Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

Preached on July 29, 2007 by the Rev. Winton Boyd
Luke 24: 1-18(Road to Emmaus)
I sat in a circle of clergy and congregational leaders this week during a retreat program called “Courage to Lead.” This was the fourth time in the last 9 months that the 25 gathered in Kalamazoo, MI for 2-3 days at a time. By now, we know each other well, and the “check ins” have more depth and openness. I suspect this group of people is not much different than any group of 25 adults – but as we shared how things were going over the last few months we had a wide assortment of “issues.”

• Relationships full of joy just in May were breaking up
• A hip was dislocated and had to be replaced
• A team of therapists was ending a 14 year run leading group therapy as one of them was taking a new job in a new city
• A mother had attended the sentencing hearing and given an “impact statement” concerning the man who murdered her 27 year old daughter three years ago.
• A daughter of a participant was using three full days taking a bar exam in California
• An African American pastor was trying to find her way through a very public police brutality case in her city.
• A man was told by his wife of 40 years that she felt he was more married to his work than to her.

The point is not that this group was overly troubled, but that in the course of our lives many good things happen, and many challenges come our way. The hope and prayer of this group not so much that God would take away their troubles or pains, but that God would be present in some way, in some manner… Continue Reading »

Preached by Winton Boyd on July 29, 2007
Acts 11:1-18

I recently had the privilege of attending the 50th anniversary General Synod of the UCC. About 9000 people gathered for several days of inspiration, worship, education, business, and fun. It was my first such experience, and it was clear from the agenda and program that this Gen Synod was to be a celebration – with a focus on inspiration and education and not on business or the many challenges facing the UCC today (like all mainline churches).

The highlights of the week were many:
• Stunning and inspiring plenary speeches by Bill Moyers, Barak Obama, Marian Wright Edelman and dozens of others in smaller venues.
• Amazing music and visual arts during worship;
• An exhibit hall that included ideas for involvement and action in almost every area of church life imaginable.
• Connecting and reconnecting with others in the UCC – including former pastors Jack Jackson and Roger Knight, as well as former member and now pastor Briget Nicholsen (who all send their greetings).
• At www.ucc.org, there are dozens of talks and events available for viewing or purchase.

Today, I would like to share just two of my many impressions and reflections on what it means to be a faith-full, open and affirming, justice seeking denomination in the 21st century. Continue Reading »

by Anthony Doerr
Reprinted from July/August 2007 issue of Orion magazine

We live on Earth. Earth is a clump of iron and magnesium and nickel, smeared with a thin layer of organic matter, and sleeved in vapor. It whirls along in a nearly circular orbit around a minor star we call the sun.

I know, the sun doesn’t seem minor. The sun puts the energy in our salads, milkshakes, hamburgers, gas tanks, and oceans. It literally makes the world go round. And it’s huge: The Earth is a chickpea and the sun is a beach ball. The sun comprises 99.9 percent of all the mass in the solar system. Which means Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, etc., all fit into that little 0.1 percent.

But, truly, our sun is exceedingly minor. Almost incomprehensibly minor. Continue Reading »

We hunger to be known and understood. We hunger to be loved. We hunger to be at peace inside our own skins. We hunger not just to be fed these things but, often without realizing it, we hunger to feed others these things because they too are starving for them. We hunger not just to be loved but to love, not just to be forgiven but to forgive, not just to be known and understood for all the good times and bad times that for better for worse have made us who we are, but to know and understand each other to the same point of seeing that, in the last analysis, we all have the same good times, the same bad times, and that for that very reason there is no such thing in all the world as anyone who is really a stranger.

- Frederick Buechner
from Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons