Snow Days
Ask any school student, snow days just aren’t what they used to be. Remote learning has long put that particular delight in the rearview mirror: if you are learning virtually, then weather is never an obstacle. And if you are learning in-person, then bad weather just moves your classroom to your kitchen. That’s why I was amused by my reaction to something one of you said a couple snowy Sundays ago (I think it was Super Bowl Sunday). You wrote to me something to the effect, “Are we having church today?” and I did a double take. In another time I would have had to consult with church leadership about whether or not to hold worship, but the mere fact I had to think twice shows that old ingrained assumptions can be very difficult to break!
Today is a snow day of sorts. I’ve already been out and cleared my deck and walkway, and cleaned off the cars. But since Ash Wednesday meant I’ve already been to the church 3 times this week, I have enough work with me to permit working from home. And speaking of Ash Wednesday, it was a lovely service, and I appreciated all the music Karli brought that afternoon. I also appreciate your patient indulgence as there were one or two brief glitches which I hope we overcame without too much distraction. I promise, I’ll have this down by the time we are able to worship in person once more…
And we are now in Lent. I hope you have been able to get your copy of Promises, Promises, this year’s UCC Devotional. Once more, I will be using one or more of the devotions, or their attendant scriptures, as jumping off points for our Sunday sermons. I also want to pay attention to biblical books I’ve neglected by underuse (like last weekend’s Song of Songs), so this Sunday we’ll take a look at the enigmatic tenth chapter of John’s gospel (Matt Laney uses it for today’s devotion). A reading of the first seventeen verses presents a Jesus who somehow manages to be exclusive and inclusive at the same time. To borrow one of the buzz-phrases from seminary days, we will unpack that particular passage this week.
Here are the links to the bulletin and service:
Sunday February 21, 2021 Bulletin
Link to service