Author: lakewooducc

Weekly Update 3/4

The Season of Lent

The season of Lent has begun. Like a seed in the ground during the winter months, Lent is a time of preparation for the new life that we celebrate at Easter. The Lenten season began on Ash Wednesday and lasts 40 days not including Sundays.  It is traditionally a season of repentance; a time to turn your life back toward God, Spirit, Divine Love, however you envision that.  The Lenten season at LUCC this year will be a time to reflect with several mystics of centuries past and consider the wisdom they offer for our walk of faith today. 

In Person Indoor/Outdoor Services

There will be another indoor/outdoor set up this Sunday to try to mitigate some of the problems last week. There will be well-ventilated, physically distanced indoor seating as well as outdoor seating on the sidewalk adjacent to the sanctuary.  Masks are worn by all.  Please know that your safety is of primary consideration!  

Childcare provided.

Rev. Mardie Chapman will be reflecting on the message of the mystic Francis of Assisi.  Mardie has taken a pilgrimage to Assisi and is eager to share the teachings of this inspiring mystic! 

While there will be no communion served this Sunday, the Communion Offering will be received.  These funds are used to help people in the congregation and the community with basic needs such as rent, utilities, and prescriptions.  The need is great and your generosity is appreciated!

The bulletin and text of the Sunday sermon will be posted at the website early in the week and there will be regular posts of music and music videos from Hilton Jones.

Here’s the link for last Sunday’s service:https://lakewooducc.org/2021/03/03/sunday-service-2-28-2021/

Watch the service on FaceBook Live Sundays at 10:30.  https://www.facebook.com/LakewoodUCC

Being Covid Safe and In Person Worship

After several Sundays of in-person worship in the sanctuary, some adaptations are being made.  The church has contacted the St. Petersburg Health Department for guidance.

Please stay home if you are not feeling well.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending double masking.  Please consider wearing two masks to church.  Additional masks will be available at church to use as needed.

Two hand sanitizing stations will be available for use by worshippers.

Signs will be posted to encourage physical distancing.

The pulpit and altar will be moved into the chancel to provide more room for the congregation to physical distance.

Prayer request sheets will be provided so that worshippers may write their prayer requests and place them in a basket on the altar.  This eliminates the need for the worship leader to come within 6 feet of the worshippers. 

People who would like to converse after the service are encouraged to do so outside, not in the hallway or the library or other confined spaces.

The breezeway restrooms will be open and available to prevent people from congregating in the library while waiting to use the office restroom.

The chairs in the sanctuary will be cleaned with sanitizer each week.  You are welcome to bring your own chair if you prefer.

Sunday Worship and FaceBook Live

The church has also been offering the Sunday services on FaceBook Live.  This provides people from the congregation who do not feel comfortable participating in person to access the service on Sundays.  Typically there have been 3-5 viewers.  The services will only be available from 10:30-11:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings live.  They will not be recorded and accessible for viewing at another time.  This is a way to protect the privacy of people who are present in person and also include those from the congregation who want to participate virtually.  There are also efforts underway to improve the sound and the visuals.  Please be patient during this time of experimentation and adaptation!

Adult Day Care Plans Opening

The adult day care continues to move forward.  The current plan is to open on Monday April 5.  Many thanks to those from the church who are helping with this transition:  Claire Stiles, Patti Cooksey, Colleen Coughenour, and Earl Waters. Thank you!

Care Team and Care Team Plus to Meet

The Care Teams will have a monthly meeting on Thursday March 4 at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom.  The access link is the same as always:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2700683648.

New Locks on Breezeway Bathrooms

Many thanks to Bert Lee for putting new locks on the breezeway bathrooms. The new locks are combination locks. Please speak with Bert and he will be happy to give you the combination! The bathrooms will be open as usual for all church events. Thank you so much, Bert.

Rev. Wells Away

Kim has gotten clearance from her doctors to go to Massachusetts on Grandma duty.  She will be gone from Wednesday Feb. 24 – Friday March 12.  Many thanks to all those who will be serving in her absence!  If you are in need of pastoral care, please contact Patti Cooksey at cooksepa@eckerd.edu. 

Immigration Justice Update:

Everyone is invited to watch the online documentary about the border crisis and ICE detention facilities “To Right the Wrong – Border Stories,” which airs Thursday March 4 at 7:30 pm, with a discussion afterward. Register here:  https://www.mobilize.us/witnessattheborder/event/375702/ 

or find out more and register at the Pinellas Coalition for Immigration Justice Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PinellasCoalition

Want an easy way to support local migrant farmworkers? Buy “Fair Food” labeled tomatoes and other produce at Trader Joe’s, Fresh Market, Whole Foods and even Walmart. Note: Publix is not participating in this effort. 

Thank you to Michelle Cloutier for attending this meeting and providing the new update!

He does do windows!

Many thanks to Rick Carr for working on the windows above the cupboards in the Sanctuary.  Rick cleaned the windows and the tracks and removed the plates and screws which kept them locked.  Now the windows can be opened to allow more circulation of fresh air in the sanctuary to help the church be covid safe.  These windows have not been opened in at least 30 years and probably more like 50!  Thank you so much, Rick!

Operation Attack Needs

We had another successful Food Distribution Drive Thru on January 30.  We served 53 Families and 180 people.  We have more events on Saturday, March 13 and April 17. 

We want to encourage you to participate in the Drive-Thrus in the following ways: 

  • Volunteer at the preparation opportunities and/or the Drive Thru.
  • Donate cereal, peanut butter, canned meat, fruit, vegetables and soup, dried beans, and mac/cheese.
  • Pray for the people in our community who are being challenged during this difficult time and the volunteers who are trying to ease their burdens.

