Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

written by Phil Haslanger, Associate Pastor at Memorial UCC in Fitchburg and online columnist for www.madison.com

Pastor’s note: Several in our congregation went to hear Marcus Borg speak at First United Methodist’s David Lyons Lecture series on Saturday, April 26.  Much of this report below was also shared at the lecture. We have just concluded a 4 week discussion of Borg’s ideas in our Java and Jesus class. If you would like to read some of that material, please contact Winton Boyd.

Haslanger writes about a conversation with Marcus Borg in which Borg touched on three areas:

(His) own spirituality

(Borg talked about having had a number of mystical experiences in his life.) Those experiences made God utterly real to me, more real to me than the world I see around me. People who say, “I don’t really believe in God,” I’ll say to them, “Tell me about the God you don’t believe in.”

Almost always, it’s the God I tried to believe in as a child and a young person and found I couldn’t - that notion of God as superpowerful, authority figure separate from the world. So long as I thought that was what the word “God” meant, I really struggled to believe and the bottom line is, I couldn’t. Continue Reading »

Seizing the moment, the UCC nationally is trying to broaden the awareness of UCC history and invite others to join in a sacred conversation about race in this country.  See two ads.

New York Times Ad - April 2, 2008 pdf version

USA Today April 11, 2008

Orchard Ridge UCC is participating in this effort in two ways

“Let’s Talk About Race” during our 9 a.m. Heart and Soul class on April 20, 27

Winton Boyd will preach on the topic of race on May 11

March 24, 2008
By Phil Haslanger

And you thought Jeremiah Wright said some inflammatory things? Continue Reading »

by Senior Pastor Winton Boyd

You may have heard through various news outlets that the IRS is investigating whether the UCC violated its tax exempt status last summer when it invited Barak Obama to speak at our General Synod. At question is whether there the church was engaging in “political activities.” I don’t know the details of IRS investigations, but I was at the General Synod and heard Obama and several others give amazing speeches. Continue Reading »

“Even churches evolve”

“Scientists welcome!”

For too long, science and faith have had a combustible relationship. But even churches evolve. In the United Church of Christ, we explore, celebrate, hypothesize, believe, question, and pray. Science and faith are not mutually exclusive. No matter who you are or what lab your working in, you’re welcome here.

Check out the United Church of Christ Initiative to embrace the compatibility of Science and Faith at www.ucc.org