“If you’ve ever been hurt by church, we want to offer healing through Love!”

Since 1985, the United Church of Christ (UCC) General Synod, has encouraged UCC congregations to “Declare Themselves Open and Affirming.” The UCC General Synod does not tell churches how to hire a pastor for example or that they have to be Open and Affirming (ONA); it is totally up to each congregation to make that decision. At present, there are more than 1800 ONA UCC churches. (See https://openandaffirming.org/about/history/ for more UCC ONA history.)

The Open and Affirming Coalition of the United Church of Christ, encourages, promotes and celebrates ONA Sunday every year in June. In 2024, that Sunday happens to be June 30. The coalition says ONA Sunday is a chance to celebrate and recommit to doing the hard work of intentionally unlearning our biases and working through our own issues to make sure we don't bring trauma and harm to the LGBTQ+ community. It is also important to publicly declare being an ONA congregation because, “LGBTQ+ people of faith often experience emotional and spiritual injury in churches that condemn their capacity to love and seek love. Because many have learned the hard way that ‘All Are Welcome’ usually doesn’t apply to them, LGBTQ+ folks can’t assume that every church will be safe for them and their families. (https://openandaffirming.org/ona/why/)

The UCC Open and Affirming Coalition states that, “All sacraments and rites of an ONA congregation are available to LGBTQ+ people, including baptism, confirmation, communion, and marriage. ONA churches take seriously the Bible’s admonition to ‘accept one another, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.’” (Romans 15:7, NIV)

Black Forest Community Church became an Open and Affirming Church of the United Church of Christ, in 2017.

The congregation and how we live into being an ONA church has changed in the past six years. Flags with rainbows and our messages of welcome are hung on the church walls inside and out; we participate in the Colorado Springs PrideFest Parade, we have signs on our doors and windows that declare we are a safe space for our LBGTQ+ community, our new outdoor sign has a rainbow on it, and we plan and hold classes teaching about pronouns, gender identity and more.

We have also learned through the years about the importance and significance of saying we are an open and affirming congregation instead of just being welcoming to all.

We are of course welcoming, after all, it says so on our welcoming/ONA statement and on our certificate. (Check out our statement: https://www.blackforestcommunitychurch.org/#new-page). Obviously, it is our desire and hope that we will be a church that is welcoming to everyone who walks through our doors; however, there is definitely a difference between the two.

In June 2023, we asked Reverend Candace Woods to talk to us about the difference of saying ONA instead of just welcoming. She said, “Churches like to say everyone is welcome, but very often that welcome comes with a lot of conditions and buts. The message is clear though that you're not good enough, you're going to have to get out of your loving relationship and you're expected to renounce your identity. That has been part of the history and that's why saying you're Open and Affirming is a deliberant stance that declares we are not going to just say that you're welcome here; we are saying we see you, we affirm you in your identities, we are going to officiate your weddings, we are going to baptize your children, we are willing to have conversations with you about pronouns, gender and sexuality. We are going to ordain you. We welcome you with no buts.” 

Reverend Woods said, “In a perfect world, we would be able to just say, everyone is welcome, but we don’t live in a perfect world, and there are historically excluded communities to which we have to say an intentional, yes. We intentionally say, this means you, you are God's beloved, we affirm you in all of your glory and goodness.”

BFCC is the only ONA church in Northern El Paso County, Colorado. We will continue to strive to live into our mission at BFCC which is to Serve God, With Our Whole Heart. Love, With No Exceptions, and Create Sanctuary, For All People, On Earth as it is in Heaven. And that means not only being welcoming to all, but also continuing to say every Sunday with conviction....” Welcome to Black Forest Community Church, an Open and Affirming Church of the United Church of Christ.” 

Why Being Open and Affirming Matters by Reverend Shelly Wilson

In the Pride parade this year, our church’s presence was kicked up a notch by our resident DJ, Levi Murray. Not only did he bring his superlative speaker system so that everyone on the parade route got the uplift of the familiar LGBTQIA+ anthems as our colorful trailer rolled by, but over the mic, he preached a little to the crowd, too. In a good way. The message rang and echoed off the buildings and swirled around the people: “If you’ve ever been hurt by church, we want to offer healing through Love!” Along with our joyful waving, flags, galloping stick unicorn, and social justice Barbies, his message of affirmation rang out and showed on the faces of the crowd. Shouts, dancing, waves, and thumbs up followed. In a world where a verbal welcome in a house of worship may be offered, but a tricky judgment may follow, an Open and Affirming Church can offer healing and new life for all of us! 

Theologically, it only makes sense. To affirm a creation and Creator filled with boundless variety and beauty is to affirm the beauty of a community’s diversity. If our theology teaches that the Spirit is unlimited, then we seek to overcome the limits of our own prejudices and binary thinking. When we understand God as trans*cendent, then we can look beyond the edges of our biases and approach one another with acceptance, active listening, and celebration of everyone’s gifts and graces.  It is a blessing and a joy to learn Love’s nuances and to be touched by all the gifts brought to the community. Love is Love.  

What does it mean to be Open and Affirming vs Welcoming; they're the same aren't they?

Even though pride month is officially over, the parades have been marched in, the festivities participated in and the Mom hugs given, Black Forest Community Church will continue to lean into being an Open and Affirming Church of the United Church of Christ, seven days a week, 365 days a year! 

In 1985, the United Church of Christ (UCC) General Synod urged UCC congregations to “Declare Themselves Open and Affirming.” The UCC General Synod does not tell churches how to hire a pastor for example or that they have to be Open and Affirming (ONA); it is totally up to each congregation to make that decision. At present, there are 1800 ONA UCC churches. Black Forest Community Church (BFCC), became an ONA congregation in 2017. (See https://openandaffirming.org/about/history/ for more UCC ONA history.)

BFCC went through months of classes, education, hard questions and deep conversations before being presented our ONA certificate. We also wrote our own ONA statement; a commitment and promise to our LGBTQ+ community that we are who we say we are and what we believe.

The congregation and how we live into being an ONA church has changed in the past six years. Flags with rainbows and our messages of welcome have been bought and flown; we have participated in the Colorado Springs PrideFest Parades, we have carried our church flag with the rainbow in the Black Forest Festival parade; we have signs on our doors and windows that declare we are a safe space for our LBGTQ+ community, our website says we are “gay friendly, family friendly,” we have a new outdoor sign with the rainbow on it and we have held classes teaching us about pronouns and gender identity.

Sometimes though, we still get asked, why is it so important to say we are ONA every Sunday; why can’t we just say we are welcoming to all, which to be honest, this particular church community is, just for the record. 

We are of course welcoming, after all, it says so on our welcoming/ONA statement and on our certificate. (Check out our statement: https://www.blackforestcommunitychurch.org/#new-page). Obviously, it is our desire and hope that we will be a church that is welcoming to all; however, there is definitely a difference between the two.

Once you become an ONA church, it doesn’t mean you’re done, you signed on the dotted line and that’s that. It requires ongoing classes and regular reevaluation of the ONA statement. The Open and Affirming Coalition of the United Church of Christ, encourages, promotes and celebrates ONA Sunday every year in June. ONA Sunday is a chance to celebrate, to re-evaluate and recommit to doing the hard work of intentionally unlearning our biases and working through our own issues to make sure that we don't bring trauma and harm to the LGBTQ+ community.

In the spirit of continuing to educate ourselves, to live into the commitment that comes with being an ONA church, to search our hearts and minds for biases, questions, myths etc, we invited Candace Woods (a member in Discernment in the process of ordination in the United Church of Christ and one of our pulpit supply teachers since January 2023), to give a class on the question of ONA vs Welcoming.

Candace Woods said, “From my understanding, my experiences…. It really has to do with the history of exclusion of LGBTQ+ people from church life. That history of oppression, of exclusion, of being told no, you need to stay in the closet, that history is vital to understand and recognize.”

Candace talked about how someone from the LGBTQ+ community might feel walking into a church that says they're welcoming to all, only to find that the church thinks “they have to pray the devil out of you”, you are not allowed to lead any groups and you are definitely not going to be ordained. She said, “That type of welcome has been used as a bait and switch for queer folks in church spaces for a long time now.” 

Churches like to say everyone is welcome, but very often that welcome comes with a lot of conditions and buts. “The message is clear though that you're not good enough, you're going to have to get out of your loving relationship and you're expected to renounce your identity,” Candace said. “That has been part of the history and that's why saying you're Open and Affirming is a deliberant stance that says we are not going to just say that you're welcome here; we are saying that we see you, we affirm you in your identities, we are going to officiate your weddings, we are going to baptize your children, we are willing to have conversations with you about pronouns, gender and sexuality. We are going to ordain you. We welcome you with no buts.” 

She said, “When a church decides to become an ONA congregation, it is an intentional stance that says you're not only welcome here, but we want to learn from you. We welcome your gifts. We want to change because you're here. We are going to create space so you can be yourself.”

BFCC is the only ONA church in Northern El Paso County, Colorado. Candace said, “We are one church community in a sea of churches in Colorado Springs; think about the collective identity amongst the churches in Colorado Springs when you wonder why you should say you are an ONA church.”

She said, “In a perfect world, we would be able to just say, everyone is welcome, but we don’t live in a perfect world, and there are historically excluded communities to which we have to say an intentional, yes. We intentionally say, this means you, you are God's beloved, we affirm you in all of your glory and goodness.”

Candace said there's nothing wrong with saying we are welcoming to all. “It's the context of the rest of society that has historically excluded and kept out the LGBTQ+ community, it is the history of this town in particular that created the bills that made Colorado the hate state in the early 90’s,” she said. “That history exists here and so in this particular context and space where many big churches in town supported those bills, so when a church intentionally and specifically says you, LGBTQ+ community, you are welcome here, it is meaningful.” (https://www.kunc.org/politics/2016-05-20/20-years-ago-a-landmark-scotus-decision-kept-colorado-from-staying-the-hate-state).

We will continue to strive to live into our mission at BFCC which is to Serve God, With Our Whole Heart. Love, With No Exceptions, and Create Sanctuary, For All People, On Earth as it is in Heaven. And that means not only being welcoming to all, but also continuing to say every Sunday with conviction....”Welcome to Black Forest Community Church, an Open and Affirming Church of the United Church of Christ.” 

Prayer Trauma: how it happens; how to prevent it.

We pray because the Bible encourages us to.

Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”

·Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

The Bible also encourages us to pray for each other.

·James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Acts 2:42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Matthew 6:9-13 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Prayer can bring peace and hope to those praying and being prayed for. It can rally and bring together complete strangers to pray for a cause or situation. And it is often an important part of one’s spiritual journey and aligning oneself with God.

If prayer can do all of these positive things, when and how can prayer and those being prayed for become victims of religious trauma? Religious trauma occurs when, “A person’s religious experience is stressful, degrading, dangerous, abusive, or damaging. Traumatic religious experiences may harm or threaten to harm someone’s physical, emotional, mental, sexual, or spiritual health and safety.” according to therapist.com. 

Prayer trauma can occur when a private prayer is shared without permission, is used as gossip or as a weapon. People have lost jobs, relationships and respect all because they thought they were sharing a “private” prayer with someone, when in fact, all details and more were shared.

I have to admit I did not truly understand what a problem this is until I read a post on Instagram about prayer teams and praying in church. I immediately chimed in and said, “I love and appreciate our prayer team; they are dedicated prayer warriors and I’m honored to be on such a team with them.” Imagine my shock and disconcertment the next day, when I saw comment after comment of people saying prayer at church and prayer teams are "dangerous "and "awful.” They talked about how prayer can cause religious trauma!

One comment said, “I had a pastor who made it clear to the congregation that if someone asked for prayer for someone who wasn’t in church that day, he would be personally calling them later to let them know they were being prayed for and who had brought their name up in prayer. I’d say prayer gossip had become a bit problematic with that congregation.”

I remember when churches and prayer groups started saying names and details were not necessary to pray; if someone asks to be prayed for, you just pray. In my opinion, it’s sadly why not everyone should be in a prayer group; if one cannot hold secrets, the prayer team is not the place to be.

Another comment from that Instagram post said, “I had an entire community find out details about a deeply personal, private situation I was involved in because someone shared a ‘prayer request’ about it without my consent. The trauma from the ripple effect of people who knew this about me before I even met them lasted for years.”

Our prayer team met soon after to talk about these issues and how to handle this not only amongst ourselves but also to protect and educate others.

Following are some recommendations for sharing prayers with a prayer team or during community prayer time to keep oneself and the person being prayed for safe and free from prayer trauma. 

1.      The prayer team agrees that there is what we call the “inner sanctum” of privacy. These are the prayers that are texted, emailed or talked about within the team. These prayers are of the utmost privacy and are never repeated outside the prayer team. The only exception is if the person who shared it with the team makes a request for someone to share it at church for them.

2.      The next sanctum of privacy is community prayer time. Remember, just because you know something about someone, that does not give you automatic permission to share that information in public prayer. We need to ask people for permission to share what we know about them and want to pray about before doing so. I think sometimes we forget this because we believe so much in the power of prayer, we want to share and pray, but people have their own ideas of privacy and confidentiality, and we need to respect that.

3.      Get into the habit of asking for permission from those you want to pray for before bringing their prayer to a prayer team or community time of prayer. Then, when you publicly share that prayer, get into the habit of holding yourself accountable by saying, “So and so asked me or gave me permission to share their prayer with you.”

4.      Remember, it is an honor to pray for people, therefore, we don’t want what is a beautiful and sacred practice to turn into a traumatic or negative experience for others. A note to remember is whenever you share a prayer, just like a secret, it has the unfortunate capacity to become gossip. A shared prayer is no longer a secret.

Black Forest Community Church believes in the power of prayer. It is why we have a community time of prayer every week at church, and it is why we have an active prayer team.  We at BFCC commit to holding ourselves accountable to sacred prayer; to healthy prayer and to be a trauma free faith community.

Leslie

Welcome to your blessing kit!

Blessings Friends,

We are so excited for you to enjoy your blessing kit! Love, positive energy and prayers were infused into every fiber and branch picked, every stroke of paint and wrapped sage; everything was blessed and prayed over just for you.  

We are a small but mighty prayer group that take our prayer requests seriously and know it is an honor to hold to the light other people’s prayers for them. We also like to get outside the church building (just like the podcast name our Pastor Marta co-hosts called, “Jesus has left the building.” Click on the podcast tab to check it out). Every August, before school starts, we bless the preschool and playground on the church grounds with oils and singing bowls. We host the annual St. Francis celebration in our prayer/meditation garden as a reminder to be thankful of the land we live on and to honor those who came before us. And we are very involved in the church pastoral care group, providing meals, making visits or helping move furniture; whatever is needed. So, when someone asked, “what do you think about creating blessing kits for the La Foret Wholeness and Wellness weekend”, everyone was on board and excited!

We spent a lot of time thinking about what would go into your blessing kit; what would be meaningful and why? In the end, we wanted everything to be homemade, if possible, to ensure our own love and blessings would be infused into each item. We wanted to be mindful of re-purposing and recycling, therefore; the boxes and paper are made from recycled products or can be used again. Everything was intentionally chosen for your blessing kit.

Cindy painted the rocks and designed each one to be different and unique, just like each of us.

Leslie wrapped and decorated the sage; her husband found roses for her, and she walked the neighborhood searching for the perfect nature offerings to decorate the sage. She also wrote the blessing.

Barb put a lot of thought into how the bath salts would be presented; she dried the oranges in her dehydrator and added flowers so that the bath salts would be as lovely and peaceful to look at as the bath to follow.

Janet painted the sunburst tie dye sign for us, plus created the crosses along with the help of Marykay who walked the LaForet grounds to find willow twigs for her.

Linda picked out material from her own beloved stash to create the blessing pockets; feel free to add your own notes, trinkets or charms to the pockets to make it personal for you.

There were others on our team who worked behind the scenes to help make decisions, gather materials and attended the market. Maybe you met one of them!

There is no right or wrong way to use a blessing kit. You may choose to use every piece all at once, or you may only use a few pieces here and there depending on your needs and intentions.

In your instructions, you learned that each piece symbolizes something specific to help guide you in preparing for your blessing ritual:

The painted rock symbolizes the earth and feeling grounded, stable and secure.

The sage symbolizes air, the element of knowledge, communication and change. 

The candle symbolizes fire which can stir up energy, passion and the power of transformation.

The bath salts symbolize water which calms, purifies and cleanses.

The willow tree is a symbol of new life; its ability to survive is a powerful witness to how we can thrive even in challenging situations.

The cross symbolizes different things to many people, such as hope, love, justice; also, Christianity or being a follower of Jesus.

We would love to hear how your blessing ritual went; what elements did you incorporate; what did you love about your kit and the ritual of blessing yourself or others.

Make sure to come back next week for a fall equinox blessing on Thursday, September 22. Until then…

“May you feel strength as Mother Earth holds you lovingly and firmly as you walk through your day.

May you feel the hope of change as the wind blows through your hair.

May you feel love and a growing energy and passion for life as the sun shines on your face.

May you feel a sense of peace and calm as the rain invites you to dance with it.

May the moon remind you that this too shall pass.

May your neighbors, the trees remind you that you can thrive in challenging situations.

May you find and love yourself in the Sacred and the oneness of all life.”

Your friends at BFCC Prayer Group

Why we march in the Pride Parade!

Colorado Springs has hosted a Pride Parade since 1990; 32 years! Some aspects of the parade have changed from time to time, particularly during two years of COVID-19 when participants caravanned together throughout the city instead of walking. The one thing that has stayed the same, is the support and love the community shows during pride week and particularly during the parade.

Black Forest Community Church became an open and affirming congregation in 2017 after going through a one-year intense process through the United Church of Christ. We have been participating in the parade for four years now, ever since Marta Fioriti became our pastor. She challenges us to go beyond just having a piece of paper that says we are open and affirming to actually walking the walk with our beloved LGBTQAI2+ community. We hang our “God is still listening” pride flag during pride month, take classes to learn what it really means to be open AND affirming and participate in parades and protests. We have also recently started collaborating with Inside Out Youth Services to create a safe space at our church for the youth in our community.

One of the biggest challenges our church faces is we are the only open and affirming, gay friendly, safe space community in Northern El Paso County and are in the heart of a very conservative area.

We asked a few of the people planning to attend this year why it is important for them to participate in this parade. Here is what they had to say:

“I walk in the Pride Parade to support and encourage our LGBTQ community. Plus, it’s fun!” Janet 

“I am marching in the Pride Parade this year to show my support to all of my LGBTQAI2+ friends and family. By marching, I am saying that I appreciate and love all of who they are, as well as how they choose to express themselves, in all aspects of their lives. By marching, I am a public witness who says that the LGBTQAI2+ community has value and dignity and deserves to be treated as such!” – Robin

“After participating in the 2020 Pride Parade, I knew this was a turning point for me. So many people have been and are still being marginalized and ostracized for just being true to who they are. So, although we are all different is many ways, in reality, as humankind, we are the same. Let’s put KIND back in HUMANKIND again!”

“The Pride Parade is near and dear to my heart as I have several family members and friends who belong to the LGBTQAI2+ community. My family still teases me because it took me awhile to figure out my brother is gay, but my response is, it’s because I don’t care; I deeply love and respect him no matter what, because he is a good, kind and loving human being. I don’t care if someone if gay, lesbian or transgender. What I do care about with any human being, is how they treat others. I am not impressed with people who are privileged, educated or wealthy, but are cruel, bigoted, racist or judgmental; I am not impressed with how perfect a Christian someone pretends to be if their actions include spewing hate and treating others they have deemed as a sinner and unworthy, in an unkind and unforgiving manner. What I respect in people, is what is in their heart and spirit; how they treat me, my loved ones and the world. The LGBTQAI2+ community are some of the most loving people with the most beautiful spirits I have ever met. My goal and my challenge to the rest of us, is to try to be more like them; imagine what the world would be like then!” ~ Leslie

“As a 65-year-old, I walk for those of my generation who were never allowed this opportunity. I walk for inclusiveness, acceptance, kindness and love.” Diane

“Why do I march in Pride? That's a good question and one I have spent many hours pondering. I am a cis, straight, Christian, married mother of two and I take part because I can't not march, because it's the right thing to do, because it's fun, because it makes me feel like I belong. The God I believe in teaches me that EVERYONE matters and deserves RESPECT and AFFIRMATION, especially folks that have historically had to fight for it. With queer folks being attacked from many different Christian groups, I think it is especially important for us as Christians to be vocal about this truth.” - Cindy

Hope to see you at the parade; make sure to come and say hi!