Anti-Racism Demonstrations Continue

Weekly demonstrations to end racism resumed Sunday January 10 at 4:30 p.m..  Many thanks to all who are participating.  While there was a break in the demonstrations, we know that there is no break in the systemic racism that is harmful to everyone.  Add your presence to this weekly demonstration making a witness to your commitment to anti racism.

Weekly Labyrinth Walks Continue

Each Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. a small group gathers at the outdoor labyrinth for a time of devotion, discussion, and meditative walking of the labyrinth.  The theme for the week is taken from the Sunday before, so it is an opportunity to go deeper in the spiritual exploration of that theme for your life.  This devotional gathering is outside and physical distancing is maintained. All are welcome!

If there is rain on Wednesday morning, the gathering will be held on Thursday morning at 9:00.

Spiritual Direction Offered by LUCC Clergy Member.

In these troubled times, it is important to find ways to tend to our spiritual lives. In the Christian tradition, Spiritual Direction is one of the ways of paying attention to the spirit in our lives. A Spiritual Director is someone to talk with about what is going on in our spiritual life and in our relationship with God however we may conceive of God.

Rev. Sally Purvis, Ph.D., a member of LUCC, is a retired clergy person with training and experience in Spiritual Direction. She is offering her services as a Spiritual Director to the community. The sessions would be held on Zoom and there is no fee to be paid. Church leaders are pleased to have the ministry of the church expand in this way.

Spiritual Direction with Sally is open to anyone, not just the congregation. And it is offered to everyone whatever their spiritual or religious background or affiliation or lack thereof. Sessions are generally held once every three weeks. Spiritual Direction is not a mode of therapy. It is a process for understanding and deepening your relationship with God/Spirit in ways that are authentic and life-giving.

Sally was trained by Henri Nouwen, a noted spiritual guide of the 20th century, and did Spiritual Direction as part of her professional ministry before retiring in 2015.

If you would like to explore Spiritual Direction with Sally, please contact her at
sallybpurvis@icloud.com or contact the church (867-7961 or lakewooducc@gmail.com ).

The church is very grateful to Sally for offering this avenue of support to the congregation and the community.

Music from Hilton

You can watch 5 videos Hilton made as lead-ups to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUn2RmCFhW2uAVwKQLfqJnzNmZhEK_TK5.

If you want to just hear they soundtracks, without the videos, you can hear those at https://soundcloud.com/hilton-kean-jones/sets/mlk-day.

USEFUL LAKEWOOD LINKS DURING THE CORONA CRISIS:

For the above church website links, please note the “Older Posts” button near the bottom of each page.

March Birthdays: Carol Shores 3/1, Claudia Rodriguez 3/3, Yvonne Riesen 3/13, Ron Huff 3/19, Earl Waters 3/25, Marg Radens 3/31, Someone missing? Contact the church office with birthday information.

Circle of Concern:  To the family and loved ones of Wilbur Reid. Marg and Dave Radens, Dina Gamma, Carol shores and her son Joel. Victoria Long, Edward Jones, William Owen, Jen Degroot, Carolyn Moore, Ann Quinn, Maggie Brizendine, Joyce Lee, Wally LeBlanc, teachers, students, and school personnel, and all healthcare workers and essential workers. All those suffering from COVID-19.

Please keep LUCC member, Olivia Gibson, in your prayers. She is a nurse in a COVID-19 unit in a local hospital. We are grateful for her ministry!

Church Office Hours:  Tuesday-Friday 9:30-noon. 

Recent Posts:

Weekly Update: If you are involved with an activity or event that you would like to share with the LUCC family, please send the information to the Church Office by Tuesday since the Update usually is sent out on Wednesday.

Sunday Service 2.28.2021

GATHERING MUSIC                   Nimrod                              Elgar

WELCOME and ANNOUNCEMENTS

LIGHTING THE PEACE CANDLE            Barbara Donahue, liturgist

Hate It has caused a lot of problems in this world, but it has not solved one yet

Maya Angelou, poet, 1928-2014

PRELUDE             All Things Bright and Beautiful         Shaw & Monk

OPENING PRAYER                 Julian of Norwich, 1343 – after 1416

This is the reason why we do not feel complete ease in our hearts and souls: we look here for satisfaction in things which are so trivial, where there is no rest to be found, and do not know our God who is almighty, all wise, all good, God is rest itself. 

MUSIC                             I’ll Fly Away                              trad/HKJ

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Let us prepare ourselves for the word of God as it comes to us in the reading of Holy Scripture. Our hearts and minds are open.  

Deuteronomy 30: 11-14 and Matthew 22: 34-40

For the word of God in scripture, for the word of God among us, for the word of God within us. Thanks be to God.

MYSTIC READING                                              Julian of Norwich

From Revelations of Divine Love, also known as Showings

REFLECTION                  Julian of Norwich     Rev. Dr. Sally B. Purvis

Julian of Norwich. Reading Julian, thinking about Julian is like visiting a foreign country, a very foreign country where everything is different, sights, smells, tastes, customs, assumptions. In many ways you’re in a different world. And like foreign travel, the only way remotely to understand even a bit of Julian is to let go of expectations based on our experiences and culture. We’re going to a different place.

Who was Julian? We know very little about her. Unlike the very public figure of Teresa of Avila whom Kim talked about last week, Julian’s biographical details are very sparse. We’re not even sure her name was Julian! Here’s what we do know.

In 1373, a 30 year old woman lay on what she thought was her death bed. A priest was called to give her the last rites. As part of that sacrament, he held a crucifix so she could see it, and the crucifix came to life with blood pouring down Jesus’ face from the crown of thorns, and he spoke to her. That was the first of 16 revelations, or showings, as she called them, that she experienced lying on that bed.

