Finding A Place At The Table

PeacePrayers

At 11 homicides already in this calendar year, our City will almost certainly far exceed the 14 that occurred in 2007., and could easily far exceed the record of 22 which happened in 2006.  Clearly there is something wrong with the fabric of our community, our city and our society.  Despite real needs that can only be met by government, surely there is a significant role that the faith community is called to bring to the issue.   One place to begin to figure out what we are called to do, is to go to God in prayer.  We begin to work for peace by asking God for peace, and by asking God to help us discern what God calls us to do to be peacemakers in our community

We invite the community to join us for PeacePrayers, on Sunday, May 4 at 5:00 PM.  Through this service of scripture, song and prayer we will bring our fervent prayers for peace to God, even as we seek to determine what God is calling us to do to be an effective witness for peace in our community.  Please join us for PeacePrayes; and please join us in praying daily for peace in Wilmington.

Praying for Peace

Being concerned about the rate of violent crimes in our city, and especially in our neighborhood, we encourage everyone to commit themselves to praying for peace regularly.  Please, pray for peace in our city.

We also invite all to a special service of worship and prayer, called PeacePrayers.  PeacePrayers will be a service of prayer, song and scripture in which we remember the hope we have in God and in which we pray for peace in our city.  Please join us for PeacePrayers on Sunday, May 4 at 5:00 PM at West Presbyterian Church.

Events of Interest

The Interfaith Coalition: Building Blocks for Wilmington, will have their monthly meeting tonight, at 7 PM here at West.    All are invited.

The Interfaith Coalition: Building Blocks for Wilmington is sponsoring a Governor Candidates Forum on Saturday April 26, 10 am until noon in the Community Hall of Westminster Presbyterian Church.  The focus of this forum will be on the candidates vision for and commitment to Wilmington's inner city neighborhoods. 

West Church has "adopted" a portion of the beach, and will have our first clean up day on Saturday, April 19.  More details available on Sunday, April 13 during the service of worship.  We will celebrate Earth Day during the Service of Worship on April 20 at 11:00 AM.

The adult spiritual formation group continues its conversation about globalization on April 13, 20 and 27.  Join us at 9:30 AM on Sunday mornings.

A Week Since Easter

In the week since Easter day, as we have continued our lives, I have found myself drawn again and again to the story from the 28th chapter of Matthew's Gospel of the first Easter day.  In particular, I have found myself pondering the image that appears frequently in that story of Jesus going ahead, and of the invitation to people to go to where Jesus is, and of Jesus' command that the disciples go and baptize.  It's an amazing image--Jesus not just in the past, and Jesus not just beside us today,  but Jesus out in the future.  Jesus in the future, calling us to journey toward that future in faith.   

If Jesus is in the future, then we need not fear the present.     And, if Jesus is in the future as well as in the present, then we can have the courage to go wherever it is God calls us to go, knowing that God is waiting for us to arrive.

Foot Washing and Other Service

As Jesus was nearing the end of life, having loved too many of the wrong kinds of people, after eating with his disciples, he  began to was his disciples feet. John's Gospel (chapter 13) tells us that Simon Peter objected to Jesus washing the disciples feet.  After all, washing feet was something that servants did, not the masters.  Jesus washed feet that night, and commanded his disciples to do the same.

It's rare that we wash one another's feet now, and realistically, most of us don't need someone to do that for us these days.  But the world does need our love, and the world does need to hear of God's love in Jesus Christ.  As people of faith, we are still called to serve, to share, and to let our words as well as our actions proclaim hope and peace as we meet the real needs of a hurting world.   All around us bodies and souls are hurting and in need of the radical, barrier-breaking love that we find in God.

On this Maundy Thursday, perhaps some questions are worth pondering:  How are we called to serve today?  How can we share the Good News of God's love?  Where are we called to share this news?  If we aren't called to wash feet, how are we called to be servants of God? 

Maundy Thursday at West

The Maundy Thursday Service of Worship will be at 7:00 PM this evening.  We invite you to join us.  The service includes special vocal music sung by the West Church choir and guest vocalist, Kelly Curtin.  Instrumental music will be provided by Doreen Fell (piano) and Beily Street (cello).  The Service of Worship will include the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and lessons focusing on the last day of Jesus' life. 

The church is located at the corner of 8th and Washington Streets in downtown Wilmington. Parking is available in the lot behind the church building. 