In Response to the Recent Supreme Court overturn of Roe vs. Wade: Share your story.

Hello, I’m Rev. Marta Fioriti, the pastor of Black Forest Community Church, United Church of Christ. I am a Christian, AN ordained woman, and I had the choice to have three children.

Our teenagers know that they hold their own power over themselves. They know that their bodies are theirs. We don’t make choices for them about their mental health, physical health, or sexual health. We give them information, educate them, and love them through their choices.

There have been a lot of choices to make in the past few years. Choices about their bodies, choices that impact their mental health, and choices about their sexual health. Thank God there are choices. Thank God they have the power within them to make those choices. We don’t regulate them, their health providers don’t regulate them, and their partners have not regulated their choices.

Because this is about power, isn’t it?

It’s about a culture steeped in heteropatriarchy, white supremacy, and the grasping for power over the other. In the past few years, anti-abortion movements have moved to pass an abortion ban that lacked rape AND incest exceptions–IN MANY STATES. We know this is not about choice but power when laws are passed to punish abortion at higher rates than rape or incest.

We give our kids power to take that power away from the abuser, the politician, and the random voters that will be scared of my children’s power. One of the ways that we take that power away is by allowing them to tell their story. To release ANY POTENTIAL shame to praise God that science is on their side, modern medicine is on their side. They have power.

A year ago, one of our children was a part (and we say apart- because there are two parts) of an abortion. It was a very early term abortion that took place in the comforts of home. And it was hell. The abuses of mental health, the abuses at the hands of another, the abuses of the world told them- they are not worthy. We told them that they were worthy and could make their own choice. They have the power, always. Not the state. Not politicians and not random voters.

Pastor Marta and her younger daughter Nina (15 years old)

My Mama

My Mama

Allison Bates, BFCC Youth

My mama's table is warm and welcoming. I have always been a mama's girl ever since I was little. I never wanted to leave her side. She has always and will alway be here to support me and love me. Something to know about me is that I am Transgender. When I decided to come out to my mom it was the most heartwarming experience I have ever had. I remember it like it was yesterday. I wrote a note to my mom telling her that I was Transgender It had info about what it was what I wanted to be called and my new pronouns. After I had written the note I planned on putting it in her purse so she could read it while I was at school. When I woke up the next morning I did just that. I thought She wouldn’t notice until I had left for school but I was wrong. I was getting ready for school to change when I heard a knock on my door. I didn’t think anything of it until I told the person to come in. My mom was standing in the doorway with the letter in her hand. I remember her saying to me “I love you no matter what I want you to know that I love you so much.” Next thing I know I was In her arms trying not to cry. Unfortunately she had to go to work but she reminded me that she loved me and that she would talk to me after work. After that day my mama has been nothing short of supportive and always on my side when it comes to that kind of stuff. She is always asking me what she can do to help support me. She has and always will be by my side to love and support me in whatever decision I make. My mama is the most important person to me and I will always love her. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love her. She is my number one fan and biggest supporter and I can’t thank her enough for all she has done for me. I love her until the day I die and even after that. 

A letter from Pastor Marta 😷⛪❤

Dear Members and Friends of BFCC, 

I never dreamed that I would be leading a church during a global pandemic, especially into the third year, but here we all find ourselves. Right now, we are amid a surge of illness. I write this letter after four Sundays away on study leave and a week in bed with Covid. It was inevitable for our family and the first time we had experienced this wretched illness. I am grateful for the experience of good health care and the knowledge and expertise of my providers.  

I want to reach out to all of you, share what the past month has been like, and let you know that I am on the mend! I also wanted to write and share a few things about the church, progress, and continued ministry.  

I am in the last course of my Doctor of Ministry program: Prophetic Leadership. The independent study is called a Feminist Approach to Worship. I have read: Women's Ways of Worship: Gender Analysis and Liturgical History by Teresa Berger, Women of Spirit, edited by Rosemary Ruether and Eleanor McLaughlin, Women at Worship, Interpretations of North American Diversity, edited by Majorie Procter-Smith and Janet R. Walton and In Her Own Rite, Constructing Feminist Liturgical Tradition,  by Marjorie Procter-Smith.  

The readings have been fruitful research, but nothing this congregation has not already experienced with Mandy and me! In addition, I joined a preaching cohort/workshop called, The Soul of Preaching with Methodists, Presbyterian, and Unitarian Universalists, and even a few Baptists. I have met with this group twice over the last few weeks and had additional individual coaching sessions. I was invited to join a Social Healing Clergy Cohort with The On Being Project's Religious Life team. I will join this group too. I feel I have used my time of study well. I am grateful for the support of BFCC and the leadership to continue to unfold our vision of On Earth as it is in Heaven during this time.

I look forward to being back with all of you this Sunday.  

We will continue to follow the CDC and keep our eyes on the School districts. This week, I talked with another parent about school and covid. Most of us agree it's a mess. We also understand why the schools are being kept open; there are too many vulnerable children who need the consistent safety of someplace to go during the day and get a hot meal. We also understand that long-term isolation for children and teens can cause mental health breakdowns. The risks are complex all around. So, like the schools, we ask that you all continue to mask and take other common-sense precautions. We will continue to have worship on Sunday mornings at 10 am. We will lean into the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew 18:20: for where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out! 

Most of you know that it is a custom for congregations like ours to have an annual meeting in January and vote on a 2022 church budget. In December, we were in the process of transitioning our volunteer bookkeeper and our outside accountants to one person that would be in-house. At the end of the year, Trudy Adamovich began with us and will work closely with Cindy Halsey and Ann Cushman, co-treasurers, on the 2022 budget. If you are interested in Trudy's job description, don't hesitate to reach out. The staff, treasurers, and Trudy met a couple of weeks ago. We had planned to have a series of meetings between now and the February 6th board meeting (as a reminder, all board meetings are open to everyone) and then an annual congregational meeting in mid-February. This process is pushed back because Trudy and her husband also have Covid. Please hold Trudy and John in your hearts and minds. Cindy and Ann will continue to grapple with the budget as there will need to be creative solutions in 2022. This Sunday's scheduled board meeting will be postponed, and we will keep you all updated on the upcoming Annual Meeting.  

The First Step Preschool continues to operate smoothly under the direction of Beth Garrison-Kemp, and there have been no outbreaks of Covid to this date. Mandy will resume choir the first week in March (hopefully after the surge), in time for the liturgical season of Lent. 

This week, we will open our doors for the final Sunday of Justice January, and the theme for the service will be with every stitch; there is a blessing. I look forward to seeing you all again.  

Peace and Grace, 

Pastor Marta

P.S.