Julian probably wasn’t a nun, but after she recovered her health she became an anchorite at the Church of St. Julian in Norwich, England. That means that a room was built onto the church, with a window into the sanctuary so that she could see the services and another to the outside so that her physical needs could be attended to by servants and others who helped her, but there was no door. No door. She entered the room and was enclosed, and she stayed in that room for the rest of her life. I invite you to spend some time imagining that later this week-maybe while you’re outside.

Shortly after she was enclosed, she wrote down her revelations and some commentary on them, and she called them “Revelations of Divine Love” in sixteen showings. We now refer to that account as the short text. Then twenty years later, she wrote another account of the revelations and added interpretations and insights that she’d gained over those twenty years of contemplation and prayer, and that became the long text.

She referred to herself as a “simple, uneducated creature,” and perhaps she didn’t have the classical education in Latin and Greek that was the standard at the time, but she was clearly an amazing thinker. And, she was the first person ever to publish in the English language. She wanted her experiences and her reflections to be available to everyone. She says at one point that she doesn’t want attention drawn to herself but to the revelations from God that she was given but that were given for everyone.

As the years went by, Julian wasn’t entirely a recluse. She had interactions with church officials and other contemplatives, and as her reputation for wisdom grew, she had many people come to her for spiritual guidance. But most of her time was spent in prayer and contemplation.

So what did God show her and tell her? LOVE and more love. Endless, all encompassing, intimate love of God for God’s creatures. Jesus was happy to die for us, but not in order to pay a debt to God that humanity couldn’t pay, which is the classical doctrine of atonement. No, Christ’s suffering was an expression of his love, to join us in our suffering, so that there is no distance between us. God is ALL love. Unlike the God of the 14th century church, and unlike the God some of us were raised with, there is no wrath in God, no anger. In the longer text, she even claims that God doesn’t offer forgiveness because there is no anger in God, so nothing to forgive. Humans need to forgive themselves and one another, but God doesn’t forgive. LOVE. Everywhere. All the way down.

Julian likens our relationship to God to clothing we put on. Touching our bodies, our most private selves. Intimate. Elsewhere she writes, “At one moment my consciousness was taken down on to the sea bed, and there I saw green hills and valleys, looking as though they were covered in moss, with seaweed and sand. Then I understood this: that if a man or a woman were under the wide waters, if he could see God (and God is constantly with us) she would be safe, body and soul, and be unharmed, and furthermore, he would have more joy and comfort than words can say.” Even at the bottom of the sea, we are held by, safe with God.

I hope you aren’t starting to imagine that the world of 14th century England must have been a wonderful place, peaceful, calm for Julian to receive such visions. On the contrary – the 100 Years’ War was raging, and the Black Plague killed 3/4 of the population of England at its height in the 1340’s when Julian was a child. 3/4 of the population. And the plague didn’t end then though it receded. With those numbers, everyone lost someone or someones, so grief filled every heart. The church was was very powerful, and like all powerful institutions, it was also corrupt. Poverty was extensive with power and wealth in the hands of a few. Like now. Very much like now. Maybe not entirely foreign. And yet out of this turmoil and injustice came revelations of love so profound, so encompassing, so universal that they seem, well, otherworldly.

Let’s try to move a little closer to the visions. God manifests as every loving relationship we know, sister, brother, friend, spouse as well as parent. Julian has a long exposition about God as mother, feeding us with her very self, holding us close, comforting us, protecting us. And God is our father, love through and through. Imagine that everywhere we turn, in every circumstance and situation, we are entirely surrounded by love, clothed in love, called by love. There would be no need for fear. All would be well.

As intimate as many of Julian’s interactions with God were, she was always mindful that it was GOD speaking to her, revealing truths to her. In one vision, God showed her a small round thing, the size of a hazelnut, resting in the palm of her hand. She realized that that nut, that small round object, was “all that is made.” God was all the rest. And the nut continued to exist because God loved it. It was held in being by God’s love, vast, unimaginable. Perhaps you’ve had a glimpse of that vision at the sea shore or in the mountains or the desert, the small scale of human existence. Julian was clearly aware of it.

With the powerful messages of her revelations, Julian wrestled during those 20 years of contemplation over the question of sin. She wasn’t delusional – she knew that there were very bad things happening. She ends up telling a parable about a lord and a servant. It goes like this: A lord is seated and a servant is standing nearby. The lord looks at the servant with love and the servant shows reverence to the lord. The lord sends the servant on an errand and the servant, and I quote, “leaps forward and runs in great haste, in loving anxiety to do his lord’s will.” But the servant falls into a hole he didn’t see and is badly hurt. He groans, and moans and tries to find a way out, not noticing that the lord is very near and could help if he but asked.

In this parable, sin is an accident that happens in the exuberance of doing something good and not noticing where we’re going. And then we forget that what we need to be healed is near us if we’d but look. All we need to do is notice that help is at hand. Julian even claims that there’s a part of every soul that’s impervious to sin, a part of every one of us that sin can’t reach.

God is also our source of prayer. AND, according to Julian, our prayers bring God pleasure. She says to pray even when you don’t feel like it, even if you think prayer won’t come, because you’re bringing God pleasure. Our prayers bring God pleasure. Wow. The loving relationship is always there, always holding us, always delighting in us, even when we’re totally unaware of it.

In Julian’s revelations, it’s as though we are always and everywhere swimming in a sea of love, walking in a cloud of love, We are immersed, embedded, soaked by God’s love. It’s the truest thing about us.

The revelations are amazing. Pure love, all the way down. Can we claim her revelations as a truth we can access, even believe? Maybe not, but there are some clues for us along the way.

First, we need to remember that Julian thought she was on her death bed when the revelations occurred. Her insights were born in suffering. I would never suggest that anyone seek out suffering or that we wouldn’t alleviate suffering whenever we can. But there’s a sense in which our culture sometimes almost seems embarrassed by suffering, as though it ’s somehow unseemly. I’m so glad that our president is acknowledging the loss and grief that Covid-19 has caused and is causing us as a nation and doing so in such a personal way. Rather than turning away from suffering, we can honor it, even as we work to diminish it. And suffering can be , often is, an occasion for reflection, not shameful at all but a part of life. For Julian, God is always with us there.

