb, before the angel opens the tomb, Jesus is already up. Jesus is already gone.
Resurrection then comes to Mary Magdalene and 'the other Mary' (how would you like to be known through the centuries as the 'other Mary'?). While they are on their way to share with the disciples the strange news of the empty tomb, Jesus himself confronts them! At first they fall down, and then they rise with a new message. A message of amazing hope.
Resurrection even happens for the Roman soldiers who were supposed to be guarding the tomb! At the appearance of a rather startling angel, the soldiers fall down as though dead. But then they rise to bring a dangerous word to the authorities - the person we were supposed to guard is gone!
And we know, because the risen Jesus promises it, resurrection will soon come to the disciples. It will come, even to those who denied and deserted him.
They question for us this Easter is this: Where is our resurrection?
K
“The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’” — Matthew 21:9
Palm Sunday is sometimes framed as a victory parade—a foreshadowing of resurrection. And it’s true that in the Roman Empire, palms symbolized conquest and power.
But in Jesus’s Jewish context, palms meant something else.
They were part of Sukkot, a harvest festival rooted in prayer—prayer for rain, for sustenance, for life. “Hosanna” was not a victory cry. It was a plea:
Save us.
Lately, every time a news alert lights up my phone, I find myself echoing that ancient prayer:
Hosanna. Save us.
We are being drained by empire.
Quench our parched land.
Quench our parched bodies.
Quench our parched spirits.
These are hard times. But as David Billings wrote in his devotional this morning, “the hard times are not the end times…I gain hope from those who rage against the brutality and injustice of it all. I gain hope from those whose rage is made manifest in the streets.”
Palm Sunday is not just a parade. It is a protest—hope entering the city not on a warhorse, but on a humble donkey.
On Sunday, we will gather to remember.
See you there,
Pastor Andrea
As Lazarus emerged from the tomb, Jesus told the crowd, "Unbind him, and set him free." - John 11:44
If it has meaning, resurrection is always a collective experience. We are all involved in the process of moving beyond the fear of death, and the denial of death, even the worship of death, into God's powerful way of loving and living.
We see this in the story of Ezekiel in the valley, this story that has been accompanying our experience of Lent this year. Ezekiel prophesies to the dry bones, but the knitting of flesh to flesh and the coming of ruach (Hebrew for breath, wind, spirit) is something the people experience together. Until they "stand on their feet, a vast community"!
We see it in the story of the raising of Lazarus. When news comes to Jesus of the death of his friend, his disciples determine to go to Bethany with him, an extremely risky thing to do, given that Jesus has twice narrowly escaped getting stoned to death in that same area. And when Jesus asks Lazarus's sisters to show him the tomb, the whole community of women comes along to assist and to witness.
We see it in ourselves. If resurrection only happens to me, without you, it's not resurrection. And if it happens just to Jesus and not to me, I'm not sure I'm that interested.
We rise together, or not at all,
K
Hi Friends,
For more than 40 years, a woman named Sally Winey has been repairing old teddy bears that people send to her from across the country. These bears arrive worn thin, missing eyes, with torn seams and fading fur. But to the people who send them, they aren’t just toys. As Sally says, “That bear’s been with them through everything.”
Instead of discarding them, she carefully takes them apart, mends what has been damaged, replaces what has been lost, and gently stitches them back together so they can be held again.
It made me think about the worn places in our own lives, the relationships that fray, the parts of ourselves that grow tired or feel a little scattered. This Sunday, we’ll reflect on Psalm 23 and the promise that God is quietly, patiently at work restoring what has been worn down and depleted.
I hope you’ll join us!
With you in the work of restoration,
Pastor Lea
Friends,
You may have caught on that John chapter 4, the story of the encounter of Jesus with a Samaritan woman at a well, is a favorite of mine, since I reference it nearly every Communion Sunday.
The truth is, I come to that story to drink, rather than preach. I need the idea that Jesus offers us living, spring-fed spiritual water, rather than the stagnant water of a well. I come to Jesus to be refreshed and inspired.
I come because, in the middle of a dry spell, I need something that will quench my thirst.
I can't guarantee that I will come up with a sermon worth listening to this Sunday, but I look forward to sitting with you beside the well. Maybe together we will find something for our parched spirits.
K
"Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil..." Matthew 4:1
The devil is clever. Devil in Greek is διαβόλου (diabolos), one who 'throws-across', or 'casts-through'; in other words, one with the ability and the will to distract us, tempt us, test our resolve.
Matthew's gospel describes three temptations. Jesus is tempted by money (or physical needs), safety, and power. But Jesus understands that the devil can't (and won't) deliver on these things, and if he could, those things would come at a cost.
I hate to judge (not really, that's one of my temptations), but I feel that too many of our fellow Christians have taken the devil's deal. And that makes it all the more important to stick with Jesus. Because his time of trial is ours, as well.
Love you,
K
Dear Friends,
This Sunday, we’ll gather at the threshold of Transfiguration, a moment in the church year that invites us to look up and around, to notice what’s shining. We’re invited to remember that the holy happens here, too, even in our messed up, hurting world.
We, as followers of Christ, work hard to stay alert to what is breaking in our world. And there is so much. But faith also calls us to remain open to the radiant and even strange ways that God shows up and shines among us. We want our faith to make some space for that mystery, for that magic, too. We need it.
So come, open to the ache of the world, but also to the transporting, transfiguring experience of awe.
I hope you’ll join us.
With hope for holy surprises!
Pastor Lea
"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt becomes tasteless, can it be salty again?" - Matthew 5:13
Friends,
In the collection of sayings we call the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls us away from blandness, challenges us to resist tastelessness.
As people of faith, as companions of Jesus, we may be moved to do and say things that rub some people the wrong way. And that can lead to trouble. So, it's a challenge to stay salty, to live in the light, rather than retreat to the safer shadows.
One thing about salt: it doesn't take much to make a real difference.
See you Sunday. Stay safe. Stay salty.
K
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" - Micah 6:8
Friends,
These days, I find myself asking the question often, “How are we to be in times like these? " And surely I’m not alone in asking this.
This week’s lectionary brings us to a passage in Micah that maybe some of you know well. I take heart in Micah’s words, because I imagine the peoples’ questions that prompted such a response as this. But I’m not sure the answer stands alone.
Before God tells the people to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly,” God widens their vision—calling the mountains as witnesses and inviting them into a deeper story of who they are and where they come from. What might this remembering of the place of God’s people in the wider web of creation and in the long river of time -past, present and future- have to teach us about the moment we’re in today?
I’m looking forward to digging into it together on Sunday,
Sally
"Immediately, they left their nets and followed Jesus" - Matthew 4:20
Friends,
Those words from the gospels are so familiar. Jesus gathers disciples, and they 'follow' him.
This week, I would love to consider a different understanding of the word we translate follow. The Greek word ἀκολουθέω (akoloutheo) can mean 'to follow' -- but a different, and maybe better translation, would be simply: 'to come with, or to accompany.'
Why do I care? As I think about my own walk with Jesus, what I believe I need at this point in my life is a little company, a little support, a bit of consolation for the moments I just want to throw up my hands in despair. Help me, Jesus. Accompany me, and let me accompany you.
See you Sunday!
K
Please join Pastor K Karpen in a moment of prayer, from the January 25, 2026 service at St. Paul & St. Andrew in New York City.
He said to them, "Come and see.” — John 1:39
Friends,
In this week’s gospel text, Jesus encounters a couple of strangers. They’ve been hearing the chatter—about Jesus, about who people think he is—and they’re curious.
Noticing that curiosity, Jesus extends a simple invitation: “Come and see.”
He doesn’t tell them what they’re supposed to think or believe. He doesn’t try to persuade or control.
Come and see, he says.
It’s as if he’s whispering, I trust you—and you can trust yourselves.
This invitation is a marked departure from the rhetoric of empire, which demands compliance, obedience, and conformity, and so often denies the divine wisdom—the image of God—already alive within each of us.
We’ll explore this invitation to discipleship together later this morning.
Come and see.
Peace and love,
Pastor Andrea
Join Pastor Andrea Steinkamp in a moment of prayer from the January 11, 2026 service. Thank you for joining us today.