Here is where you find the calendar and happening of the church

Love, Advent 2021, Week 4

MESSAGE I (Mandy)

Being pregnant for the first time was very surreal experience. From the moment I foundd out I are going to have a baby, I understood in my brain that my life had forever changed. But I had very mild pregnancies, and for the first few months, that wasn’t something I really grasped. And then, all of a sudden, I felt that first flutter of movement coming from within my womb. That’s when it all became clear. Drew became real to me. And I understood love.

What comes next in the Gospel of Luke is what is known as the Magnificat, or Mary’s Song. It is the oldest hymn text in the New Testament. Mary is so filled with the love and awe of her baby – Jesus – in her womb that she can’t help but break into song. Hear this modern interpretation of that hymn by M Barclay:

My soul is alive with thoughts of God.

What a wonder, Their liberating works.

Though the world has been harsh to me,

God has shown me kindness,

seen my worth,

and called me to courage.

Surely, those who come after me will call me blessed.

Even when my heart weighs heavy with grief,

still, so does hope abide with me.

Holy is the One who makes it so.

From generation to generation,

Love’s Mercy is freely handed out;

None are beyond the borders of

God’s transforming compassion.

The power of God is revealed

among those who labor for justice.

They humble the arrogant.

They turn unjust thrones into dust.

Their Wisdom is revealed in

the lives and truths of those on the margins.

God is a feast for the hungry.

God is the great re-distributor of wealth and resources.

God is the ceasing of excessive and destructive production

that all the earth might rest.

Through exiles and enslavement,

famines and wars,

white supremacy and climate crises,

God is a companion in loss,

a deliverer from evil,

a lover whose touch restores.

This is the promise They made

to my ancestors,

to me,

to all the creatures and creations,

now and yet coming,

and in this promise,

I find my strength.

Come, Great Healer,

and be birthed through us.

What I love about Mary’s song is that it’s not some ooey-gooey response. Because birth and parenthood and love are HARD. Raising a child, whether they be the Son of God, or simply the son of regular old Mandy, is hard work. Birthing something new is hard work. And Mary gets it. She talks about her grief, and the challenges of living in this world. And yet, she can see the beauty of what God brings about in this world.

Drew’s birthday was last Tuesday, so for me, I am always drawn to this connection between Mary and Jesus during this time. The day that Drew was born, I wrote him a letter in a notebook. Every night on his birthday I’ve written him another letter. So on Tuesday, to finish out his day, Drew and I read through each of those letters before he went to bed. Those letters are filled with stories of joy, and sadness, and challenge. And all mixed up in all of that is love. Not simple, sticky sweet love, but deep, abiding, courageous love. The kind of love that Mary had for her child the moment she felt him move in her womb. The kind of love that God has for us. The kind of love that challenges us to birth a new thing in ourselves and in our world. Come, Great Healer, and be birthed through us.

Message II (Steve Murtagh)

In 1964, Justice Potter Stewart famously stated that, while he could not define  “pornography”, he never-the-less knew it when he saw it.  

That may seem like an odd way to begin speaking about Love. But I think most  people would probably agree they could not really define Love, but that they know it when they see it. 

In 1st Corinthians, Paul does a good job explaining what Love is not.  “Love does not Envy. 

Love does not parade itself. 

Love does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked and seeks no  evil. 

Love does not rejoice in iniquity. Love never fails.” 

He also offers us some words on Love’s importance. 

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, if I have not Love I have  become sounding brass. 

Though I have have faith so that I could move mountains, but do not have love, I  am nothing. 

Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor but have not love, it profits me  nothing.” 

So Love sounds pretty important. But Paul never does tell us what Love is. It’s a  hard thing to define. But we know it when we see it.

In his book The Road Less Traveled, Dr. M. Scott Peck took on the challenge of  defining Love. 

Love, says Peck, is too large, too deep, to ever be fully understood or explained  within the limitation of words. Never-the-less, like any good academic, he tries. 

“Love,” he says, “is to extend one’s self for the sole purpose of nurturing  another’s physical welfare or spiritual growth, without any expectation of  reciprocation or reward. Love is as love does. Love is an act of will, both an  intention and an action.” 

So love is not a feeling, it is an action. Not a noun but a verb. Not something you  fall into like an open pit, or find like a $20 bill on the sidewalk, or are given like a  sweepstakes prize. 

Love a choice you make and then a thing you do. 

I am already over my 300 words so let me conclude this way. 

Jesus boiled the entire bible down to Love. Love God. Love your neighbor. All the rest is secondary.  

So let’s hope we know it when we see it. 

Now let’s all go out and DO Love.

Message III (Leslie Sheley)

Love

What can I say about love that hasn’t already been said before? Love is the theme for songs and poems, movies and plays and let’s face it, it was basically Jesus’s theme for life and living.

But I think maybe a little bit of love is doing things that our family and friends want to do and are important to them, that we may not necessarily be interested in doing, but because it makes them happy and we love them, we do it with them and for them. Like going to all the sporting events with Wyatt and Stan through all these years; I do it, because I love them and I love being with them, but certainly not because I love sports. 

And maybe a little bit of love is the way we deal with acquaintances, coworkers or strangers when they do things that get on our nerves, are outright rude or irritating. Maybe love is offering the mom with the screaming children behind us in the grocery line to go ahead of us instead of standing there rolling our eyes or sighing every time the baby wails.

Maybe it’s being patient and kind, instead of making snide, unkind remarks when the fast food place takes forever, especially these days, to get us our order or their latte machine, heaven forbid isn’t working that day. 

And maybe, it’s having grace when a driver cuts us off or isn’t driving in the manner we think is appropriate. Maybe they are just having a bad day, maybe they just got fired, maybe they found out a loved one just got put on a ventilator. 

And may be love is about being willing to have a more open mind and to be willing to hear the stories of why other people believe what they believe. Maybe it’s about realizing that we’re not always right and maybe even acknowledging we have a lot to learn and so we/I go to adult bible classes to learn and I go to living room conversations to figure out how to have a conversation with someone who possibly believes in things maybe even way to the other side of the topic than I do; realizing that my arguing with them is not going to change their mind at all and as Marta has been trying to teach us, how do I live in relation with that person even though we disagree on so many things. 

And maybe love means showing up. Showing up for our family, showing up at work, showing up at church. These relationships are not always perfect; we hurt each other’s feelings, we aren’t thoughtful enough, we have expectations that no one can live up to. A friend sent me a Max Lucado book to read through advent and something he wrote caught my attention as we come into this last week of love in advent. He said, based on all the expectations, likes and dislikes we have of church in particular, “Even so, let us worship. The sincerity of our worship matters more than the quality.” He based that on Hebrews 10:24-25 where Paul writes to the Hebrews: “Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshipping together as some do, but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big day approaching.” 

And maybe my friends, just maybe, that’s a little bit of what love means. 

Two Communities, One Message

Mark 6:1-6

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?  Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives, and in his own home.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

In the parallel text this morning from 1 Corinthians 6:1, 

And how dare you take each other to court! When you think you have been wronged, does it make any sense to go before a court that knows nothing of God’s ways instead of a family of Christians? 