Second, it’s not an accident that after she recovered physically she chose to lock herself away. She needed to be alone with these revelations, with the God who had offered her such intimacy, to give herself every chance to be present to God. Like St. Augustine, Julian talked about how much trouble we cause ourselves by trying to fill the God-shaped hole within us with other things. Power, money, too much food, too much alcohol or drugs, even being busy with too many good deeds – you can add to the list. My teacher, Henri Nouwen, talked, wrote, preached about the toxicity of distractions, and that was back in the early 1980’s before there were smart phones and tablets. But distractions have always been with us. We humans are masters at creating them and just terrible of getting rid of them. Yes?

It’s as though we are afraid of what we’ll find if we focus too hard, if we truly do nothing for too long, if we become still. What will we do with the tattered remnants of our dreams that appear in the silence, or the regrets that buffet us like a strong wind? What will we make of the broken relationships with the sharp edges that still threaten to wound us? What about the ghosts of guilt that dance around us and through us?

Listen to Mary Oliver’s poem “A Visitor”:

“My father, for example, who was young once and blue-eyed, returns on the darkest of nights to the porch and knocks wildly at the door, and if I answer I must be prepared for his waxy face, for his lower lip swollen with bitterness. And so, for a long time, I did not answer but slept fitfully between his hours of rapping. But finally there came the night when I rose out of my sheets and stumbled down the hall. The door fell open and I knew I was saved and could bear him, pathetic and hollow, with even the least of his dreams frozen inside him, and the meanness gone. And I greeted him and asked him into the house, and lit the lamp, and looked into his blank eyes in which at last I saw what a child must love, I saw what love might have done, had we loved in time.”

Isn’t this part of what we’re afraid of? Some version of this poem? Too little love, too late, or not at all? That the love we really need will never find us? Love that we can’t quite reach or that can’t quite reach us?

What if, instead of staring at each other, looking for something that can’t be there, what if Mary and her father had turned and together looked for God. Perhaps even that would have been too late, but perhaps not. And in that turning, even the past might be reinterpreted, and love, love that may have been there all along, would emerge.

Sin is an accident, not the core of who we are, not our guiding motivation. And help is nearby. Love is nearby. All we need to do is notice and reach out. Wherever you go, Love is there. Whatever you do, Love is right beside you, clothing you, holding you.

As when we visit a foreign country, Julian’s revelations offer us another vision, another way to see the world and others and ourselves. They tell us not to be afraid. Not to be afraid of God. Not to be afraid of ourselves. Not to be afraid of the silence that is a destination filled with beauty and hope. Not to be afraid of life or suffering or the depths of the sea because God is always with us, in us, around us.

If we can’t manage all that, then at least we can speak to ourselves and one another, gently and with conviction, the words that Jesus spoke to Julian: “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”

AMEN

UNISON READING                                                Julian of Norwich

At the same time, our Lord showed me a spiritual vision of his familiar love.  I saw that for us he is everything that we find good and comforting.  He is our clothing, wrapping us for love, embracing and enclosing us for tender love, so that he can never leave us, being himself everything that is good for us, as I understand it.

MUSIC                     I Will Give My Love an Apple               trad/HKJ

MISSION STATEMENT The mission of Lakewood United Church of Christ, as part of the Church Universal is to:

  • Celebrate the presence and power of God in our lives & in our world
  • Offer the hospitality and inclusive love of Christ to all people.
  • Work for God’s peace and justice throughout creation.

MORNING OFFERING Morning offerings may be brought forward and placed in the plates on the altar.

       Offertory                    As a Doe Longs                             HKJ

    USF Chamber Singers, Dr. John Richmond, dir. recorded 1980s

        Prayer of Dedication                                Julian of Norwich

And thanksgiving is also part of prayer.  Thanksgiving is a new inward awareness, accompanied by great reverence and loving fear, when we apply ourselves with all our might to whatever action our good Lord inspires, rejoicing and giving inward thanks.  And sometimes thanksgiving is so abundant that it breaks out into words and says, “Good Lord, thank you, blessed may you be.” Amen.

MUSICAL CALL TO PRAYER      The Turtle Dove             trad/HKJ

COMMUNITY PRAYERS – SAVIOR’S PRAYER

Our Creator in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.  Give us today our daily bread.  Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.  Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.  For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and forever.  Amen.

*BENEDICTION (unison)                                

Jesus said to her, “Sin is befitting, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”  May you embrace and express the love that you are, that created you, that you are created to be and do, trusting in that love, that all shall be well. Amen.

*POSTLUDE                       Sine Nomine     Vaughan Williams/ (descants)HKJ

*All Julian of Norwich quotes are from Mary C. Earle, Julian of Norwich: Selections from Revelations of Divine Love – Annotated and Explained

Weekly Update 2/25

The Season of Lent

The season of Lent has begun. Like a seed in the ground during the winter months, Lent is a time of preparation for the new life that we celebrate at Easter. The Lenten season began on Ash Wednesday and lasts 40 days not including Sundays.  It is traditionally a season of repentance; a time to turn your life back toward God, Spirit, Divine Love, however you envision that.  The Lenten season at LUCC this year will be a time to reflect with several mystics of centuries past and consider the wisdom they offer for our walk of faith today. 

In Person Indoor/Outdoor Services

There will be another indoor/outdoor set up this Sunday to try to mitigate some of the problems last week. There will be well-ventilated, physically distanced indoor seating as well as outdoor seating on the sidewalk adjacent to the sanctuary.  Masks are worn by all.  Please know that your safety is of primary consideration!  

Childcare provided.

