Category: Posts

Weekly Update 6/18

WHAT IS GOING ON AT CHURCH –

Summer Sundays

The theme for the Corona Sabbath posts this summer will be ‘GROUNDED.’ Yes, with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing, many are not taking expected summer trips and vacations.  Feeling grounded.  And with the demonstrations going on, many do not feel safe to venture out because of the pandemic and feel grounded.  And with a global pandemic, a global recession, and global demonstrations against racism, it is a time to lean on our faith to help us feel grounded.  Each week’s presentation will explore a different dimension of our faith which helps us to feel grounded in these uncertain times.  When we are grounded, we can grow and flourish and bear fruit!  So, look for the Corona Sabbath post each week to help you be grounded!

This Sunday

The church will be open from 10:30 to 11:30.  The peace candle will be lit.    

There will be a Zoom at 10:30 to share stories of fathers, grandfathers, and those who have been father-figures in our lives. There will be a time to remember those who grow up without fathers who are not present because of racism. You’ll get the link later in the week. This will be a beautiful opportunity to see one another and to share together!  

Look for the Corona Sabbath post on Friday.  It will include the special Father’s Day music video that includes pictures submitted by the church family.

 Check for it at the website – lakewooducc.org
Also, please subscribe to the website so that you receive regular updates about church life. 

Advisors Meeting Ahead

The advisors will meet on Sunday to discuss all of the comments contributed on the Feedback Forms. LUCC is very much committed to being non-hierarchical. The congregation shapes the ministry of the church so your involvement is important! Many thanks to all who offered their ideas and suggestions!  

A Farewell from Bill and Kay

Dear Church family, Bill and I are about to leave for our summer sojourn in Tucson – where the heat is high and the humidity is low.  We shall miss you all and are more than a little hopeful that you all will be well and safe during the summer.  We will join our Rincon UCC church family for some very interesting discussions – which we know you will be having here also! Take care…..gra agus slan agus beannachts…….Kay Rencken and Bill Parsons  

Witness for Racial Justice to Continue

Knowing that achieving racial justice in our society will take a long time, those who have been coming to the witness on behalf of George Floyd at the church for the last week want to continue calling attention to this issue.   Beginning on Sunday, June 14, people from the church are invited to gather, with masks and signs, in front of the church along 54th Ave. S. from 7:30 – 8 p.m.  Please bring signs with a positive message.  No overtly political messages, please.  This witness will continue weekly on Sunday evenings.  All are welcome!

Here’s a post from last Sunday’s witness:  https://lakewooducc.org/2020/06/17/demonstration-in-support-of-racial-justice/

Masks to be distributed in St. Petersburg

As of Friday masks will be mandatory in public places in St. Petersburg. If you’re a St. Petersburg resident, Restart St. Pete has cloth masks for you. The locations below have them during their regular business hours

To see more information please use the link below:
https://lakewooducc.org/2020/06/10/masks-to-be-distributed-in-st-petersburg/

Building Usage

The Thursday night AA group is meeting in person and using the Fellowship Hall. The church has agreed to host a Monday night AA group but given the spike in Corona virus cases, they are going to postpone meeting in person until some time in the future when they feel the conditions are safer.

The Christian Generation Center of Hope, a congregation that rents the sanctuary on Sunday afternoons will also wait to resume their services.

The adult day care is continuing to pursue building adaptations to accommodate their program. When that is complete, the program will open in the Fellowship Hall.

Racism. 

What can we do? Here is one small idea that may help you take a step forward.  Talk with someone you know whose skin is of a different hue than yours and bring up what is going on.  Start a conversation.  Listen. Share with honesty.   See what opens up.  And what might come next.  

At a recent rally, white allies were asked to talk with a Black man and ask him about his first encounter with the police.  It’s a place to start.    

As followers of Jesus, we follow his lead and are committed to creating an anti-racist society.