Dear Friends,
I hope you’ll join us for worship this Sunday as we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord, a day centered on water, grace, and belovedness.
We'll have the joy of baptizing AJ Palma Gil and Nora Howse, welcoming them into the family of faith and surrounding them with our prayers, promises, and love. As we witness their baptisms, we’ll share in the sacrament that reminds us who we are and whose we are.
It'll be a special, hope-filled morning, grounding us again in God’s love that meets us just as we are.
I hope to see you there!
With grace,
Pastor Lea
"And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way." Matthew 2:12
Happy New Year! A new year gives us a chance to think through the road we've been traveling and consider whether we might change direction. That's true for my life, and it's true of our communal life as well.
The magi are the stars (!) of the Epiphany story. But the real gift they bring to the Holy Family is to reconsider the road they were planning to take, choosing resistance rather than capitulation. Choosing Jesus over Herod. A life-saving decision for Jesus! And a life-changing decision for those of us who call ourselves Christians.
Looking forward to spending a choice-filled new year with you,
K
On this Christmas, we pause to remember that the light shines in the darkness—and the darkness does not overcome it. Whether you are feeling full of joy, carrying quiet grief, or simply catching your breath in the midst of a busy season, we offer this word of hope and peace to you. May the love made known in Christ meet you exactly where you are today.
On this Christmas, we pause to remember that the light shines in the darkness—and the darkness does not overcome it. Whether you are feeling full of joy, carrying quiet grief, or simply catching your breath in the midst of a busy season, we offer this word of hope and peace to you. May the love made known in Christ meet you exactly where you are today.
Dear Friends,
This Sunday marks the beginning of Advent, a season that starts not in bright lights and carols, but in the dark. It begins with tremors and shadows, with stars falling and the ground beneath us shifting.
Guided by Mark’s gospel, we’ll listen for signs and portents, for the eerie syzygy of a world in upheaval and the unsettling beauty that comes when the familiar order begins to crack. In this uncertainty, we may just glimpse the nearness of God.
We’ll gather to keep watch, to let our eyes adjust to the dimness where the Holy is already drawing near, to find hope flickering at the edge of endings and beginnings.
Join us this Sunday, as we hold onto hope in the shadows.
Until then, have a very Happy Thanksgiving and know that I am grateful to wait and watch with you,
Pastor Lea
Please join Pastor Andrea Steinkamp in a moment of prayer from the November 30, 2025 service.
Dear Friends,
This Sunday marks the beginning of Advent, a season that starts not in bright lights and carols, but in the dark. It begins with tremors and shadows, with stars falling and the ground beneath us shifting.
Guided by Mark’s gospel, we’ll listen for signs and portents, for the eerie syzygy of a world in upheaval and the unsettling beauty that comes when the familiar order begins to crack. In this uncertainty, we may just glimpse the nearness of God.
We’ll gather to keep watch, to let our eyes adjust to the dimness where the Holy is already drawing near, to find hope flickering at the edge of endings and beginnings.
Join us this Sunday, as we hold onto hope in the shadows.
Until then, have a very Happy Thanksgiving and know that I am grateful to wait and watch with you,
Pastor Lea
Please join Pastor Lea Matthews in a moment of prayer from the November 23, 2025 service.
At this season, church communities all around the world start thinking and planning about the coming year, and figuring out how to meet whatever new challenges or opportunities may await. On November 23, Vicki Clark shares with the congregation.
‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink?' Matthew 25:44
It occurs to me that some of the most caring and generous people I know don't understand how unusual they are. They go through life with a natural sensitivity to what is going on around them. And not responding to an opportunity to give, seems unthinkable to them.
Now that I think about it, I actually know a lot of people like that! So many are part of our faith community. That is one of the things that make St Paul & St Andrew so amazing!
This Sunday we will all have a chance to help keep the amazing going. Please bring your pledge card with you (or grab the one in your bulletin), as we share in our Love in Action Pledge Campaign for 2026!
Gratefully,
K
At this season, church communities all around the world start thinking and planning about the coming year, and figuring out how to meet whatever new challenges or opportunities may await. On November 16, Jessica Tulloch shares with the congregation.
"When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones ...Jesus said, 'As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another.'" Luke 21:5-6That's not a great lectionary text to show up as we're celebrating the start of the big roof project! But it is another reminder that it's not our lovely and quirky building that matters, but the vital work of love that the building makes possible.
It feels right, this time of year, to take a pause in the challenging task of fundraising for our capital campaign in order to focus on making sure that vital work of love can continue in 2026. It takes each of us contributing what we can: in time, in money, in prayers, in showing up, and witnessing to the power of God's love!
See you Sunday,
K
Please join seminary intern Sarah Patlan in a moment of prayer (from the November 16, 2025 service).
"Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question…" - Luke 20:27-28
Friends,
Long before I was a pastor, I had a job that involved working alongside lawyers as they navigated lawsuits and prepared for depositions and trials. My role often involved drafting examination questions about the financial issues of the case, based on the reams and reams of documents we had reviewed and analyzed.
There was a very important rule when drafting these questions: never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to. It was a way of controlling the narrative and protecting our client from surprises that might hurt their case.
In this week’s gospel reading from Luke, Jesus is approached by a group of Sadducees who do just that. They ask him a question they’re sure they already know the answer to - a question they’re certain will expose the absurdity of his beliefs and humiliate him in front of the crowd.
But by the end of the interaction, after Jesus flips the script, as he so often does, pointing his audience not to the ways and understandings of the world, but rather to the mysteries of God, it is not Jesus’ beliefs that end up sounding absurd, but rather the question laid before him.
This week’s text has me wondering - what are the things I think I know that might be getting in the way of my faith? What are the things I think I know that are pointing me to despair, rather than hope, to animosity, rather than love? And what are the questions I’m afraid to ask - because I sense the answers might call me to release the illusions of control that bring such false comfort?
Will you come and wonder with me this Sunday?
With hope,
Pastor Andrea
At this season, church communities all around the world start thinking and planning about the coming year, and figuring out how to meet whatever new challenges or opportunities may await. On November 9, Hector Pagan and Nylee Pagan share with the congregation.
Friends,
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about silence lately - and wrestling with my yearning for it at a time when silencing seems to be the objective of so many authoritarian powers. Like most things, silence isn’t good or bad in and of itself. It can be both generative and destructive, both holy and sinful.
This Sunday in worship, we’ll reflect together on the silences that emerge from wonder and awe, from presence and attentiveness. We’ll consider when we are called to raise our voices and when we are called to bring silence into loud and restless places.
After the service, I hope you’ll stay for Art Making for All - an opportunity for our community to nurture connection, practice presence, and perhaps give expression to what words cannot hold. We’ll be printmaking with found objects, so dig through your cupboards, closets, junk drawers, and recycling bins for anything that won’t mind getting a little paint on it.
Let’s see what beauty emerges through playful exploration together!
See you Sunday,
Pastor Andrea
Friends,
Finally, the season has come! I’m not thinking of the lovely Autumn weather that has indeed shown up, after a sizzling September and a too hot early October. And I’m not talking about the election season, God knows.
I’m speaking of the beloved annual pledge season, celebrated this time of year throughout Christendom. At this season, church communities all around the world start thinking and planning about the coming year, and figuring out how to meet whatever new challenges or opportunities may await.
This Sunday, we will kick off our 'Love in Action 2025 Campaign'. Yay!! Yes, it's about faithfully funding the work of the church. And it's also about deciding what each of us can bring to this community to help make real the daily miracle of enacting love!
Looking forward,
K
Dear Friends,
So much of life depends on how we show up for one another, and just as importantly, how we allow others to show up for us. This week in worship, we’ll reflect on what it means to live that kind of mutual care: to lend what we can, to ask when we need, and to trust that God’s abundance flows through our shared courage.
Come join us Sunday, as we explore how, even in small and ordinary ways, we can keep compassion and hope flowing in our community.
With gratitude for our shared life,
Pastor Lea
"There is joy in the presence of the angels whenever one who is lost finds their way." - Luke 15:10
Friends,
This week's Gospel passage is all about joy, and the need to never give up on anyone. Jesus is always getting criticized for spending time with the sorts of people nobody else wanted or cared about. Spending time because he understands that everyone matters to God. Every soul is of sacred worth. Every single person has the potential to increase our joy.
