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Holding On or Letting Go

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The occurrence of change is probably the only thing in life that is constant. The universe is an inherently chaotic place.  Today's Texts: Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 and John 8: 1-8 By Marty Smith Lives can change in an instant. Just ask the people of Paris. At least 129 innocent people killed; 352 injured. People who were just going about the business of living their ordinary lives. The city is essentially shut down; the county’s borders are closed. Everyone’s life is disrupted. The restaurant and concert hall attacks occurred in an area of Paris I visited a couple of years ago – the Pla...
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Council minutes for Nov. 10, 2015

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PRESENT: Jacy Boldebuck (Presiding), Phil Haslanger (Pastor), Rebecca Malke (Director of Faith Development), John VanOverbeke (Financial Secretary), Shirley Robbins (member), Betsy Robbins, Jan Klawitter, Janine Bessemer, Jeanne Prueher, Sarah Fritz ABSENT: Damon Smith, Josh Gormley Pastor Phil opened the meeting with prayer. MINUTES: Jacy Boldebuck asked for approval of the minutes from the last council meeting, held October 13, 2015. Betsy Robbins made the motion to approve the minutes, which was seconded by Janine Bessemer and passed. Shirley Robbins reported that Church Women U...
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Stay in place, make a difference

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We can feel in exile in our neighborhoods. Small acts in response can make a difference. So can confronting the larger forces in our world that exile us from each other. Today's texts: Jeremiah 29 selections and Mark 12: 38-44 Our parish nurse, Mary Icrink, told a story this week that I think captures the spirit of both scripture readings that we heard today – the call of Jeremiah for exiles to make a home in the midst of their displacement, the image of Jesus sitting in the temple watching how people were using their resources. Mary lives in one of the neighborhoods off of Raymon...
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November – Gift of Self Care

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By Mary Ircink, parish nurse “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:7 Many of us look forward to celebrating the holidays.  However, the holidays can also bring added stress to our already stressed lives as we carry out traditions, make a large meal, attend events, make travel arrangements, or find that “perfect” gift. There are some ways that might be helpful in relieving the stress that comes during this time of year.  Try to keep your basic life patterns as normal as possible during what can ...
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Council minutes for Oct. 13, 2015

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  Draft minutes PRESENT:  Josh Gormley (Council President), Phil Haslanger (Pastor), Rebecca Malke (Director of Faith Formation), Janine Bessemer, Jacy Boldebuck, Sarah Fritz, Jan Klawitter, Betsy Robbins, Damon Smith ABSENT:  Jeanne Prueher and John Van Overbeke (Financial Secretary) Pastor Phil opened the meeting with a prayer of thanks for the beauty that surrounds us.   Jonathan Schroerlucke (Music Director) thanked the Council members and said it is great to be at Memorial United Church of Christ.  Choir is up and running and he is working on selecting music for Advent an...
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Disciples Who Love

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The disciples - they were serious followers of Jesus, the ones who made big changes in their lives, the ones who would be the foundations for the Jesus movement. And how do we fit into that vision? Today's texts: Deuteronomy 6:1-9 and Mark 12:28-34 It was in China in 1989 that the world watched in horror as tanks rolled over protesting students in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, as soldiers fired on the protesting students in Beijing and elsewhere in the country, as people fled for their lives after weeks of protests. The death toll for the protesters is not clear. It varies widely f...
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Be Not Afraid

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Fear can be incredibly destructive if we let it take control of our lives. It can paralyze us, it can isolate us, it can turn us against one another. Text for today: Psalm 34: 1-8 and Mark 10: 46-52  Welcome the season of Halloween, to the weeks of horror movies - those movies that capitalize on and profit from what seems to be the desire of a lot humans to have the bejesus scared out of them. There is a new movie based on a classic kids series - Goosebumps. There are classics of the genre -Dracula. This year we’ve got Crimson Peak with monsters emerging in a gothic mansion in ...
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Speaking Up, Reaching Out

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Job felt abandoned by God. Imagine how that is like a victim of domestic violence. Jesus' followers were after power. Imagine how that is like a perpetrator of domestic violence. So how can followers of Jesus provide safety and change the culture around family violence? Texts - Selections from the Book of Job and Mark 10: 35-45 We’re going to start this morning with one minute of some pretty tough comments from women who have experienced domestic violence. These women are from the Baraboo area and Hope House of South Central Wisconsin has worked with them to turn them from victims in...
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Sharing Bread

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  Sara Miles story offers a glimpse of the power of what can happen we we share bread and wine. Today's texts - Psalm 26 and John 6: 24-35 It was a winter morning when Sara Miles went out for a walk. Taking a walk was nothing unusual for her. Walking past St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco, a wooden building with shingled steeples and plain windows, was nothing new. She had passed it before. But on this day, she randomly decided to go inside to see what they did in there. “I had no earthly reason to be there,” she would write later. “I’d never heard ...
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Council Minutes for Sept. 8, 2015

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Draft minutes Present: Josh Gormley, Betsy Robbins, Jeanne Prueher, Sarah Fritz, Jan Klawitter, Janine Bessemer, Phil Haslanger (Pastor), Rebecca Malke (Dir. Faith Development) Absent: Jacy Boldebuck, Damon Smith Pastor Phil opened the meeting with a prayer by Walter Brueggemann from “Prayers for a Privileged People”. The minutes of the August 2015 meeting were approved after motion from Jan Klawitter, which was seconded by Sarah Fritz. Financial Report: Financial report for the month was not available at time of meeting. It will be available in a few days. Pastor’s Report: P...
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