UCC’s  next webinar is entitled “Protest during a Pandemic.” Instead of becoming suppressed by the pandemic, the spirit of justice has arisen with fierce determination and become embodied in countless ways. This webinar will reflect upon how protest has manifested itself during this time and the lessons that can be learned for communities of faith dedicated to answering the unrelenting call of justice. Our three featured panelists will be:  

From Atlanta to Minneapolis, these three panelists will share lessons from the struggle for justice:
• Sophia Benrud, the environmental justice organizer for Black Visions Collective, which has been a leading force for justice in Minneapolis
• Lindsay Harper, the national coordinator for Arm-in-Arm which centers economic and racial justice in addressing the climate crisis
• Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick, a researcher identifying the numerous ways nonviolent actions have become manifest during the pandemic


Use the link below to register for the webinar: REGISTER

WHEN: June 24, 2020 at 1pm – 2pm

https://www.ucc.org/protest_during_a_pandemic

Labyrinth Walk Open to All

For some, the weekly labyrinth walk has provided needed grounding and spiritual support.  There is a theme for each week.  The gathering includes readings, scripture, prayer, reflection, and group sharing.  And, yes, there is the walking of the labyrinth.  If you would like to see an outline of what goes on, there are copies in the mailbox near the labyrinth or contact the church office and it can be emailed to you.  

You are welcome to participate on Wednesdays at 9:00 a.m.  This gathering is outside and physical distancing is maintained.  Bring a lawn chair if you have one.  

LUCC CREATION JUSTICE TASK FORCE update

 See premier of new film 2040 online to be inspired about the real possibility for change in our climate and environment.

Award-winning director Damon Gameau (That Sugar Film) embarks on a journey to explore what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we simply embraced the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet and shifted them rapidly into the mainstream.

Structured as a visual letter to his 4-year-old daughter, Damon blends traditional documentary with dramatised sequences and high-end visual effects to create a vision board of how these solutions could regenerate the world for future generations.

Go to link https://togetherfilms.org/2040-screenings 
to book a virtual screening on your own computer. First available screening is this Friday, June 5th, World Environment Day but other screenings are available over the weekend. Cost is $12 and you have options of when to book streaming of film.

Creation Justice Task Force Update: Permaculture Report 

On Sunday, June 7 at 11:30am in the Fellowship Hall, the Permaculture Design Team students, Scott and Sarah, presented their ideas for transforming our church property into an inviting and sustainable natural environment for our community and beyond. The Creation Justice Task Force met with them multiple times over the past few months and were ready to see how our dreams and desires for an environmentally friendly, attractive, and useful transformation of our natural environment might translate into a reality. We were thrilled with their slide show and well researched presentation of possibilities divided in three phases for implementation over the next few years.
The Creation Justice Task Force is planning for the Permaculture Design Team to share this slide show and information with more of you in the near future in either a zoom or in person meeting. Stay tuned for further information!

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 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.

DayStar Donations 

Grocery donations given to the church were donated to DayStar Life Center this week.  Daystar is taking grocery donations as well as adult clothing on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. To drop off donations, drive around to the back of the building to the open bay area. 

DayStar Life Center
1055 28th St. S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712

We encourage you to take your donations to them rather than leave them at the church.  However, if you are unable or don’t feel comfortable going to DayStar, please do leave donations at the church and we will deliver them once a month to DayStar.  Thank you.

QUICK LINKS TO OUR RECENT POSTS DURING THE CORONA CRISIS:
Sermon videos: https://lakewooducc.org/category/online-devotional/
Sermon texts: https://lakewooducc.org/category/posts/sermon-texts/
Posts containing music: https://lakewooducc.org/category/posts/music/

For all those links, please note the “Older Posts” button near bottom of page.

FOR JUST THE MUSIC: https://soundcloud.com/hilton-kean-jones/sets/music-at-lakewood 

Daily Corona Prayer

https://lakewooducc.org/2020/03/20/lucc-corona-daily-prayer

Assistance Available

If you need help of any kind – something from the store, someone to talk with, support managing during shelter-in-place, parenting concerns – please know that the church is ready and willing to help in any way needed.  This situation is trying for everyone.  You are not alone.  We’ll make it through together.  Please contact the church office (lakewooducc@gmail.com or 867-7961 or Rev. Kim Wells at wells.kim.p@gmail.com).  