May that joy fill our lives this Sunday, as we welcome many new members, hear amazing news about our capital campaign, and gather after worship to eat and enJOY each other!
With joy for each of you,
Pastor K
Friends,
Over the past several Sundays, I’ve been intrigued and inspired by the challenging Jesus we’ve encountered in Luke’s gospel. The Jesus who says he didn’t come to bring peace, but division (Luke 12:51). The rule-breaking Jesus (Luke 13:14-16). The order flipping, imagination-stirring Jesus (Luke 14:13-14).
This week, we’ll spend more time with the Jesus who refuses to be tamed - the Jesus who believes the power of love, the power of kindness, the power of drawing the circle wider and treating people’s needs as holy - can overcome even the most entrenched systems of exclusion.
We’ll also take time to celebrate the start of the new school year and honor all the students, teachers, and school staff among us with our annual Blessing of the Backpacks during the Message for All Ages. Bring your backpacks to church and let your community recognize you, encourage you, and pray for you.
See you Sunday at 11am!
Pastor Andrea
Dear friends,
This Sunday, we’ve got a seat saved just for you.
We’ll hear one of Jesus’ dinner party stories—where the guest list gets flipped, the power dynamics get shaken up, and the table looks a whole lot more like the kin-dom of God. We’re asking: What kind of world are we imagining? And what would it take to get there?
We’ll consider the power of imagination and realize, again, that justice doesn’t wait for permission. Through hope, prayer, and connection, we'll work to expand what we understand as possible.
Come for the music, stay for the stories, and leave with a new vision.
With love,
Pastor Lea
Please join Pastor Andrea Steinkamp in a moment of prayer (from the August 31, 2025 service).
"Should not this woman... be set free from what is binding her, even on the sabbath day?" Luke 10:16
Jesus is always getting into trouble, often because of his somewhat casual approach to rules.
I can relate to that. There was a brief period of my life when I was a serious rule-follower; I believe it was several months in the spring of 1971. It didn't work out as well as it should have, and I soon reverted to my scofflaw ways.
Lately, though, I've been thinking a lot about rules. Probably prompted by the fact that those in charge of enforcing the rules in our rules-based democracy, seem to be those most often breaking the rules.
This week, let's think, with Jesus, about what our Christian faith teaches us about following the rules.
Pastor K
Jesus said, "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" - Luke 12:49
I'm back! Did you miss me? It was tempting, given the present political circumstances, to stay in Ireland, a place of relative sanity, but it's not home. Here is home for me. You all are home to me.
This week's lectionary serves up not a helpful, healing Jesus, but an impatient Jesus. A Jesus eager to get things going, to light a fire under our butts, to challenge the god-awful, capricious cruelty of the times.
"Why don't you know how to interpret the present time?" Jesus asks, impatiently. Don't you see what's going on?
Let's work on that together this morning. See you soon. I've missed you!
Pastor K
"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going." – Hebrews 11:8
Friends,
Summer is peak travel season, and that’s no exception for the pastoral team here at St. Paul & St. Andrew. Pastor K is wrapping up a 150+ mile trek across Ireland this week; I’ve just returned from a (much less ambitious!) trip to Michigan; and Pastor Lea is heading out on her own journey in the coming days.
We’ve also loved seeing the photos and hearing the stories of your own adventures - whether restful, exciting, or transformative.
Many of these trips fall into the category of journeys we want to take - journeys we plan for, even long for. But there are other journeys we find ourselves on that weren’t exactly our idea: the kind we’d rather not take, the ones that stir up fear or resistance, that make us long for the safety of what is known and familiar.
In his poem For the Traveler, John O’Donohue writes, “A journey can become a sacred thing...” His words, alongside this week’s reading from Hebrews - recounting Abraham and Sarah’s journey by faith away from their homeland - got me wondering: what does it mean to travel faithfully?
As we continue our Grounded in Grace, Growing in the Gospel series, we’ll explore that question together this Sunday.
Looking forward to journeying with you,
Pastor Andrea
Please join Pastor Sally Rausch in a moment of prayer, from the August 10, 2025 service.
“Some want to keep a gospel so disembodied that it doesn’t get involved at all in the world it must save. Christ is now in history. Christ is in the womb of the people. Christ is now bringing about the new heavens and the new earth.”
– Fr. Oscar Romero
Dear Friends,
This Sunday, we’ll gather around a question Paul asked from prison:
How does one become worthy of the gospel?
We’ll explore together what it means to “grow in the gospel”—not as something we arrive at perfectly, but as a journey God takes with us. We’ll look at how the gospel confronts us, stretches us, and calls us beyond what feels safe or comfortable, even as it offers hope that can change the world.
Along the way, we’ll let Romero and Paul guide us, and we’ll pray for the courage and clarity to discern where Christ is calling us.
I hope you’ll join us. We need each other as we follow Christ into the world God so loves.
In gratitude,
Pastor Lea
Jesus replied, “Martha, Martha! You’re anxious and upset about so many things, but only a few things are necessary—really only one. - Luke 10:41-42
Friends,
As I prepare to say goodbye (for now) to this community that has raised me, I’ve been thinking about what makes St. Paul and St. Andrew special. We do hospitality really well, living that radical welcome.
Continuing our Grounded in Gospel and Growing in Grace series, hospitality is an intuitive next step. Radical welcome is how we bring peace to others and say “I see you” in a sincere way. Hospitality is how the Most Moved Mover moves us to do love in action. And yet, in Luke 10, Jesus seems to rebuff Martha’s hospitality. Looking at the story through a new lens of grace, it becomes clear that Martha’s hospitality anxiety is getting in her way. The only hospitality God requires of us in return is to draw closer and listen to the Word.
Can’t wait to see you Sunday,
Aurora
"A Samaritan, seeing the wounded man, was moved with compassion..." Luke 10:33
Friends,
Jesus never calls the 'good' Samaritan good. That's our idea. The Samaritan in the famous story was just a person. A random person. Like me. Like you.
This Samaritan sees someone in need of help. That's important, but it's not enough. The priest and the scribe in the story also 'see' the wounded man. It's just that the Samaritan, a stranger, a foreigner, is moved to do something.
Let's pray that the Most Moved Mover continues to move each of us.
K
Dear Friends,
This Sunday, we begin our summer worship series: Grounded in Grace, Growing in Gospel. We’ll reflect on what it means to carry the peace of Christ into the world-- not as conquerors, but as guests. Not with power, but with tenderness. Luke tells us Jesus sent the seventy out with nothing but trust and each other. What if that’s still enough?
We’ll be thinking about open-heartedness, vulnerability, and how true peace puts us in conflict with the wolves-- and yet makes us strong in the Spirit. We’ll sing. We’ll pray. And we’ll gather at the communion table where all are fed, and none are turned away.
Come and find the quiet center. Come with your weariness, your joy, your open hands. We can’t wait to welcome you.
With peace,
Pastor Lea
Please join Rev. Dr. J. Terry Todd in a moment of prayer (from the June 29, 2025 service).
Dear Friends,
This Sunday, we'll celebrate Pride! We're delighted to welcome our beloved friend and colleague, the Rev. Dr. Althea Spencer Miller to the pulpit. Dr. Spencer Miller is a an ordained elder in the New York Annual Conference and is a Professor of New Testament at The Theological School at Drew University. Her area of focus is on oral tradition. She works to decolonize Biblical interpretation, emphasizing storytelling and the everyday lived experience of folks. She brings her whole self to her work and analysis as a Black, queer, immigrant, from the Caribbean. She has long been a friend and co-conspirator in justice and hope. We're excited.
In addition, our Chancel Choir, under the direction of Dr. Frank Glass and with accompaniment from Phil Hall, will offer three anthems, specially selected for the occasion. And don't forget, we will start worship at 10am!
Dress comfortably, and if you're planning on going to the Queer Liberation March right after service, wear your sneakers!
Can't wait to celebrate how we are all queerfully and wonderfully made!
Love,
Pastor Lea
"They found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind." Luke 8:35
Jesus is always going out of his way to seek people that others go out of their way to avoid. This week's scripture is a great example of that.