Ugh, Jesus has experienced rejection. He shows up at his family’s home after quite some time, grown-up and ready to change the world (quite literally in his case) and with his band of posies.  They probably look like a bunch of misfits.  Everyone is startled; they ask questions like what happened to him? Has he lost his mind? Who does he think he is, showing up with this crazy idea? We’ve been jews for generations; it works for us.  Why would we give up the traditions, rituals, and community for another community? Rejection means;  the dismissing or refusing of a proposal, and oh, boy, did Jesus have a proposal, and they were on the journey to spread the good news.  Perhaps Nazareth had been an intentional stop, or maybe he was putting it off; nonetheless, it was on the list of visits, so he accompanies the disciples.  

We have many ideas of rejection, and it is so painful.  In this story, I wonder if it went both ways? Jesus felt rejected by his family, and I bet the family felt rejected by Jesus.  I mean, where has he been all of these years? 

To be clear, rejection for tribes and communities in the first century came out of evolution and our need to survive.  They depended on each other to live.  Being rejected from your community and tribe was a death sentence. More times than not, individuals would change their behavior before being rejected from the tribe.  In this case, Jesus simply left because he knew that the world was developing and evolving. The way of life, divided between the powerful and lowly. He was on to something and wanted to be a part of the change, even if it meant death.  Jesus has wisdom, and these ideas, challenged.  Who has the wisdom? 

Where ever there is rejection, there is judgment, and that is the worst part. Rejection is a form of enormous loss and almost always impacts all parties involved in rejecting.  Rejection often means asking questions: am I okay? Do I fit in here? Are these my people? Was it alright to say I can’t do this right now, our relationship isn’t working, or why am I not getting signs from God? Where is God?  Rejection and judgment go hand in hand.  For most of us, it’s a form of survival.  We will not grow as individuals or communities unless we create clear boundaries that often cause rejection and judgment. In other words, rejection and then judgment is our way of protecting ourselves. 

In the second text from 1 Corinthians, the Apostal Paul teaches the well-established Christian community about judgment. This community gathered and created years after Jesus made that stop in Nazareth.  Paul has a bad rap for being overly judgy. Paul is a misogynist, a homophobe, an anti-semite, and a xenophobe; the judgments go on. We use this word judgy in our modern world as a form of rejection, but what if this judgment that Paul is talking about with the early Christian community was simply a survival technique.  Remember, the first text was a story of a Jewish community. This 1 Corinthians story is a message about the early Christians led by a Jew, Paul. Like Jesus, Paul thought he was living in or on the cusp of massive change in the world and religious communities. It was a critical time for Paul when God prepared to intervene and make a radical way forward. Just to be clear, Paul did not take issue with the Jewish community and their religious rights. He was out to protect the gentiles that desperately needed a loving community. So, who has the wisdom? 

Anyone here taken the Meyers-Briggs Indicator personality test? I have taken it many times.  The last indicator is you either judge or perceive. It is the attitude in which a person orients to the outer world. I always get a 100% J. Meaning, my orientation to the external world is judging. And, that’s when my family says, of course--you are so judgy.  That’s not actually what it means. These functions determine how we make decisions; based on values, ethics, and the emotional needs of others. Judging refers to the decision-making process to protect ourselves and our family, and our community.  When someone says, “that’s judgmental,”  we might respond with, let me clarify, my boundaries, and I have a fear that something is not safe right now.  Think of your biases. Then think, why do you have those biases? Are you scared? Does it make you worried that they might hurt you in some way? Discerning is what Paul was teaching the people of Corinth- to have that type of eye to protect themselves and their community. 

Perhaps Jesus was not being rejected, but his family was simply protecting what they loved. And, maybe Jesus was not being judgy but merely offering an alternative that he believed would provide a community for those people not finding comfort in the current religious system.  What if the rejection and the judgment had nothing to do with the other? What if this was all a part of God’s plan to allow each of us to cultivate our faith journeys with more than one way to get to salvation. 

One of my professors at Iliff, an expert on the Apostle Paul, points out that when people argue that Jews will not be “saved,” he replies with “the covenants God made with Isreal in the Bible and stood on the principle that God does not break covenants. Humans might violate covenants, but if God was in the business of breaking covenants, we were all in a lot of trouble.”   Perhaps the question we should be asking isn’t, ‘who is being saved or not?’  but “How many ways to salvation and how will God help me get there? It is not our job to judge who will or will not go to hell or who is or is not worthy—this work is a personal and inside job.” 

For both of these communities, in Nazareth and Corinth, there is a new and what I would call a radical approach- of open dialogue and story-telling. What if we talked about our judgments freely and our fears that come out of those judgments? What if we honored the boundary of the other and said, you be you- but that’s not really for me.  What if we articulated, God is speaking something different to me right now, and I have got to have faith.  Each of us is complicated, like Jesus and Paul, but in this regard, it is simple: we are all God’s children who have many paths to salvation, and who each hold God’s wisdom in our hearts and minds. 

Wisdom in the Hebrew scriptures, chokmah, means “heart and hand” and is often synonymous with skill. The root word of wisdom is feminine, and the Greek translation is Sophia and conflated with Spirit and ultimately, Christ, marking an expansion of its gender. God is with you. Each of you. God is walking alongside you. May the Holy Spirit, Jew or Greek, male or female or nonbinary, give you the personal agency and power to find your path to God, to salvation to love. Jesus and his people, Paul, and the emerging Christian community- the promise is that no matter what all of us who have felt rejection, will be embraced by God’s love.

Christian Education & Family Ministry

Hello, Families!

As we head into September and are getting into the new school year routine, we wanted to let you know about some upcoming events and Christian education opportunities for you and your children at Black Forest Community Church! 

• Saturday, September 11, 2021, Please join us for an all-church workday at BFCC! We will do general clean-up of the grounds, painting inside and outside the preschool, and finishing the mural on the back wall of the Old Log Church building. We’ll also have the sidewalk chalk and bubbles wands out for our younger helpers!

• This Sunday, September 12, 2021, Beth Garrison-Kemp will be in the sanctuary to check in with families before worship. New worship kits will include tools and a prompt for writing or drawing a prayer that we invite children to share during our prayer time towards the end of the service.

• Sundays: 9/19, 10/3, 10/17, 10/24, 10/31  Levi Murray will be leading Immigration and the Bible, a Bible study for adults, after church for 90 minutes. We are excited to offer concurrent programming for children in preschool through 5th grade while parents attend the bible study. (We will welcome any middle/high school helpers who would like to join us!). Our sacred text is full of refugee stories, and the call to welcome the stranger is repeated throughout the bible. In our time together, we will learn about the refugee experience through both bible stories and children’s literature. As we explore these diverse stories, we will focus on the Christian call to love our neighbors--with no exceptions.

• Childcare will be available upon request for children three and under. We hope that parents will attend the bible study, but you are also welcome to grab a quiet coffee or lunch and then return to pick up your children at 12:30 PM. A sign-in and sign-out will be required for liability purposes. 