This Sunday the service will focus on the mystic Julian of Norwich. Rev.Dr. Sally Purvis will be sharing about Julian with the congregation.

The bulletin and text of the Sunday sermon will be posted at the website early in the week and there will be regular posts of music and music videos from Hilton Jones.

Here’s the link for last Sunday’s service: https://lakewooducc.org/2021/02/25/sunday-service-2-21-2021/

Watch the service on FaceBook Live Sundays at 10:30.  https://www.facebook.com/LakewoodUCC

Dollie Pettis Memorial Service

Sympathy and condolences are expressed to Claire Stiles and Ruth Pettis and family over the death of Ruth’s mother, Dollie, on December 31. Dollie was a resident of Westminster Suncoast.

There will be a memorial service held over Zoom tomorrow, Friday the 26th, 2021 from 11:30-1:30p.m. The Dollie Pettis Memorial & Celebration of life starts at 12 noon.

We’ll look forward to seeing you there!

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Eckerd College Environmental Film Festival, Virtual

Eckerd students, faculty and staff have turned to the natural world for study, recreation and conservation efforts. Our campus wide immersion in concern for the health of the planet shines through many of our endeavors, including the return of the Visions of Nature/Voices of Nature Environmental Film Festival. The reimagined festival will feature online access to Viktor Kossakovsky’s Gunda, a black-and-white documentary about a sow and her piglets, from February 26 to 29, and a virtual discussion of the film with Assistant Professor of Animal Studies Erin Frick on February 27 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Almost every moment at Eckerd is a chance to engage with the environment. We’re proud to share the ways our community continues to excel at positive interactions with nature. 

Please use the following link to view this post: https://lakewooducc.org/2021/02/16/ec-environmental-film-festival-virtual/

New Locks on Breezeway Bathrooms

Many thanks to Bert Lee for putting new locks on the breezeway bathrooms. The new locks are combination locks. Please speak with Bert and he will be happy to give you the combination! The bathrooms will be open as usual for all church events. Thank you so much, Bert.

Rev. Wells Away

Kim has gotten clearance from her doctors to go to Massachusetts on Grandma duty.  She will be gone from Wednesday Feb. 24 – Friday March 12.  Many thanks to all those who will be serving in her absence!  If you are in need of pastoral care, please contact Patti Cooksey at cooksepa@eckerd.edu. 

Want to make a difference? Represent LUCC on the Pinellas Coalition for Immigration Justice!

To remain part of the PCIJ, Lakewood needs a representative to replace Sue Sherwood. Please contact the Church if you can attend the  PCIJ monthly meeting (currently on Zoom the first Tuesday of the month at 7 PM) and serve as a liaison, reporting to the church on actions taken and encouraging LUCC participation in activities such as contacting elected representatives and promoting educational events. With the new Administration in Washington talking of reopening the private Homestead facility for immigrant youth and the FL legislature’s committee work starting, there is much at stake. You are needed in making a difference! 

He does do windows!

Many thanks to Rick Carr for working on the windows above the cupboards in the Sanctuary.  Rick cleaned the windows and the tracks and removed the plates and screws which kept them locked.  Now the windows can be opened to allow more circulation of fresh air in the sanctuary to help the church be covid safe.  These windows have not been opened in at least 30 years and probably more like 50!  Thank you so much, Rick!

Adult Daycare Update

The inspections are underway so that the licensing can be finalized and the center can open.  Hopefully it will be soon!

Operation Attack Needs

There was another successful OA Food Distribution Drive Thru in December due to caring volunteers, thankful families, and all of you.  We fed 91 families with 2 bags of non perishables, fresh produce, meat,  and dairy products.  We also gave extra food to large families (over 6 people), diapers and wipes, 50 referrals to Clothes to Kids, and 120 Christmas Goodie Bags.  The  goodie bags were donated and made by E.L.F.S., The Elected Ladies For The Savior.  Each beautifully decorated Christmas bag was filled with a juice box, chips and candy.  We were grateful to be asked to distribute these gifts to children. 

The next Food Distribution Drive Thrus will March 13.  Listed below are ways you can participate in our future Drive Thrus: 

Volunteer to pre-bag food before the Drive Thru. Purchase baby wipes and large/family size nonperishable food Donate plastic grocery bags Pray for the people/groups making this event happen Pray for the people we are serving

Thank you for your faithfulness to the people in the community who need our support right now.  Yours in Christ!

Anti-Racism Demonstrations Continue

Weekly demonstrations to end racism resumed Sunday January 10 at 4:30 p.m..  Many thanks to all who are participating.  While there was a break in the demonstrations, we know that there is no break in the systemic racism that is harmful to everyone.  Add your presence to this weekly demonstration making a witness to your commitment to anti racism.

Weekly Labyrinth Walks Continue

Each Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. a small group gathers at the outdoor labyrinth for a time of devotion, discussion, and meditative walking of the labyrinth.  The theme for the week is taken from the Sunday before, so it is an opportunity to go deeper in the spiritual exploration of that theme for your life.  This devotional gathering is outside and physical distancing is maintained. All are welcome!

If there is rain on Wednesday morning, the gathering will be held on Thursday morning at 9:00.

Spiritual Direction Offered by LUCC Clergy Member.

In these troubled times, it is important to find ways to tend to our spiritual lives. In the Christian tradition, Spiritual Direction is one of the ways of paying attention to the spirit in our lives. A Spiritual Director is someone to talk with about what is going on in our spiritual life and in our relationship with God however we may conceive of God.

Rev. Sally Purvis, Ph.D., a member of LUCC, is a retired clergy person with training and experience in Spiritual Direction. She is offering her services as a Spiritual Director to the community. The sessions would be held on Zoom and there is no fee to be paid. Church leaders are pleased to have the ministry of the church expand in this way.