Why does Jesus cross the Sea of Galilee? To get to the other side, certainly. But he goes all that way to encounter a homeless, naked, demon-tormented person everyone else has given up on. To set him free, and restore him to his right mind.
These days, when it seems like there are demons of cruelty, hatred, inhumanity, and indifference possessing the country, I try to consider that the people who are doing barbaric and inhuman things are still people. Still human. And still capable of redemption and change.
I pray that our country might return to its right mind.
K
"When Jesus saw the sick man lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, Jesus said to him, 'Do you want to be made well?'” - John 5:6
Friends,
Sitting at breakfast a few weeks back, our friend Cameron was telling us about the work she does as a counselor to young people. She shared that at some point she urges them to find something that gives their lives a bit of purpose, asking them, 'What's your why?'
We may not all be troubled teenagers (though there are days I feel like one), but that's a question we each need to struggle with. And walk beside our youth, especially those who will be confirmed this Sunday, as they, too, seek answers to that question.
What's your why?
K
Friends,
Have you ever been in the same room and as someone you knew deeply and didn’t understand a word they were saying? How did you react? Panic and yelling? Or are you calm under pressure and able to use your know-how to work towards a place of understanding?
I’ve spent the last 2 weeks on the bonnie shores of Scotland ushering a group of our campus students on a pilgrimage to the sacred isle of Iona. Being back in the UK is always thing of comfort, it’s one of the many places that I get to call home. But not unlike traversing the numerous accents and languages of New York City, the sounds of Scots requires some tuning of my ears to be able to fully comprehend and get into the swing of paying attention.
There’s something about falling out of practice or some time away that requires an adjustment period. Paying attention is hard when there’s so many distractions. Paying attention is hard when you come with preconceived notions of what’s going to happen.
This Sunday we usher in the day and season of Pentecost. Last week we, with the Ascension, we marked Jesus leaving this earthly plane, whisked away on a cloud. But in typical God fashion, the people are NOT alone.
Being in community and trying to communicate with one another, doesn’t come without its chaos. We live that out every day, some days better than others. So much can happen when we allow for the Spirit to enter the room and perhaps even our relationships!
To help us get into the Pentecost spirit you are encouraged to wear red and other fiery shades to help us embody the Holy Spirit-infused tongues of fire that overtake the people and give them the ability to understand one another.
Looking forward to it,
Pastor Ekama
"God has put all things under Christ’s feet and made Christ, as the rule of everything, the head of the church, and the church is Christ’s body; it’s the fullness of the One who fills all of creation." - Ephesians 1:22-23
Friends,
As we move into the last Sunday of Easter season, we mark the ascension of Jesus. I like to think of the Ascension as the ending that was the beginning of the becoming of the church. It was the ending that had to happen for the Holy Spirit to descend upon the apostles and the church to be bon on Pentecost (which we'll celebrate together next Sunday).
Endings are hard. They can be frightening and disorienting and immobilizing, but sometimes they are the only way forward.
Thank goodness the Ascension was not only an ending, but a promise that the One who fills all of creation will accompany us along the way.
We'll explore all of that together, and more, come Sunday.
See you there,
Pastor Andrea
Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and God will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” John 14:23.
As we journey through Eastertide and work together to figure out how to be Easter people, we have repeatedly returned to Jesus’ mandate to his disciples at the Last Supper to love each other as he has loved them. Yet, as we’ve seen, that’s easier said than done for both Jesus’ disciples and us.
John’s account of the Last Supper gives us some clues on putting Jesus’ mandate for love into action. John shows us how Jesus spent a lot of time reassuring the disciples that, even though the worst was coming, they would always have a home and family through love and the Holy Spirit.
But how do we make a home in love? The apostle Paul’s trip to Macedonia can help us. Even though the vision that compels him out there is of a man (of course), it’s Lydia, a merchant of purple cloth, who surprises Paul with her openness to living out Christ’s new commandment. It is from this remarkable woman that we learn what it means to be welcomed into a new kind of home for a new kind of commandment.
See you Easter People Sunday,
Aurora
"Those who find victory in love will inherit all things..." Revelation 21:7
Easter Sunday, 1984 was my last Easter before coming here to St Paul & St Andrew. Pretending I had an hour of free time, I went next door to Riverside Church, where Bill Coffin was the pastor.
I remember two things from Rev. Coffin's Easter sermon. First, he shared a ridiculous joke about moose hunting in Maine (I won't trouble you with that). But second, he referred to Easter not as one person's escape from the grave, but as "the victory of seemingly powerless love over loveless power." That is a line I will never forget.
Easter is a victory, sure, but it's a strange victory. It's a victory not just over death, but over the ideology of death. It is a victory over all things that discount life and disparage love. A victory of seemingly powerless love over loveless power, indeed.
See you Sunday,
K
I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out. - Luke 19:40
Friends,
This Sunday, we enter Holy Week with Palm Sunday worship. Interestingly, this year's Palm Sunday lectionary text comes from the Gospel of Luke, whose telling of the Palm Sunday story includes not a single waving palm.
While text may not have waving palms, Luke's Palm Sunday narrative, and the Passion narrative that follows, deftly highlight another aspect of the crowd's presence: their voice. It's a story that challenges us to consider the complexities of power and the ways it manifests, not only in words, but in silence.
Come Sunday, we'll begin our worship service at 11am on the West End Avenue steps and continue with our annual donkey-led palm processional before heading into the sanctuary. The processional will be livestreamed to all of you who join us each week from afar, as well as on a monitor in the back of the sanctuary.
See you there!
Pastor Andrea
Friends,
Today's text is the famous story from Luke 15, the 'parable of the prodigal parent'.
We usually call this parable the 'prodigal son', but I like to focus on the father's prodigality: extravagantly generous, he shows excessive liberality to both his children. Prodigal, indeed.
This morning, let's join together to praise our prodigal parent, who bathes us in the extravagant generosity of divine grace.
Prodigally yours,
K
In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus calls his disciples the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world." Surrounded by a diverse group—fisherpeople, tax collectors, the vulnerable and disenfranchised - Jesus offers a revolutionary message in a turbulent time. It challenges how they see themselves and invites them to embrace a transformative role in the world.
What does his message have to do with you and me? And how will we respond to this radical call?
Sally
"Jesus said to the Pharisees (who came to warn him about Herod), "Go and tell that fox..." Luke 13:32
This week's Gospel text shows us some strange bedfellows. The Pharisees, who are often depicted as enemies of Jesus - or at least antagonists - show up to warn Jesus about Herod Antipas's murderous intent towards him. But of course, there were Pharisees and there were Pharisees. Just as today there are Christians and there are Christians.
Maybe that's a sign for us in these times. I feel like it's time to look for allies in strange and different places. There may be people and groups we disagree with vehemently on certain topics and in certain areas, with whom we might be able to make common cause with on other issues and in different ways.
As Hippocrates put it long before the time of Jesus, 'Desperate times call for desperate measures.'
Meanwhile, I'm grateful to be connected with a thoughtful, compassionate and courageous group of people like yourselves!
K
Happy Birthday!
On the first Sunday of March back in 1835, our congregation officially began, dedicated as the "Second Wesleyan Chapel". A church building was soon under construction, down on Mulberry Street.
Barely 23 years later, the congregation moved uptown to a brand-new place on Park Ave S. & 22nd St. - a soaring ediface, clothed in marble, with a 210-foot steeple, largely the gift of church trustee Daniel Drew. It was truly a glorious building, but lasted only 40 years.
How surprised those 19th C. saints might be to know that their third church building, dedicated in 1897, is still standing, decades and decades later!
One thing has been key. During those 190 years, our focus has always been not just on the buildings themselves, but on the work the buildings have enabled.
As we move into the next phase of our Now Is the Time capital campaign, we will work together to make sure that our church building continues to be a catalyst for the work of love and justice.
See you Sunday!
K
Then Rachel and Leah spoke up: “We no longer have an inheritance in our father’s house. Aren’t we regarded as foreigners, now that he has effectively sold us and used up the purchase price? […] Now while Laban was out among the herds shearing, Rachel stole his household idols” -Genesis 31:14-15, 19
In this week’s scripture reading, Rachel and Leah are dragged through a drama between their father and their new husband, Jacob. Uprooted from home, survival for them means taking their household gods—the physical representation of their ancestors—with them into an uncertain future.