Here is the checklist: 

• To join the adult class with Levi, please email him at: murray.dds@gmail.com 

• So that we can make plans for the after worship programming (9/19, 10/3, 10/17, 10/24, 10/31), we ask that you RSVP by replying to this email by Wednesday, September 15.  The after-church program offering will require a minimum of two families to sign up. A minimum of two families will ensure a meaningful experience.

• Because the after-worship programming time bridges lunchtime, please bring a snack or lunch for your child(ren). 

• No RSVP is required for this Saturday’s all-church workday on September 11th! We hope to see you. And, no RSVP is necessary for Worship at 10 am each Sunday.  RSVP is required for the after-worship program.  

For specific information about the children’s program: Please contact Beth Garrison-Kemp, Preschool Director and Sunday Morning Family Host at: beth@blackforestcommunitychurch.org 

For any other inquiries, you are welcome to contact anyone on the Ministry Team: 

Beth Garrison-Kemp, Sunday Morning Family Host: beth@blackforestcommunitychurch.org  

Marta Fioriti, Pastor: pastormarta@blackforestcommunitychurch.org 

Mandy Todd, Director of Worship & Arts: mandytodd@blackforestcommunitychurch.org 

Leslie Sheley, Ministry Coordinator: lesliestan1986@gmail.com 

Love. With No Exceptions

We are spending some time this summer working through our church’s purpose and vision statement, which you can find at the bottom of the bulletin or on the front page of our website. We crafted this purpose and vision statement 2 years ago in collaboration with the board and other church leaders interested in the process. It was an open process with representatives from the congregation. Last week we began with the first statement: Serve God, with your whole heart. This week, we are looking at the second line: Love, with no exceptions. As a reminder you can access these weekly messages on our church website blog spot. You might be thinking: what did they say last week about serving God? You can find it there.  

Scripture 

Ezekiel 17: 23 On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar. Under it every kind of bird will live; in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every kind. 

1 Corinthians 5:17 So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

Word I

Both of these texts point to resting in God’s love. Sounds luxurious.   

The prophet Ezekiel and the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians are actually mandating (that’s a strong word--but I think we need to use it) something new. Seems the opposite of resting, but bear with us. When Ezekiel and Paul exclaim new spaces and new behavior they are actually inviting us to God’s love, because while the old ways have become stagnant, God is never stagnant and always transforming. God’s love is new.  All * The * Time.  

This past week we have been thinking of the word “new” a lot. The Rocky Mountain Conference of our United Church of Christ had their annual meeting and the theme was Church Anew. After a year-long pandemic, everything seems new.  Especially the church. Especially our church-we have done a lot of new things! 

We did new things for several reasons. Some of it strategic and logistical but some of it deeply theological. We have been inspired by our sacred texts and our Jesus stories.  And, what we can gather from the prophet Ezekiel and from the apostle Paul are the same themes: 

Find home in God. 

Find home in Christ. 

Rest. 

And, everyone is welcome. 

Finding home and resting in God is not always comfortable or luxurious, but it is right and just. 

The Hebrew bible and the New Testament tells the stories of a new way of community in different times and places and under difficult circumstances. In all of these stories, there is a call to something new. Ezekiel, the prophet from the Hebrew bible, does it by telling a parable. Ezekiel uses planting and growing and birthing new spaces in a cedar tree, where everyone and every creature will be welcome and safe. He tells this story when his community is under tremendous stress and vulnerability. Like most prophets this takes courage and strength. And, as we know, building a community where EVERYONE is welcome is not easy.  

In 1 Corinthians, there is a call of creating a new space in our hearts, with Christ’s help. This enthusiasm was during the birthing of the early church following Jesus’s death and resurrection. The Roman empire was rigid and controlling. There was no room for the kind of love that Jesus had hoped for in the pursuit for justice. 

In both these cases it was a message of stepping out of a comfort zone to learn something new, do something new, engage in new types of relationships and to be transformed by personal story, service to others, and prayer. That’s hard. But, faith journeys and faith communities are actually not meant to be easy and comfortable.

We are Christians and as Christians we have a beautiful ancient text that we can access to help give meaning when life gets confusing or even when church purpose statements get confusing. This is why I love the church so much. It’s a place that I can gather with others and learn things like: Love. With no exceptions. 

While Ezekiel paints this beautiful picture of oneness and interconnectedness in the parable to find safe space, 1 Corinthians asks us to lean into Christ. This means that when we love the way Jesus has called us to love we recognize we are synonymous with Christ and that all of God’s creation is also synonymous with Christ and that when we recognize Christ, we actually are recognizing love in ourselves and the other. This is tricky though because as people (and people who are always forming and transforming) we tend to act in the interest of self-preservation and self-interest. This is why biblical texts like this call us back to Christ’s love. 

When Christ is present or when love is present there is creative transformation in our lives and in our community. Our ancient text and our Christian tradition calls us to love. Period. Everyone. Period. This is not theoretical, it is in action. If it was just simply our belief system in our heads, with no application in our hands and feet, it would be easy and there would not be transformation.  

You all know that we dig the idea of creative transformation here at BFCC. Theologian John Cobb describes creative transformation as a way of talking about a certain type of change and growth that occurs as a result of God’s word.

Here is our broad stroke on the biblical text. Love. With No Exceptions.  Not simply in words, but in action.  

Word II

I am listening to Glennon Doyle’s new podcast (she is an author and speaker and activist) and the name of her podcast is called “We can do hard things.” It’s a new podcast and so far the subjects of conversation have been things like anxiety, boundaries and addiction.  And, then this week we came across a New Yorker article book review called Let’s Talk About Hard Things. The author Anna Sale writes about death, sex, and money. I suspect that coming out of a year long pandemic people are looking for a bit of creative transformation as the people of the ancient world had also. The article says: As vaccinated people begin to have joyous reunions with friends and family, after a year of isolation and Zooms, many of us are realizing that we’ve forgotten how to talk about the easy things, let alone the hard ones. This might be one reason for creative transformation but for me after a year at home, it gave me pause to think about what really matters and who really matters and what is deeply important to me. At the end of the year, it meant creative transformation does not mean staying hinged to the institutions of the past but rather finding and creating anew.  

At the end of the year it meant recognizing Christ and in the recognition there would be new creation. It means that rest does not always mean the same or stillness or silence or sleep. It means resting in Christ is to shake things up and challenge myself and the community that I serve. For the people of Corinth it was a way of surviving.  And, I dare say it is for us, also.  

Maybe it’s unscrewing the pews and putting them in a circle? Maybe it's learning how to listen to a podcast on your smartphone, or accessing a  QR code!? Or, engaging in a class on privilege and race? Maybe it’s being in dialogue with different communities of people. For Jesus it was dining with the sinners, healing the lepers and teaching women. This is not about who Jesus was but what Jesus actually did. His whole work was creative transformation in an effort to restore wholeness in his community. 