Spiritual Direction with Sally is open to anyone, not just the congregation. And it is offered to everyone whatever their spiritual or religious background or affiliation or lack thereof. Sessions are generally held once every three weeks. Spiritual Direction is not a mode of therapy. It is a process for understanding and deepening your relationship with God/Spirit in ways that are authentic and life-giving.

Sally was trained by Henri Nouwen, a noted spiritual guide of the 20th century, and did Spiritual Direction as part of her professional ministry before retiring in 2015.

If you would like to explore Spiritual Direction with Sally, please contact her at
sallybpurvis@icloud.com or contact the church (867-7961 or lakewooducc@gmail.com ).

The church is very grateful to Sally for offering this avenue of support to the congregation and the community.

Music from Hilton

You can watch 5 videos Hilton made as lead-ups to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUn2RmCFhW2uAVwKQLfqJnzNmZhEK_TK5.

If you want to just hear they soundtracks, without the videos, you can hear those at https://soundcloud.com/hilton-kean-jones/sets/mlk-day.

USEFUL LAKEWOOD LINKS DURING THE CORONA CRISIS:

For the above church website links, please note the “Older Posts” button near the bottom of each page.

February Birthdays: Jim Andrews 2/6, Jeff Wells 2/15, Joyce Lee 2/28, Someone missing? Contact the church office with birthday information.

Circle of Concern:  To the family and loved ones of Wilbur Reid. Marg and Dave Radens, Victoria Long, Edward Jones, William Owen, Jen Degroot, Carolyn Moore, Ann Quinn, Maggie Brizendine, Joyce Lee, Wally LeBlanc, teachers, students, and school personnel, and all healthcare workers and essential workers. All those suffering from COVID-19.

Please keep LUCC member, Olivia Gibson, in your prayers. She is a nurse in a COVID-19 unit in a local hospital. We are grateful for her ministry!

Church Office Hours:  Tuesday-Friday 9:30-noon. 

Recent Posts:

Weekly Update: If you are involved with an activity or event that you would like to share with the LUCC family, please send the information to the Church Office by Tuesday since the Update usually is sent out on Wednesday.

Sunday Service 2.21.2021

GATHERING MUSIC       Sancho from Cervantes Portraits                HKJ

WELCOME and ANNOUNCEMENTS

LIGHTING THE PEACE CANDLE                        Claire Stiles, liturgist

Unless the widening gap between the rich and poor is arrested, and if possible reversed, the very peace and stability of any society will be seriously jeopardized.

Akin J. Omoyajowo, contemporary Nigerian bishop

PRELUDE                                   De Colores                     Spanish trad.

OPENING PRAYER                                    Teresa of Avila, 1515-1582

MUSIC                             Pues Si Vivmos                              Haugen

SCRIPTURE READINGS Let us prepare ourselves for the word of God as it comes to us in the reading of Holy Scripture. Our hearts and minds are open.  

John 14:1-4 and 1 John 4: 19-21

For the word of God in scripture, for the word of God among us, for the word of God within us. Thanks be to God.

MYSTIC READING              A Seed of Love                       Teresa of Avila

REFLECTION                     Teresa of Avila                     Rev. Kim P. Wells

What could a Catholic nun from Spain who lived inthe 1500’s possibly have to say to us today? Her times were so different than ours. Her concerns and context so alien from ours today. Surely it was a simpler time without all the complexities and

distractions that we face. Ah, to just have to pray in a convent all day! How hard was that?

Yes, like mystics of every age, Teresa of Avila is known for cultivating the life of prayer. She may be best known for the image of the interior castle or mansion. In her book with that title she begins by telling us, “I began to think of the soul as if it were a castle made of a single diamond or of very clear crystal, in which there are many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions.” She goes on:

“Let us now imagine that this castle, as I have said, contains many mansions, some above, others below, others at each side; and in the center and midst of them all is the chiefest mansion where the most secret things pass between God and the soul.”

Teresa then outlines 7 rooms that lead to the center, which is flooded with light, and where there is intimate communion with the Divine. It’s a beautiful path of contemplative prayer. But, hey, we have apps for that kind of thing today.

So what is it about Teresa that may speak to us? I find her story compelling and illuminating. She was born in Spain to a comfortable family. It was in the aftermath of the triumph over the Moors. So the Catholic church was clamping down hard on compliance with its authority. The Inquisition was in

full force. The society was very class oriented.

People with money had power and got favored treatment in all settings. In her youth, Teresa herself was popular. She was attractive, lively, winsome, charming. Her family and friends took delight in her. So how does she end up going from being a privileged child to a persecuted nun to the patron saint of Spain, all within in her lifetime?

Well, Teresa’s mother died when she was a teen and that rocked her world. And her family was of Jewish heritage and converted to Catholicism to avoid the

Inquisition. So they were extremely devout. And something significant, a traumatic experience, occurred in her teens and we don’t know the nature of the situation. Teresa became very sick, actually several times in her life, with illness that threatened to kill her and lasted for many months. Somehow, through all of this, Teresa made her own path. A path that I believe still speaks to us today.

For one thing, despite the highly stratified society and the strict hierarchy of the church, Teresa had an egalitarian heart. Even her book Interior Castle, is a way of prayer that is accessible to everyone. You don’t need a special guilt prayer book or a priest or to seclude yourself away from day to day tasks for long periods of time. A luxury many cannot afford. So this is a way of prayer that can be practiced by anyone.

She begins with the assumption that every single person, as a human being created in the image of God, has this precious castle within. She tells us, “Each of us has a soul, but we forget to value it. We don’t remember that we are creatures made in the image of God. We don’t understand the great secrets hidden inside of us.” This is not a special gift only for some. It is not associated with money or success or piety. Everyone has this castle within and everyone has access to this castle through what is referred to as mental prayer. We might say contemplative prayer. In other words, it does not require a certain prayer said by a certain authorized person. It is not mediated by the institutional church. It is a process for uniting with God that is available to literally everyone. She describes it this way: “Mental prayer is, as I see it, simply a friendly intercourse and frequent solitary conversation with Him who, as we know, loves us.” She makes things very accessible to everyone.