As we return to our Souls & Solidarity series this Sunday and discuss the liberating principle of Sankofa, we are asked to consider how we can reach into the past and bring the wisdom and survival tactics of our ancestors with us. As our former vice president said, we didn’t just fall out of a coconut tree. When life gets chaotic and scary, what lessons from the past do you turn to? What do you carry with you to survive?
I hope you will join us to talk ancestor wisdom and justice work for this last Sunday of Black History Month. During service, we will be treated to a few tiny testimonials from members of the community. In the spirit of Sankofa, we look back in order to march forward together.
Blessings,
Aurora
"They shall be like a tree planted by the water, sending out its roots by the stream." - Jeremiah 17:7
Friends,
How do we continue to stand firm, in the face of so much that is coming at us?
Jeremiah 17 reminds us to stay rooted, drink deeply, stay green and supple, don't give in to anxiety, and, always, continue to bear fruit.
That's asking a lot, given what is going on in our common life, and what you may be experiencing in your own personal life. Some days things may feel like way, way too much to bear. It is those days, especially, we need to stay rooted in our faith.
Be a tree.
K
"When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything behind and followed him." - Luke 5:11
Friends,
That is maybe the most frightening phrase in the Bible.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts it like this in The Cost of Discipleship: "Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus... It is costly because it compels a person to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow where he is going."
In other words, taking seriously the invitation to follow Jesus - to do the things he did, and to share his challenging words of justice, mercy and compassion - can have an impact on my life both transformational and potentially quite risky.
Jesus prefaces his invitation to the three fishermen with the ominous phrase, "Do not be afraid...." In these perilous times, we might think of that as an encouragement, but maybe also as a warning. This Jesus thing may come at a cost.
Glad we will be in it together,
K
"But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went on his way." Luke 4:30
Friends,
Jesus almost didn't make it through his first sermon!
He started out fine, but then he began saying what some didn't want to hear. They stood up, got in his way, and tried to kill him.
But Jesus walked through the midst of those who wished him harm. How? Did others stand up for him, and get between him and harm?
People are still getting in the way of Jesus. Sometimes it's us! Sometimes it's the politically powerful, but morally weak.
In the end, Jesus will always go his way. Our job? Stop getting in his way. So we can go his way.
K
Friends,
Over the last several days, the power of words has been on full display. Proclamations, addresses, orders, organizational memos, statements, and lots and lots of emails, tweets, texts, and posts are swirling around us, each claiming to convey messages of import. So many words, so little time.
Have you been listening?
Have you been avoiding the noise?
On Sunday in worship, we'll think a bit about the prophetic word. We'll read and reflect on Jesus's first sermon in the gospel according to Luke. It shouldn't surprise you to learn that he spoke boldly, inspired by the Spirit of God, and drawing from the prophet, Isaiah. He did not mince words. Jesus proclaimed his authority and what the reign of God will look like.
Jesus said,
"...The Most High has anointed me
To bring Good News to those who are poor.
God has sent me to proclaim liberty to those held captive,
Recovery of sight to those who are blind,
And release to those in prison—
To proclaim the year of God’s favor.”
Now those are some powerful words, friends. And unlike so many others vying for our attention, these words are ones we need to listen to.
Come join us Sunday, when we can listen for God's word together.
Love,
Pastor Lea
"Jesus replied to his mother, 'Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?'" John 2:4
I don't know about you, but some days lately, I feel pretty drained. It's hard to deal with one more piece of news. It's a challenge to summon the energy to respond to one more problem or situation.
At the wedding Jesus attends in the village of Cana, the wine runs out. I can relate. There are days when, whatever resource is needed -- whether time, or money, or information, or access to help, or even just compassion -- it feels like there's just not enough. And I can relate to Jesus' response to his mom, as well: "That may well be a problem, but it's not my problem."
The truth is, in the weeks ahead, we are going to have to turn to each other for the support we need. The good news is that we can do together what seems overwhelming to each of us alone. The better news is that God will be with us every second of every day.
K
Friends,
Very few things grab our attention as quickly as the simple phrase, "Once upon a time." Storytime is the best. Kids and adults both love the cozy, cuddle up time over a picture book. And there is nothing as sweet or tender as a heart-to-heart between loved ones, when somebody takes a tiny leap of faith to share with another a bit of their life's story. This Advent, we'll share the gift of stories with one another. We'll practice the sacred work of listening, and we'll live out the charge "go tell it!" As the old song....
"I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love.
I love to tell the story because I know it's true;
it satisfies my longings as nothing else can do.
I love to tell the story; 'twill be my theme in glory
to tell the old, old story, of Jesus and his love."
Let's start the season of storytelling together.
I can't wait to hear yours!
Pastor Lea
Pilate asked Jesus, “So you are a king?” - John 18:37
Friends,
On the last Sunday of the Christian year, right before the beginning of Advent, we celebrate "The Reign of Christ", also known as Christ the King Sunday. It has an interesting history. In 1920s Italy, Pope Pius XI was concerned about the rise of a narrow nationalism and fascism at home and abroad, and he wanted to mark a day for the church to emphasize that, as Christians, our primary loyalty is not to a political party, or any leader, or even our nation, but to Jesus Christ.
Jesus is king! So Caesar isn't.
Jesus is our ruler! Not Mussolini or any other petty tyrant.
This is also the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Despite everything going on, we have a lot to be grateful for. In our current context, gratitude is a counter-cultural emotion. But as Rabbi Heschel once wrote, "It is gratefulness that makes the soul great.'
With gratitude,
K
PS: As an expression of gratefulness to God, we invite you to make a pledge this week for 2025. Either bring your pledge card to church, or use the one in your bulletin, or just use this handy link: 2025 "Love in Action" Pledge Campaign
"This is but the beginning of the birth pangs." - Mark 13:8
Friends,
Birth pangs are a frequently used motif in the apocalyptic imagery that was common in Jesus's Jewish tradition. As someone who physically birthed two humans from my womb, I know a thing or two about birth pangs. One of the things I learned through my labor and delivery experiences is that fear-based resistance intensifies pain and draws out the process in dangerous and unhealthy ways.
We've been talking and singing about the importance of resistance, of holy resistance, in recent days.
We resist, we refuse to let hatred in
We rise up, we won't back down
We're in this 'til the end
A big question for me right now is, how do we keep our resistance holy, rooted in love, rather than fear, when there's a lot to feel afraid of and for right now?
Let's reflect on that together Sunday morning.
See you there,
Pastor Andrea
Jesus said to them, “Truly, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury..." Mark 12:43
Friends,
The gospel story of the woman giving her last two coins to the temple treasury leaves me with some questions. Jesus notices the woman's generosity, but does he actually approve of her contributing so sacrificially? And why does this widow, offered so little protection by religious or secular law, want to support a system that ignores her and her needs?
John Wesley famously offered this advice about the use of money: "Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can." But he elaborates: give all you can only after taking care of your, or your family's, essential needs.
St Augustine says something similar: "From what God has given you, take only what you need. The rest is needed by others. The superfluities of the wealthy are the necessities of the poor."
This Christian idea of money is countercultural, in light of the values of today!
Join us Sunday, and let's think through the ways we are meant to use our finances for the greater good.
See you then,
K
Please join us for a moment of prayer, offered by Pastor Andrea Steinkamp (from the November 10, 2024 service).
"You shall love God with all your heart... and your neighbor as yourself." Mark 12:30-31
Friends,
Jesus is clear. These are the greatest commandments, and they work together. You can't love God without loving your neighbor, and that requires loving yourself as well. But how many of us are good at all three?
As we approach a challenging election, let's work on this triple-threat of love.
With LOVE,
K
Please join Pastor Ekama Eni in a moment of prayer (from the October 27, 2024 service).
We know that from the beginning until now, all of creation has been groaning in one great act of giving birth. – Romans 8:22
Friends,
This week we’re continuing our pre-election sermon series, The Uncommon Good, which is inspired by the work of Yale University professor of Theology and director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture, Miroslav Volf, and his book, A Public Faith. During these weeks of pre-election angst and anxiety and messiness, we are exploring what it means to live out a public faith in troubled times. We’re tackling the topic of human flourishing this week, and as I’ve thought about what we might explore together this morning, the question that keeps coming to mind is, How should we think about human flourishing while living in apocalyptic times? The only thing I’ve landed on with certainty is that thinking about human flourishing apart from the flourishing of the natural world is a dead-end street.