In The Middle of Holy Week

In the middle of Holy Week--the palms from Sunday have wilted, and the hosannas we said are now a memory.  Between now and Easter morning we will gather to remember Jesus' last supper and his arrest, trial and crucifixion.  Before we get to the celebration of Easter, we will remember that Jesus' disciples deserted him, that both religious and secular authorities will conspire to kill him. We may be in the middle of holy week, but we are still a long way from Easter festivities.

According to Matthew, when Jesus' donkey ride into Jerusalem ended in that holy city, he went into the temple and cured the blind and the lame.  But the reaction of the religious insiders was not positive.  In fact, Matthew says, they became angry (see Matthew 21:14-15).   One might think--or at least hope--that the world would respond to the amazing things Jesus did with great joy.  But Jesus' love does have the way of upsetting the powerful, turning things upside-down, and threatening the powers and principalities of the world.    

On Palm Sunday I was reminded that Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, a very humble beast of burden.  His life was one of service, breaking down  barriers that divide, and loving even those the world refused to love.   His love and his service to the world was so amazing that it filled the powers of the world with fear, and led Jesus to death on a cross.

Someone once noted that it was not hate that killed Jesus.  It was love.   Sometimes real, barrier breaking, life giving, hope inspiring love does cause some to fear as it works to change  the status quo, invites all people to the table of life, seeks justice and power for the dis-enfranchised, and tries  to create a world where everyone has enough and no one is left out.

In the middle of Holy Week...what's our love like?

 

On a Tuesday

The lectionary text for Tuesday of Holy Week is John 12:20-36.  In this pasage, Jeus says that his soul is "troubled."  It seems he is troubled because he knows what is to come.  Yet, even though his soul is troubled, he continues to allow himself to be used by God.   The passage ends with a notation that Jesus "departed" and "hid from them." 

What "troubles" our souls?  Where do we find assurance? help? courage?  How do we allow ourselves to be used by God, even when our souls are "troubled"?

Passion Sunday

In the liturgical life of the church, today is an odd day--a day of joy and celebration, but also a day when the knowledge of the events to come cast a shadow.  Known as Palm Sunday, we celebrate Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  He rode into the holy city on a donkey, with the road lined with people waving palms and shouting "Hosanna".  But his entrance into Jerusalem at Passover was also the beginning of the last week of his life.  So, even as we wave palms today and sing "Hosanna" we also are aware of the events that are soon to follow--an arrest, a trial, a conviction, a crucifixion and a burial.   

In keeping with our commitment to justice, we used Eco Palms today at West.  According to the PCUSA web site

Typically, palm harvesting is done by community members hired by local contractors, who then sell palms to large floral export firms. Payment is based on volume, so the harvesters are motivated to gather a large number of palms without regard for the quality. As a result, up to 50 percent or more of the palms are later discarded because of poor quality. This method risks the rapid depletion of the forest's rich biodiversity, including the many bird species that migrate to these regions during the winter.

Many palm producing areas in Central America are important biosphere reserves where palms are part of the natural forest.

Growers of eco palms are paid based on quality of the harvest, which in more environmentally sound because it limits the number of palms harvested.  Furthermore, because growers of eco palms do the sorting and packaging rather than sending them off to a distant warehouse for these tasks, the growers themselves receive more income from the harvest.

Lenten Oil

I read recently a small news item in the Christian Century (February 26, 2008 issue) about a campaign called "Less Oil for Lent" in which some churches in Harrisonburg, Virginia have been involved.  People in those churches have pledged to use less fossil fuel during Lent as an expression of concern for climate change and the war in Iraq, as well as to call attention to our use of oil in the United ates.  People in those churches were asked during Lent to make an effort to consume less oil by doing things like walking or riding a bike to church, eliminating or reducing the consumption of meat, turning down hot water heaters, or keeping homes in winter a few degrees cooler.

While we are well into Lent, perhaps this is an idea worthy of consideration for Holy Week this year for us.  What if this year we made a real, concerted effort during the week that begins on Palm Sunday to significantly reduce our consumption of oil?  Drive less, keep our homes a little cooler, eat more locally grown vegetables and fruits, eat less meat, be more mindful of lights being on in unused rooms of our houses, etc.     While attending carefully to our consumption of oil for one week might not significantly change the destruction of the environment, it might make us more aware of things we can do year round to care for God's creation.