Another way we see her egalitarianism is in the way she ran her convents. It was the custom for wealthy women who entered the convent to offer large dowries to the convent. This was a source of revenue for running the convent and supporting the Catholic church. Those who donated more money got better, more spacious quarters, domestic assistance, more perks, so to speak. Teresa did not agree with this. She felt that everyone was equal in the eyes of God so when she couldn’t affect reform in the convent she was in she set about founding a new convent in which everyone had the same accommodations and food and work and seclusion.

No exceptions.

Teresa felt that money and wealth got in the way of people being treated equally as they should be because everyone was equally beloved in the eyes of God. We are still struggling with this today – in society, in the justice system, in schools, in health care, in the church, in basically every sector of our culture. Money talks!

This is something that the church as well as society needs to be keeping in mind today. We have an underclass, an invisible-to-most class of people in this country that are not part of the mainstream. Teresa sought to eliminate those divisions, especially in the church. She comments: “How friendly all men would be one with another, if no regard were paid to honour and money! I believe it would be a remedy for everything.” Amen to that! Teresa sheds the light of the equality for us today. And we need to follow that light.

Teresa also has a word for us about materialism and consumerism. She saw not only how money undermined equality, but she saw how material wealth could become an impediment to intimacy with God. Material concerns, appearances, a sense of self importance, these things got in the way of pursing union with God. And since she grew up with wealth and comfort, she spoke from experience. Later in life when she has come into her own, after her second conversion and her dedication to founding new convents, she comments, :Thank God for the things that I do not own.” She saw the pitfalls and problems associated with wealth and class and how they could distract from wholeheartedly giving your life to the pursuit of Love.

We certainly need to be reminded of this today. Yes, we have the highest standard of material wealth ever known in human history, but what is the state of our connection – to each other, to Divine Love, to Creation, our beloved Mother Earth? All of these relationships are suffering while our material standard of living increases. These two things are not unrelated. We are seeking from material comfort what it cannot provide – love, connection, intimacy, emotional security. And that pursuit of more and better and newer is distracting us from what does satisfy – connection and relationship. And all of this is fueled by capitalism and the lie that we will all benefit materially and that will make our lives better.

Teresa knew better. She tells us: “Our body has this defect that, the more it is provided care and comforts, the more needs and desires it finds.”

In her convents and monasteries, the monks and nuns had what they needed, and they provided this for themselves and each other. There was no favoritism based on status or wealth. It was a model embodying God’s inestimable love for each and every person. This is a message we need to be reminded of today.

Teresa offers another important insight for us today. She was a big proponent of self-knowledge. In her Interior Castle, she advocates exploring the many rooms and mansions that eventually lead to the Divine center. Countless rooms, really. And Teresa is very much an advocate for exploring them all. She places a high value on exploration, asking questions, getting to know oneself, and Christ and God, intimately. She very much promotes self knowledge, self awareness, and self discovery. For women as well as men. But she cautions: “It is of great importance, when we begin to practice prayer, not to let ourselves be frightened by our own thoughts.” This kind of independent thinking was not encouraged in her time especially for women. But she seems to feel that in getting to know yourself, you are coming to a better understanding of God and God’s grace and generosity and strength in your life. You see better what God is doing for you. And can then have a greater appreciation for God’s love, its breadth and depth. So she believed that self-examination would lead you closer to God. She believed people should explore, examine and investigate their own hearts. Don’t just take the word of an outside authority, a priest. Don’t just adhere to theological dogma presented by the church. Explore and examine for yourself. Know yourself.

This stood her in good stead as she faced the challenges of her time and context. When she lived, the Moors had been driven from Spain and the Catholic church was reasserting its dominance. The Inquisition was in full force. Think McCarthyism or Salem Witch Trials. Teresa’s parents were of Jewish heritage and had converted to Catholicism to avoid the Inquisition. But they were still suspect. So Teresa was watched. And she was investigated. She wrote several books to explain her life and activities and beliefs to the church authorities. They also did not like it that she wanted to found more strict convents. She was challenging social and religious norms. Besides this would cost money, money that would not be going to the current interests of the Catholic church. The church was also suspect of people who had visions or ecstatic spiritual experiences. This kind of manifestation can be a threat to the established power structure. Were these visions from God or the devil? This had to be determined. And Teresa was known for her manifestations because they sometimes occurred in a public setting. She wrote in a letter to her brother:

“You should know that for more than eight days I’ve been in such a state that, if it were to continue, I would not be able to attend to business. Since before I last wrote to you I’ve begun having raptures again, and they’ve been a problem because they’ve happened several times in public, and even during matins. It is no use resisting them, or pretending that nothing is happening. I get so embarrassed that I want to hide, anyplace at all. I pray wholeheartedly to God to stop making this happen to me in public, and you have to pray too, because it’s a real nuisance, and it doesn’t seem to help me at all in prayer. Lately I’ve been seeming almost as if I were drunk.”

Wouldn’t a mystic be grateful for these ecstatic occurrences? Isn’t this the prize of mysticism? Wouldn’t this give a mystic cache? Maybe. But not if it attracts the attention of church authorities who already find you suspicious for a variety of other reasons. So Teresa was not welcoming of her public ecstasies.

But when challenged, Teresa could explain herself, fully and freely, because she knew herself. She had explored her heart and her mind. She knew her loyalties. She knew her devotion to God. And she could speak of these things. She was not hemmed in by the ideas given to her by others, including the church. And because her explanations were so sincere, and honest, and humble, who could argue?