Perhaps that’s because in recent weeks we’ve borne witness to the destructiveness of climate-change fueled superstorms that behave in ways heretofore unimaginable, touching parts of our landscape thought to be out of the way of their impacts. Perhaps it’s because it’s late October and the stretch of 80-degree temperatures and abundant sunshine we’ve been experiencing here in NYC, while lovely, is also unsettling, because it’s so unnatural.
Despite the tendency of western thought and our western Christian tradition to set humans over and above the natural world, engaging with it only as an object to be exploited for our good, in Paul’s letter to the Romans, there are hints that another understanding might have grounded the life and animated the faith of the earliest Christian communities.
Pastor Andrea
Please join seminary intern Aurora Celestin in a moment of prayer (from the October 20, 2024 service).
"Whoever wishes to become great among you must be a servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be servant of all." Mark 10:43
Why are we here? That's a question I ask myself every now and then. Maybe more now than then, given the strange and troubling political climate of this moment.
Jesus is troubled when his disciples were arguing about who among them was the greatest. Jesus tells them they've totally missed the point. Greatness, says Jesus, comes when you are 'last of all and servant of all'.
Jesus is clear. Why are we here? To serve the needs of the people. Or, as Benz reminded us last Sunday afternoon, to 'treat the people's needs as holy.' If we as a nation could learn to treat the needs of people as holy, America would be great, indeed.
See you Sunday,
K
Friends,
"Who are you?," is one of those big existential questions that I think faces all of us. On the most basic level, our names are the first ever introduction we get to most relationships. From emails, to texts, to perhaps even being yelled at in a crowded spaces, our names and what we call ourselves shapes deeply how other people interact with us.
For the most part, we as a community call ourselves Christians. But in a world where our practices and liturgies and even names under that umbrella differ greatly, how can we even hold that umbrella? So much of the dominant imagination of who Christians are and what Christianity is has been centered on this very rightwing, rigid and troubling image that for so many of us does not feel true to our practice and experience. So what does it mean to share a name with people who are so different from us?
As we continue our sermon series on the Uncommon Good in the lead up to the US elections, this week we'll be reflecting and dreaming on who we are, and perhaps who we could be as we try to navigate this world together looking at the names and identities we carry, and how they shape our relationships to one another, the world and perhaps even to God.
Until then,
Pastor Ekama
Please join Pastor Lea Matthews for a moment of prayer (from the October 13, 2024 service).
God said to Noah, “This rainbow is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all the animals that are on the earth.” Genesis 9:17
This Sunday, in honor of the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, we will celebrate a Blessing of the Animals during our 11am service. It's a rare Sunday when we are not joined by a furry friend or two, but we hope this week to have many!
On the Sundays between now and Election Day, our theme will be 'The (Un)Common Good'. We will explore together a public theology of engaged compassion to help us overcome a culture of cynical complacency and the normalization of discord in our discourse.
Let's look to the compassion of St Francis to inspire our relationship to the animals in our lives, and our deep connection to the precious earth we share with each other and with all living creatures. And please bring your dogs, cats, goldfish, iguanas, hamsters, turtles, and anything you got!
See you Sunday!
K
"Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of prayer and praise." James 5:13
We have reached the fifth and last part of our sermon series on the Joy of James, and find, in this final chapter of James, that the answer to everything is - wait for it - prayer!!
Are you sick or suffering? Pray! Are you happy, full of joy? Pray!
This might strike us as weird, since, in the whole rest of the letter, the writer of James has been moving us to action. 'Faith without works is dead!' and 'You must be doers of the Word, and not just hearers!' James is about putting love into action. What's prayer got to do with it?
The answer, of course, is everything. For James, prayer is the ultimate action, since prayer seeks to put our will in alignment with the will of God. Without that, our actions are meaningless.
So come on Sunday, and let's pray!
K
"For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:14b
Friends,
As I've been prepping for Sunday, my brain keeps transporting me back to the Intermediate Hebrew class I took during seminary. Perhaps a strange place to be, since we aren't working with any Hebrew Bible texts this week? Rather, we're back in the New Testament, with the epistle of James (and a visit to the Gospel of Mark), for the fourth segment in our September series: The Joy of James.
James's brief allusion to the fleetingness, the transitoriness of human life using the metaphor of mist can be traced to the Jewish scriptural tradition from which he and Jesus came, all the way back to the book of Genesis and the birth of the first sibling, Abel (ָ֑הָ֑בֶל(, whose name comes from the Hebrew root hevel, meaning, you guessed it, mist. In this week's text, James points pretty bluntly to the truth of the human experience we spend most of our lives trying to outrun, or protect ourselves from, or pretend doesn't exist - human life ends and is ending. Always. Where's the joy in that, you might be wondering?
Don't despair friends, James doesn't leave us hanging. He also offers insight into how to live lives of hope, meaning and connection amid this reality.
Let's gather together Sunday morning and see what more he has to say.
See you there,
Pastor Andrea
Please join Sally Rausch (St. Paul & St. Andrew Seminary Intern) for a moment of prayer (from the September 22, 2024 service).
"And the fruit of justice is sown in peace by those who make peace." James 3:18
Friends,
How much peace have you made this week? What does it even mean to 'make peace'?
In the literal sense of the phrase, James is telling us that peace can be manufactured, constructed. But how? By actively doing peace, through how we interact with the world around us, with people. And, significantly, through the way we speak.
Last week, Pastor Lea reminded us that our faith is a practice, marked by the way we act it out in real life. This week, as we continue our journey through the Letter of James, we will focus on the words we say, and what we don't say, often in situations of conflict.
Let's get together and see if we can make some more peace.
K
Please join Pastor Lea Matthews in a moment of prayer (from the September 15, 2024 service).
Remember Walkmans?
Remember cassette tapes?
Well in that same era, I have a distinct memory of "borrowing" my mother's Jane Fonda workout tape and putting it into my walkman. I set off on a walk. The design of this particular workout was to support you on a walk, giving you guidance and encouragement along the route as you listened to the music. So you'd bop along to the groove and every once in a while, Jane would pop on and say, "Try to push from the back leg as you walk to propel you forward." Or she'd suggest lengthening your stride after walking for a time.
I still think of her advice when I'm walking "with purpose." Her tips made an actual difference. They turned a casual and absentminded stroll into an intentional series of movements and stretches.
This Sunday, we come to a portion of the Epistle of James that tries to figure out what differentiates a living faith from a dead faith. The writer believes that it has a lot to do with how it's worked out, how active it is, how intentional, used, and lived in it is. Maybe reflecting on it together can help stretch our faith a bit, reminding us that faith is something we do, not something we have.
In Faith,
Pastor Lea
Please join Aurora Celestin in a moment of prayer (from the September 8, 2024 service).
"Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves." James 1:22
Don't just listen, do something! That could sum up the message behind the Epistle of James.
For the five weeks of September, Lea, Andrea and I are taking a deep dive into James, one of the most interesting books in the Bible.
Our theme is The Joy of James. Not a bad title, but there is a lot more to James than simple joy. This week, we'll delve into what it might mean to be doers of the word. How do we do God's word? Let's find out together.
See you Sunday,
K
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom else can we go? You have the words of eternal life..." John 6:68
This week's lectionary serves up some strange passages. The Gospel reading begins with Jesus saying, "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them." Just because we affirm this, do this, each communion Sunday doesn't quite remove the 'Ewww!' factor in this passage!
All religions include things that seem a bit weird from the outside, and sometimes from the inside as well. Delightfully strange, maybe, but strange. And this statement by Jesus evidently seemed weird from the get-go. So weird, that some who were following Jesus said, 'No thanks, we'll pass.'
But for me the poignant part of the passage comes at the end. When Jesus asks the 12 disciples who are still left, "Do you also wish to go away?" Peter responds, 'Where else could we go? Where else would we be?' And after a lifetime of celebrating and struggling with the teachings of Jesus, I have to agree.
See you here this Sunday. Where else would we be?