Miss someone from church?  Give them a call or send a note.  Personal contact is so important when physical contact is limited.  

Music Ministry

About Hilton’s music. . . If you would enjoy hearing Hilton play more Irish folk songs, you can
listen for free at either https://hiltonjones.bandcamp.com/album/irish-
tunes or https://soundcloud.com/hilton-kean-jones/sets/irish-tunes .

June Birthdays: Genie Terrell 6/10, Tony Rogers 6/21, and Shirley Locke 6/30. Someone missing? Contact the church office with birthday information.

Circle of Concern: JoAnn Reid, William Owen, Wilbur Reid, Martha Lamar, Jen Degroot, Carolyn Moore, Ann Quinn, Maggie Brizendine, and All healthcare workers and essential workers. All those suffering from COVID-19.

Please Keep Ann Rogers in your prayers as she has been in the hospital and has now been moved to rehab. Also remember Irma Smith in your prayers.  She was in the hospital for 5 days.  

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!

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.

Free Film on LGBTQ Refuge/Asylum Seeking Youth and virtual discussion

WORLD Channel and ITVS present a powerful online screening event in honor of World Refugee Day, featuring a live video discussion with Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, NPR’s Ari Shapiro, filmmaker Tom Shepard, and Subhi Nahas, who is a refugee subject of this important new film about LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers. June 22 at 7:00pm Eastern. To register, please click HERE

Corona Sabbath 13

IMAG0015These weeks when we cannot gather in person for Sunday worship, Lakewood United Church of Christ is providing brief weekly sabbath programs for you to listen to on your own or with those you live with. They will be posted on Friday so that you can schedule your sabbath time to suit your schedule and your spiritual inclinations. We hope these programs are of spiritual support to you in these difficult times.

There is a scripture reading and a brief meditation by Pastor Kim Wells followed by music offered by Music Director Hilton Kean Jones. We appreciate your suggestions and feedback.

Next week is Father’s Day and as a special tribute to father’s Hilton is preparing a music video using pictures of fathers, grandfathers, and such contributed by the church family. Please email pictures to Hilton through the website contact page (https://lakewooducc.org/contact/) by Sunday June 14. Thank you!

During these summer weeks, the theme being used in “Grounded.” Some of us feel that shelter-in-place feels like being grounded. Some would normally have travel plans and feel grounded. With the many challenges facing our society, it is important to feel grounded. So these Summer Sundays will focus on key concepts in Christianity that provide grounding. So, welcome to “Grounded.”

Find a quiet place, inside or outside. Light a candle. Take a look around you. If you are inside, pay attention to the room you are in. Breathe. Life-giving breath. Be present.

You may begin by offering this reading:

The day of my spiritual awakening was the day I saw and knew I saw all things in God and God in all things.
–Mechthild of Magdeburg, 1207-1282

When you are ready, start the video below.

(For written text of the above video click HERE.)

As you listen to the music from Hilton which follows, you are invited to notice the thoughts and feelings and that arise for you.

After viewing the video, you are invited to offer the following closing:

I have sought how to make souls love God better. How to bring them to God, persuade them that God is above any good, how to illuminate for them this sweetness, this wondrous peace, this mystery, this all which reveals itself to the soul without the soul being able to say how; how to obey the Holy Spirit, this fire that I feel in my soul and which wishes to give of itself, to extend itself. How to communicate this to all those souls that touch my soul; and I have found no other means more powerful than kindness.

–Mathilde Boutle (“Lucie Christine”),1844-1908, adapted

Breathe. Breathe again. Feel the Spirit at your center. Extinguish your candle and engage whatever may come with a sense of peace and a desire to serve.