It was all about the love of God and showing that love and living that love. What could church authorities say to a mere woman who declared: “The important thing is not to think much but to love much; and to do that which best stirs you to love.”

This is another aspect of her teaching that speaks to us today. Today everyone is so busy and distracted that they don’t take time to think, to explore, to know themselves. We accept the messages that society sends us about who we are. About what matters. About what is right. And leave it at that. For all of our freedom, we are really caged in our thinking. Teresa advocates thinking for yourself. Knowing yourself. And not just blindly accepting what society or the church is indoctrinating you to think.

Another thing that we see in the life of Teresa is engagement with the world along with devotion to prayer. She did not just stay in her cell all day. She did not remain cloistered in the convents that she founded though she provided that opportunity for others. She follows her own path. She listens and does what she is supposed to do with her life. She finds balance, of a sort. Doing what God wants, entirely, and accepting that even though it kept her very busy!

Teresa was an itinerant traveler in Spain, seeing to her convents and monasteries. There were issues and conflicts and problems that had to be dealt with. It was like running a business with franchises. And on top of that, Teresa had suffered from ill health since she was a young adult. She had bouts of sickness that sometimes lasted years. And there were her books to write. And responding to the Inquisition. And keeping in touch with friends, colleagues and family. So she was very busy. At one point she confronts God about her busy-ness:

“How is it, my God, that you have given me this hectic life and so little time to enjoy your presence. All day, people are waiting to speak to me, and even during meals I have to keep talking to people about their concerns and needs. During sleep itself I am still thinking and dreaming about the problems that wait for me tomorrow. I am doing all this for you, not for myself. My way of life is more tormenting than reward, and I only hope that for you it is a gift of love. I know you are always beside me, yet I become so busy that I forget you and ignore you. If you want me to keep up this pace, please make me think about you and love you, even during the most hectic activity. If you do not want me to be so busy, please release me from it and teach me how others can take over some of my responsibilities.”

Well, it may the 21st century, but certainly many of us can relate to that! And why was she so busy? I would suggest two reasons. First, Teresa herself tells us: “Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love for they enkindle and melt the soul.” She was committed to love. To showing love. To living love. To giving love. And there was much need in the world for love then as there is now.

But I don’t think that is the sole explanation for Teresa’s business. I think it was also her personality. She was well-suited to being engaged in the world. She was personable, charming, a good communicator, and self-effacing. She was very good at seeming cooperative and innocent, as women were acculturated to be then, and maybe now. She won over the church leaders and her detractors. She herself said, “God save us from gloomy saints.” I don’t think Teresa was gloomy! By the time she wrote Interior Castle, near the end of her life, she was known as La Santa of Spain, the saint of Spain, and revered by even the king.

So Teresa loves, she is intimate with God, she serves others, on terms that do not deny her individuality and personhood, but that honor her uniqueness. As she told others: “Trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.” I think it is that trust that led to her remarkable life and that shows us a path for the living of our days.

Really to me it is her life itself as much if not more than her specific teachings on prayer that shines with wisdom for us today. How she manages sickness, piety, conflict with the church, gender bias, relationships, and engagement with the world. She is really a marvel! She surrenders her life to God, not to be made weak but to be made strong. She once said, “You pay God a compliment by asking

great things of Him.” Well, I think Teresa was giving God a lot of compliments!

May the same be said of us! Amen.

A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.

Sources used for this reflection and service:

Woman Prayers: Prayers by Women from Throughout History and Around the World, Mary Ford- Grabowsky

Teresa of Avila: The Progress of a Soul, Cathleen Medwick

The Harper Collins Book of Prayers: A Treasury of Prayers Through the Ages, compiled by Robert Van de Weyer

Invincible Spirits: A Thousand Years of Women’s Spiritual Writings, complied by Felicity Leng

Interior Castle, St. Teresa of Avila, translated and edited by E. Allison Peers

Under Her Wings: Spiritual Guidance from Women Saints, Kathy Bence

Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics, Carol Lee Flinders

Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics, Mirabai Starr

UNISON READING             A Love Song                          Teresa of Avila

Majestic sovereign, timeless wisdom, Your kindness melts my hard, cold soul. Handsome lover, selfless giver, Your beauty fills my dull, sad eyes.

I am yours, you made me. I am yours, you called me. I am yours, you saved me. I am yours, you loved me. I will never leave your presence.

Give me death, give me life. Give me sickness, give me health. Give me honour, give me shame. Give me weakness, give me strength. I will have whatever you give. Amen.

MUSIC                             Pescado de Hombres                         Gabarain

MISSION STATEMENT The mission of Lakewood United Church of Christ, as part of the Church Universal is to:

  • Celebrate the presence and power of God in our lives & in our world
  • Offer the hospitality and inclusive love of Christ to all people.
  • Work for God’s peace and justice throughout creation.

MORNING OFFERING   Morning offerings may be brought forward and placed in the plates on the altar.

       Offertory                      Follow Me                                           HKJ

        Prayer of Dedication                             Teresa of Avila, adapted

Christ has no body now but ours. No hands, no feet on earth, but ours. Ours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world. Ours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Ours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world.

MUSICAL CALL TO PRAYER       Wendeyaho           Native American/HKJ

COMMUNITY PRAYERS – SAVIOR’S PRAYER

Holy One, our only Home, hallowed be Your name. May your day dawn, your will be done, Here, as in heaven. Feed us today, and forgive us As we forgive each other. Do not forsake us at the test, But deliver us from evil. For the glory, the power, And the mercy are yours, now and forever.  Amen.

*BENEDICTION (unison)                                           Teresa of Avila

Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing dismay you. All things pass God never changes. Patience attains all that it strives for. Those who have God find they lack nothing. God alone suffices.

*POSTLUDE         Don Quixote from Cervantes Portraits                HKJ