Love,
K
Have you ever had to be a bearer of bad news? How did you feel or what did you do to prepare to give someone a word that you knew was going to be hard? Have you had to lay someone off? Deliver the news of someone’s passing for the first time? Cancel an important trip or meeting? In a world that is ending* it seems like passing on bad news is so much of what we do and share as a community.
In our Hebrew scriptures this week we’re airdropped into the perpetual family drama (and the results of questionable parenting) of the one and only, King David. As death-dealing shenanigans ensue, King David receives some bad news. But also it’s perhaps good news for his political life? Good news isn’t good to everyone, so how can we grapple with that? How do David and his court advisors grapple with this? The messenger of the news in the text for this week is an unnamed Cushite. Join me on Sunday as we name this unnamed bringer of news, a Cushite person, and we journey through the news that surrounds us and how it is proclaimed in our midst.
See you soon,
Pastor E
"...but speaking truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ..." - Ephesians 4:15
Friends,
Who's been watching the Olympics this week? I confess, I've missed most of it so far, except for a few of the preliminary events in women's gymnastics. (Can we talk about Simone Biles and what a role model she is, not just because she is a tremendously gifted athlete, but for the ways she demonstrates self-awareness and emotional intelligence and how she models a commitment to self-care in the face of unimaginable expectations. I want to be like her when I grow up!)
What I haven't missed, is all the discourse around the opening ceremonies and the performance of drag artists around a long table that many in the Christian community incorrectly assumed was a depiction of the Last Supper. The moral outrage that followed was swift and intense.
Come Sunday, we are going to explore a couple of scriptures together, one from 2nd Samuel in the Hebrew bible and one from Ephesians in the New Testament, both of which have a thing or two to speak into this moment. I love it when the lectionary cooperates like this!
We'll also stage our own re-creation of the Last Supper as we celebrate communion, sharing the bread of life and cup of salvation and offering all who hunger and thirst for God's love and justice a place at the table.
See you there, either in the sanctuary or online!
Peace and love,
Pastor Andrea
"A large crowd kept following Jesus, because they saw the miracles that he was doing..." John 6:2
What is a miracle?
I don't know how I feel about miracles. On the one hand, I feel like most things that happen have a simple, logical explanation. On the other, I can't picture moving through life without a constant feeling of wonder! How amazing life really is!
I don't need to witness miracles to believe and follow Jesus. But somehow, when I follow in faith, I see miracles all over the place.
Let's worship together this Sunday. And between now and then, see what miracles pop up in your path.
With love,
K
Friends,
What a week! I don't know about you, but I think I'm all about tired of saying and feeling this. Continued political strife and violence, failing infrastructure at the hands of our inability to be good stewards of our resources, it's too darn hot/wet/windy...and on and on.
I won't lie saints, as I've been juggling multiple jobs and responsibilities, keeping up with my friends and family and you all, trying to stay healthy, paying attention to the musings of our world, it feels a little fraught to say, well, God wants you to rest! Like, girl yes, we know that but how can we?
In our Hebrew Bible passage this morning, King David gets some reprieve from his enemies, thanks to an assist from God. Must be nice, to be surrounded by powers and principalities and God taking one for you. Have you ever experienced having enemies? I know I have...
This week, I'll (re)introduce us to some of our enemies and perhaps we can explore some of the ways we can gain some reprieve from some of them, perhaps with Jesus's help.
Speaking of reprieve, it seems like it'll be a little bit cooler this morning, so we can take that as a win in the midst of heatwaves. Looking forward to being with you all, in all the ways we get to be together. I think there'll be mini cupcakes after worship...
-Pastor Ekama
"Immediately Salome rushed back to the king and requested, 'I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.' " Mark 6
Sometimes the truth hurts. How often do you avoid saying something, even when something needs to be said, because you don't want to risk a friendship, a work situation, a family relationship?
John the Baptist, famously, has trouble keeping his mouth shut. He calls things the way he sees them. He speaks the truth, even when the truth might hurt. It certainly ends up hurting him!
In our contentious political, religious and cultural climate, how do we speak truth in a way it can be heard? How do we call out a racist, sexist, homophobic, comment or action in a way that adds to the amount of love and justice in the world? That's what John's story is making me think about.
Join us Sunday, in person or on livestream.
K
"When Jesus sent out the disciples, he ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics." Mark 6:8-9
Friends,
If you are like me, you are carrying a lot right now. A lot of anxiety about the state of our nation. Concern for those in the path of war and violence. Stress about our planet, as a warming climate threatens more and more dramatic weather events. Money worries, health worries, worries about loved ones.
When Jesus sends the 12 out on their journeys, two by two, he has this word for them: 'Travel lightly.' He knows what they are each carrying. But he asks them to focus on the task ahead, and the people in their care.
That might be a good word for us, at this point in our lives!
See you Sunday,
K
Friends,
This Sunday is a high holy day for us-- It's Pride! We have so much to look forward to in worship. The choir and Frank Glass will bring us three pieces. We'll be gifted with the musical talents of Phil Hall. We'll get to hear from three community members, Chiara Bosco, Rachel Black, and Savannah Ritz, as they share their tiny testimonials. And we'll reflect together about how being in relationship with queerness blesses us, grows us, and connects us to transformative possibilities. Wear your Pride gear, dress for the heat, and if you're gonna march with us, wear comfortable shoes and bring water.
At 12:15pm, we'll leave the church and make our way to the West Village, where we'll join the Queer Liberation March. Our meet-up place down there is at the intersection of Bleeker and Barrow, right in front of the Five Guys. You can meet us there at 12:45pm. Others from our Parish Cooperative will join us, too.
You don't want to miss it.
Happy Pride!
❤️🧡🌈💛💚🌈💙💜🌈🤎🖤🌈
Love,
Pastor Lea
"So David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor Saul had clothed him with, and David tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, 'I cannot walk with these, for I am not used to them.'” - 1 Samuel 17:39
The best part of the whole David vs. Goliath story is this scene where the young shepherd boy David tries to fit into Saul's armor and carry Saul's equipment, and then tries to go off to meet Goliath - and finds he can barely move.
How often do we get placed into situations and expectations that are just not us? And how hard it is, then, to know and claim who we really are!
David is not some great warrior. He's a scrappy kid with attitude. And, luckily, enough confidence to be able to say to the King of Israel, 'Yo, that's just not me. I'll tackle this situation and deal with this bully in my own way.'
Let's hope we can continue, as a church and as individual Jesus-followers, to have the courage to do things in the quirky way that works best for us!
K
Metropolitan Horn Authority (Heather Ewer, tuba; Peter DelGrosso, Ser Konvalin, & Cort Roberts, horns) perform Peter DelGrosso arrangement of "This Little Light of Mine" at the June 16, 2024 service.
Metropolitan Horn Authority (Peter DelGrosso, piano; Heather Ewer, tuba; Ser Konvalin & Cort Roberts, horns) perform Peter DelGrosso's "Red Bird: For My Dad" at the June 16, 2024 service.
'Then Nehemiah said to the people, "Come, let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem." ' Nehemiah 2:17
Friends,
Sunday will be special! First, it's the 'official' kickoff to our Capital Campaign to 'rebuild the walls' (and, more particularly the roof!) of St. Paul & St. Andrew. We will be working on this campaign for the next 18 months, so it's a big deal. Hopefully, the work we do together will enable this place to stand for years and years to come. Now is the time!
Second, we are celebrating the many, many volunteers who make the work of this place happen. So, if you help out in any way around here, please come and be thanked and blessed!
Our brassy friends from the Manhattan Horn Authority will be here to help celebrate (our house band, as it were). And after worship, please plan to stay for a short (we promise!) 'Town Hall' to hear about plans for the capital campaign and renovations.
Love you,
K
I have a notoriously substandard sense of direction. This always distresses my dad, a Navy submariner who is gifted with an internal GPS. He used to say that I couldn’t find my way out of a paper bag. And while jokingly extreme, he isn’t wrong. I can so easily get turned around. I end up wondering a fair amount of time, “Which way is up?” “Where’s North?” I have learned, over the years, to go from there with greater ease. If I’ve got North, I can go from there.