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

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

QUICK LINKS TO OUR RECENT POSTS DURING THE CORONA CRISIS:
Online Devotionals: https://lakewooducc.org/category/online-devotional/
Sermon Texts: https://lakewooducc.org/category/posts/sermon-texts/
For above links, please note “Older Posts” button near bottom of page.
Music: https://soundcloud.com/hilton-kean-jones/sets/music-at-lakewood

Corona Sabbath 13 Reflection Text

Greetings and welcome to Corona Sabbath. This is one of the ways the church is endeavoring to offer spiritual support during these challenging days of COVID-19. We appreciate your feedback and suggestions.

[pause]

We start by listening to a well known teaching from the Gospel of Matthew. It is a portion of the Sermon on the Mount. As we listen to this teaching, we can imagine how it sounded to the disciples whom we are told had left family home, and livelihood to follow Jesus. We can also think about what it meant to the early church where people were disowned from their families for being part of the Jesus community and were choosing voluntary poverty.

You’ll hear the phrase, God and Money. In older renditions, this is translated as God and Mammon. Mammon meant more than money. It also meant property, as in real estate as well as material possessions. So in the phrase God and Money, money is really a symbolic term for much more than bank accounts.

We listen to words that were challenging and comforting hoping they will touch us in the same way today:

No one can serve two superiors. You will either hate one and love the other, or be attentive to one and despise the other. You cannot give yourself to God and Money. That’s why I tell you not to worry about your livelihood, what you are to eat or drink or use for clothing. Isn’t life more than just food? Isn’t the body more than just clothes?

Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet our God in heaven feeds them. Aren’t you more important than they? Which of you by working can add a moment to your lifespan? And why be anxious about clothing? Learn a lesson from the way the wildflowers grow. They don’t work; they don’t spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in full splendor was arrayed like one of these. If God can clothe in such splendor the grasses of the field, which bloom today and are thrown on the fire tomorrow, won’t God do so much more for you – you who have so little faith?

Stop worrying, then over questions such as, ‘What are we to eat,’ or ‘what are we to drink,’ or ‘what are we to wear?’ Those without faith are always running after these things. God knows everything you need. Seek first God’s realm and God’s justice, and all these things will be given to you besides. Enough of worrying about tomorrow! Let tomorrow take care of itself. Today has troubles enough of its own.

[pause]

Yes, today does have troubles enough of its own!

I was sent an image this week of a child careening down a slide but the surface of the slide was a grater, like for cheese or zest. The caption was, “If 2020 was a slide.” Yes, today does very much seem to have troubles enough of its own!

Many problems assail us these days. And there are so many commitments and loyalties and desires that compete for our attention and resources. There are considerations about money, family, work, relationships, community involvement. There are competing world views, values, perspectives, agendas, and ideologies that vie for our attention and loyalty. We have the world wide web keeping us informed but also keeping us distracted and divided. We can feel pulled apart, torn, conflicted.

And, yes, all this produces stress, anxiety, and even paralysis. We may just feel stuck, mired, pulled in and pulled down, sinking.

While our particular circumstances are unique, these dynamics are not new. Clearly people were divided and pulled in different directions by competing loyalties in Jesus’ day and before.

The perspective offered by Jesus echoes the classic Jewish teaching: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. That is first and foremost. God is the center. The compass. The grounding. And everything else orients around that. Everything is woven together by that conviction, held in balance, put in perspective, by that sole commitment and conviction.

In the lesson we heard, Jesus refers to the birds and the wildflowers of the field. They are part of nature which is designed to sustain them. Plants thrive and grow because there is soil and sun and water provided for them. Nature is innately programmed to support life. With this imagery, Jesus reminds us that we are part of an environment in God intended to support and sustain life. We are part of a reality that promotes our well-being.

When we accept God, however we may conceive of God, as the ground of our being, and the ground of reality, we are not controlled by outer circumstances but by inner conviction. We may have many different ways of imaging God, Divine Love or Spirit or Ground of Being, but when our lives are centered on this force, this reality, we live fully and freely. We are not bound, constricted, confined, suffocated, or overwhelmed. We are free.