MAF:  Love. With No Exceptions.  

MT: Righting relations between body and mind and spirit

All: Through a ministry of prayer and action 

MT: Love. With No Exceptions. 

MAF: Righting relations through ethical words

All: Through a ministry of prayer and action 

MAF: Love. With No Exceptions

MT: Righting relations through healing ministry of touch and being touched

The lepers, women and the blind

All: Through a ministry of prayer and action

MT: Love. With No Exceptions 

MAF: Righting relations by healing communities that are different from the majority.  

All: Through a ministry of prayer and action 

MAF: Love. With No Exceptions 

MT: Righting relations through a ministry of compassion and love 

All: Through a ministry of prayer and action. 

MAF & MT: Love. With no exceptions.  

Serve God. With Our Whole Heart.

Judges 4:3-6

3Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help; and had been oppressed cruelly for twenty years.

4At that time Deborah was a prophetess, wife and judge of Israel. 5She used to sit under the palm between two towns on a  hill  in the country; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. 6She sent and summoned Barak, a military leader and said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor and be ready to fight for justice. 

_______________________

Last week, we talked about the prophet’s role in transforming communities following a crisis, using the well-known prophet Isaiah as the example.This week we turn to a female prophetess. There are half as many female prophetesses portrayed in the Hebrew Bible as to male, but they were powerful, courageous, and strong. These women lived in a culture dripping with patriarchy and monarchy led by wealthy and powerful men. In bible times, women were on the margins in hugely significant ways. This morning, we will hear about the earliest known prophetesses, a woman named Deborah. She was a judge, a role much like a lawyer in contemporary society.  

During these next couple of weeks, we will tell the brave and faithful stories of prophets and prophetesses, and we will connect these stories to our own story as we lean into our church purpose and vision. You can find the whole purpose and vision on your order of worship. This week we will begin with the very first line: Serve God. With Our Whole Heart. 

To serve God, means: 

Be in service to love. 

With our whole heart

Serve outside of ourselves. 

With our whole heart

Serve our community.  

With our whole heart 

Serve without exclusion. 

With our whole heart 

Serve small. 

With our whole heart

Serve big. 

With our whole heart 

Serve justice. 

With our whole heart 

Serve generously.  

With our whole heart 

Serve with our whole heart.

Learning about female prophetesses is an act of serving God with our whole heart. Serving God is not easy or comfortable.  For God to choose a woman in the ancient world to lead a people was also not easy or comfortable for anyone. It was not the norm.  It would have been easy to pick one of the twelve male prophets. We know those stories because those are the stories that are told and taught more often in Sunday school classrooms: Jonah and Jeremiah and Ezekial.  But, we have a different purpose here at BFCC - our purpose is to give a platform to those people who often don’t get a voice. We do this with the people of our bible and we do this with the people in our community. When we do this biblically, it means telling the stories of ancient women who were called by God. God knew that they had a story to tell, that they, too, could serve with their whole heart, even when society didn’t see it.

When we give voice to people today, it means being in relationship with and telling the stories of immigrants, children, the homeless, and the mentally ill. Like the women of the Hebrew Bible, these stories are few and far between and often left out, especially in the church. We believe building relationships and telling these stories is one way we serve God with our whole heart.  

In the book of Judges, the Isrealites were stuck in a cycle. They had lost their faith. They screamed for help, so God delivered them. They changed their behavior. Then, the Israelites lost their faith again, screamed for help, heard from a prophet sent by God and changed their behavior. This happened over and over again. We have all been there, stuck in that cycle. Sometimes there was a glimmer of hope but mostly, it was an exhausting and depressing pattern. What they had been trying to do was not working.  The way that God was trying to help was also not working. In fact, God was getting quite angry.  

Breaking a cycle and pattern that was no longer useful often means seeking wisdom from the most unlikely place.  God brought a woman out of the margins of society and placed her in the center and said, “listen to her, she has something to say.  She will deliver you.” This is not simply a message about feminism, and women’s empowerment. This is a story about finding faith in a community and people that are often silenced, with a woman as the example of the marginalized. The powerful people in Deborah’s world were not doing the job. This community needed a new voice to help change their cycle of dysfunction.   

God placed Deborah in their midst. The name “Deborah” means, woman of flames or fiery women. Deborah was a hot mama. She sat beneath a palm tree and went about her role as leader and judge. She was a humble and noble servant and known as “a Mother of Israel.” The people came to her out in the country and she helped them solve their problems. She served God with her whole heart and the people of Israel served God with their whole heart. It was a mutual and loving relationship. 

I am doing my Doctor of Ministry work on female clergy. The U.S. Christian church, especially the protestant church, is in a decline and in a dysfunctional cycle of chaos. I begin my proposal for my final research project with: The church has been dominated by patriarchy and hierarchy for more than 2000 years. Women have been caring for the church and building community in many ways. They have rooted people in faith and have the potential to lead the church to vibrancy. I am curious about how African American, Latina, Asian and LGBTQ female clergy are leading congregations.  I wonder what is possible with a different model of leadership style. I wonder what is possible when we hear the stories of those who have historically been on the margins. I wonder, like God did,  if that’s just what we need to change and shift the tides of our American Christianity. Sacred texts like Deborah’s today give me a glimpse of what God is pointing to. As I say in my proposal: I am interested in experimenting with viable practices for worship that will create spaces for deepened relationship, connection, and meaning, given our American culture of toxic individualism and the decline of the church.

Our sacred text and the women of our bible have something to say about practices that are life giving, that serve God with our whole heart. Deborah does not speak it, she models it. Unlike a king or great teacher, high priest or military official, she does not lecture or hold court. She shows the people what it means to be fully authentic. She brings a non anxious presence, not getting caught up with the secular monarchy. She loves the people unconditionally for all their mistakes and dysfunction. She allows them to come to her, vulnerable, while also showing fiery strength. More than anything she holds space for them to know their true selves that are buried under cultural conditioning. She invites them to unlearn toxic behaviors, and finally, the cycle is broken and the prophetess Deborah, through serving God, delivers the Israelites to a new, more life-giving world.  The profound and often hidden gifts of authenticity, vulnerability, abiding presence, humility, and creating space for deepened relationship and connection lead the people out of despair. 

Deborah lived some 3000 years ago. Sometimes it is hard to understand how the stories of the bible connect to our current life. It all seems so far removed. And yet, what I can take from this story is this: 

Serving God (and serving each other) means that we have to get creative. We have to think outside the box. And often, we have to release the norms of the past.We cannot serve each other or God by doing what we have always done. Our vision is to unfold God’s kin-dom, on earth as it is in heaven. We know that it is a slow process, because the moral arc is long. And yet, I think if we were doing everything right to unfold the kin-dom, we’d probably be there by now, right? As we explore what it means to serve God with our whole heart as BFCC, we have to get creative. We have to listen to the voices of those we haven’t heard from. There could be a prophetess in our midst now, showing us the next right thing, if only we will listen.