This Sunday, we’ll think about which way we’re going as a faith community and how we stay on course. It’s all too easy to get turned around and the path is often obscured. We’ll consider together, guided by the Spirit, “What’s our North Star?”
After worship, our Souls & Solidarity team will facilitate a time of learning and sharing on that same theme. We’ll have some refreshments to tide us over so we can stick around for a bit. We hope you’ll join us!
In love and solidarity,
Pastor Lea
“Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.” - Jalaluddin Rumi
As Julia Tulloch so cleverly put it last week, we are no longer mere Easter People, but Pentecost People. And as we continue to think about how the Holy Spirit came down to the apostles, fired up their tongues and motivated them out of their stagnation, we must think about how we too are called out of ourselves to use our voices. But with a divine call comes a lot of responsibility.
This week, we consider the power of our words. As the Rumi quote reminds us, it is the substance of our words rather than the volume of our voices that can change the world for the better…or devastate it. In our tongues, we have the power to heal and harm. Even Jesus navigated this power in sometimes messy ways. His rough interaction in Mark 7 with the Syrophoenician woman seeking his help to heal her daughter reminds us of the power of words to cut people down, and the power of marginalized voices to resist the status quo.
Like Jesus, we too can learn from the Syrophoenician woman. We, too, can raise our words and speak truth to power.
See you Sunday,
Aurora
Rev. Lea Matthews & Rev. Jenna Johnson
"The Devil of Distraction"
Today's Reading
Matthew 4: 1-11
Rev. K Karpen
"Listening for the Voice"
Transfiguration Sunday
Today's Reading
Matthew 17:1-9
Rev. Lea Matthews
"Finding Center"
Sixth Sunday After Epiphany
Today's Reading
Matthew 7:24-29
Rev. K Karpen
"Be a Light!"
Fifth Sunday After Epiphany
Today's Reading
Matthew 5: 13-20
Rev. K Karpen
"Never Lost"
Third Sunday After Epiphany
Today's Reading
Matthew 4: 12-23
Julia Tulloch and Rev. Lea Matthews
"What are you searching for?"
Second Sunday in Epiphany
Today's Reading
John 1: 29-42
Rev. Jenna Johnson
"Hurricane in Bethlehem"
Christmas Sunday
Today's Reading
Matthew 2:13-20
Rev. Lea Matthews preaching
"Tell It"
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Today's Readings
Sonnet, Trinity 18 by Madeline L'Engle
Matthew 1:18-24
Rev. K Karpen preaching
"Coming from the Wilderness"
Second Sunday of Advent
Today's Reading
Matthew 3:1-12
Rev. K Karpen preaching
"The Genesis of Jesus"
First Sunday of Advent
Today's Readings
2 Timothy 1:1-7
"Everyone Has a Name" by Zelda
Matthew 1:1-17
"A Muslim Perspective on Gratitude" Dr. Debbie Almontaser
Introduction by Rev. K Karpen
Interfaith Community Thanksgiving Eve Service
Carter Snyder-Samuelson preaching
"Beyond Gratitude: Moving Gratefully to Something New"
Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Today's Scripture Readings
Isaiah 11:1-6
Luke 1:68-79
Rev. K Karpen preaching
"The Other Side of Gratitude"
Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost
Gospel Reading - Luke 21: 5-19
Rev. Lea Matthews preaching
"The Lesser Thanksgiving"
Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Reading - Philippians 4:4-7
Dan Freda offers a Mission Minute in preparation for the "Every Member Counts" Campaign.
Rev. Lea Matthews preaching
"What's so great about thanksgiving"
All-Saints Sunday
Gospel Reading - Luke 14:15-23
Rev. K Karpen preaching
"You Gotta Have Heart"
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Gospel Reading - Luke 18:1-7
Rev. Lea Matthews preaching
"Saved Again"
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Gospel Reading - Luke 17:11-19
Rev. K Karpen preaching
"Collective Salvation: Saved Together by Faith"
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Gospel Reading - Luke 17: 5-6
Rev. K Karpen preaching
"Sweet Salvation: Saved from Ourselves"
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Gospel Reading - Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Rev. Lea Matthews preaching
"The Lost Lament"
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Reading - Psalm 79
Rev. K Karpen preaching
"Following the One Who Follows Us"
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Gospel Reading - Luke 15:1-10
Minister of Music Frank Glass with his thoughts on the hymn "And Are We Yet Alive" by Charles Wesley.
Rev. Jenna Johnson preaching
"The Unboxed Spirit"
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture: James 2:14-18
Minister of Music Frank Glass with background on the hymn "Whether the Word Be Preached or Read" by Charles Wesley.
Rev. Lea Matthews preaching
"Sin-Sick Soul"
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture: Genesis 3:22-4:7 (read by Jessie Floyd)
Scripture: Genesis 4:8-16 (read by Rev. Lea Matthews)
Minister of Music Frank Glass with background on the hymn "Depth of Mercy" by Charles Wesley.
Rev. Lea Matthews preaching
"Love Out Loud"
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture: 1 John 4:16-21
Minister of Music Frank Glass with background on the hymn "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" by Charles Wesley.
Minister of Music Frank Glass with background on the hymn "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing" by Charles Wesley.
Rev. Lea Matthews preaching
"Singing the Story"
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Gospel: Luke 4:17-20
Tim Bosco preaching
"Methodists and Michael's"
Second Sunday after Pentecost (Youth Sunday)
K Karpen preaching
"Adopted by the Spirit!"
First Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture Reading: Romans 8:14-21
Read by Jon Deak
K Karpen preaching
"Things Are Looking Up"
Ascension Sunday
Gospel Reading: Luke 24:44-53
Jenna Johnson preaching
"Overflowing Love"
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Gospel Reading: John 14:23-28
Stations of the Cross: Reading 4
Mark 15:27-32 "Two criminals are crucified with Jesus"
Reading & Reflection by Tessa McBrayer
Stations of the Cross: Reading 1
Mark 15:21 "Simon of Cyrene carries the cross for Jesus"
Reading & Reflection by Susan Cushman
Stations of the Cross: Reading 6
Mark 15: 37-39 "Jesus breathes his last, and a centurion speaks"
Reading & Reflection by Ressie Mae Bass
Stations of the Cross: Reading 3
Mark 15:24-26 "Jesus is hung on a cross"
Reading & Reflection by Debora Barrios
Stations of the Cross: Reading 7
Mark 15:40-41 "Women attend to Jesus."
Reading & Reflection by Jessie Floyd
Stations of the Cross: Reading 1
Mark 15:33-36 "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?"
Reading & Reflection by Dorothee Benz
Stations of the Cross: Final Reading
Mark 15: 42-47 "The body of Jesus is laid in a tomb as the women watch."
Reading by Carla Mikell
Stations of the Cross: Reading 2
Mark 15:22-23 "Jesus is offered wine and myrrh"
Reading & Reflection by John James
Rev. Dr. K Karpen & Rev. Lea Matthews preaching - "Dueling Palm Perspectives: Disciples v. The Crowd"
Palm Sunday
Rev. Dr. K Karpen preaching - "Shamed and Flamed; Unnamed, but Famed"
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Youth Director Jenna Johnson preaching - "Coming Back Is Not the Same As Never Leaving"
Melanie Baker (violin) & Jenn Chang (viola) play 'Rondo' from "Duo in G Major for Violin and Viola" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The Rev. K Karpen preaching - "Rolling Up the Scroll" and Aurora & Jessie sharing reflections
Julia Tulloch, Board of Trustees president, and Nancy Meyers, Church Council chair leading
NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, you may need to turn your volume all the way up this week.
Seminary intern Cassie Hartnett leading
NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, you may need to turn your volume all the way up this week.
Gospel lesson from Luke 24:36-48 Testimonies from Mark Duffy & Carla Mikell The Rev. Lea Matthews preaching - "Can I Get a Witness?"
The Rev. George McClain, executive director emeritus, Methodist Federation for Social Action preaching
World AIDS Sunday reflections from the Rev. Lea Matthews, Dr. Frank Glass, Charlotte Patton
Rev. K. Karpen preaching - "In This Together" Testimonies by AJ Bosco, Gloria Jean Roberts, and Gregory Miller
Summer Intern Jonathan Lee preaching - "How to Find Leveled Ridges and Mantled Valleys"