And in the teachings of Jesus, we see that this conviction, this reality, is maintained then just as it is today – through connection to the faith community and by spiritual practices.

The faith community embodies the care and nurture promised by Divine Love. The faith community is life sustaining, like soil, light, or water for a plant. It gives us what we need to stay centered in God/Love. It helps us to stay focussed in our loyalty and devotion. It helps us to bring our convictions and our behavior into closer alignment. It helps us to find joy and meaning and purpose in God-centered living, living for others, giving ourselves to the common good. The faith community is key to discipleship. Jesus’ ministry was about creating beloved community, the realm of God, heaven on earth, among people, here and now. We need each other for stability, for stamina, for discernment, for comfort. So being part of the faith community is core to sustaining a God-centered life.

Another component to maintaining our grounding in God is spiritual practices. Jesus is portrayed going off alone to pray again and again in the gospels. And he is known for fulfilling the religious obligations of his faith tradition – celebrating the holy days, attending weekly gatherings, etc. We hear of Jesus quoting scripture. Today there are many ways that we can incorporate spiritual practices into our lives that help us to sustain a God-centered life. There is prayer, worship, scripture reading, the sacraments. Maybe you have a devotional book next to your bed to read every morning when you awaken. There is meditation and spiritual direction to help ground us. Music can be an important component of staying God-centered. Maybe you wear a cross to remind you of your faith. Maybe your phone reminds you to breathe – that, too, can be part of a spiritual practice. Maybe tending your garden is a spiritual practice that keeps you grounded in God. Maybe you are up each morning to watch the sunrise and that provides spiritual centering for you. Prayers before meals and before bed can be part of our spiritual practice. All of these things and many more, are things that we build into the living of our days that can help us to stay grounded in Divine Love.

Here’s something that has become a grounding spiritual practice in my life: Every morning when I get up one of the very first things I do is to put away the clean dishes in the dish drainer. This mundane task of creating order reminds me to create order in my life and keep my life centered in Divine Love. With the dishes stowed and the cupboards closed, and consideration of my heart being properly aligned, I begin my day. After that, well, I try to do my best. It’s often a mixed bag. But there will be more dishes the next morning.

If we were in church, there are many hymns and songs we could sing that remind us of being grounded in God. A song we sang at camp comes to mind:

Seek ye first the kingdom of God
And God’s righteousness.
And all these things shall be added unto you.
Allelu, alleluia!

Ask and it shall be given unto you.
Seek and you shall find.
Knock and the door shall be opened unto you.
Allelu, alleluia!

We do not live by bread alone,
but by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Allelu, alleluia!

So simple and so true.

In this time of extreme challenge, to maintain our grounding and to flourish and thrive and be who we are needed to be, we need to rely on our faith community and our spiritual practices to keep us focussed, centered, and grounded.

When we orient our lives around Divine Love, when we let ourselves be pulled by that force, like gravity, giving us a center, and an orientation for our lives, we find our highest good, we can fully flourish, we can live without anxiety and worry. We can live in trust and authenticity and integrity.

Yes, we are facing a pandemic, a global recession, and a pivotal turning in the movement for racial justice. Oh, and there’s global warming threatening the world as we know it. Yes, we are experiencing upheaval, and pain, and uncertainty. Yes, our lives are complex and our challenges are daunting. This is the time to remind ourselves of our fundamental grounding in God, in Love, in Being. We are part of a larger reality and we are here to be fully alive, fully present, and fully flourish.

We listen to wisdom from Mathilde Boutle, a 19th century French wife and mother of 5 who later became a nun. She tells us:

“I sought you… in all things beautiful, and in all things I found you. I sought you at the hands of all creatures, and they all replied: Behold, God is here.”

Like the birds, like the wildflowers, like Jesus, and like so many people of faith and courage throughout the ages, may we live our lives grounded in God. Amen.

[pause]

As you listen to the music from Hilton which follows, you are invited to notice the thoughts and feelings and that arise for you.

(Click HERE if you wish to see the post containing the video of this text.)