Blog
News and thoughts
A few notes
First off, thank you for your patience during this time of upheaval and experimentation. As noted earlier, the office and building will remain closed until further notice. All past sermons have been uploaded to the website (including this past Sunday’s Facebook live worship), click the sermon archive button to listen. If you are in need of pastoral care, please contact Pastor Vanessa via e-mail at pastor@graceucclancaster.org or call her at 740-206-9724. We will keep you updated via our various social…
Web site refresh
As Lent begins, we’re taking the opportunity to begin a project that will continue through much of the rest of the year of refreshing our website. The first step of this process is to switch to a new WordPress theme. We’ve been using Maranatha from ChurchThemes for a number of years now, but we have now switched to the Jubilee theme, also from ChurchThemes. The menu structure is still the same and the search option is still available by clicking…
Pastor’s Column – Mar 2025
I have never wrestled another person, but I have wrestled tangled extension cords, grappled with car seats, and warred with technology. I must admit that there are times when these simple tasks cause more frustration than they should. The never-ending list of chores or unresolved situations in life makes these small wrestlings more difficult. Tiny tussles are capable of breaking the camel’s back. Beyond simple menial tasks, we encounter tangled relationships, grapple with injustice, and war with ourselves. It is…
Pastor’s Column – Feb 2025
In the Gospels, the disciples have witnessed Jesus’ teachings, miraculous healings, and extraordinary compassion for the least of these. They have put their bodies where Christ put Christ’s body and encountered God’s love for them and for the least of these. Jesus asks them and us, “Who do you say that I am?” Not what others say, but who do you say that I am? This is not to satisfy the head but the heart and to discern Christ in our midst. The faithful…
Pastor’s Column – Jan 2025
Go Tell it on the mountain,Over the hills and everywhere.Go tell it on the mountain,that Jesus Christ is born! It is difficult for me to read these words and not sing the melody in my head because joy bursts forth from the word “Go.” I can remember singing this hymn in children’s choir, and belting out the chorus as loud as I could, not caring whether I was overpowering the kids on my left or right. Our director said these…
Pastor’s Column – Oct 2024
For everything and everyone comes a moment, a period of time to experience the changes and transitions that are a part of life. It’s strange how comforting these words can be. Rarely do I seek these verses in times of laughing, dancing, or peace. However, I find myself grasping for this wisdom when change is sudden, shifting, and challenging. It’s comforting to know that others have crossed these same life thresholds. I am not the first and certainly not the…
Pastor’s Column – July/Aug 2024
Will we be faithless and held captive by deliberate and destructive disinformation and loyalty to the lies of the false prophets of our day, or will we be faithful to the truth that Jesus promise can set us free?” The false white gospel, by Jim Wallis Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the…
Pastor’s Column – June 2024
Today, if you were to travel to Halberstadt Germany, and if you were to take a walk around town, and if you happened past St. Burchardi church, you would hear the hum of an organ playing a song that first began on September 5, 2001. Composer John Cage is noted to have instructed musicians to play “as slow as possible” at a conference in 1997, because an organ would sustain that note beautifully. The John Cage Organ Foundation Halberstadt took…
Pastor’s Column – May 2024
I was fortunate to have grown up only a few miles from Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I remember riding bikes on the towpath all summer and into the Fall. We would ride to the beaver dam or to a local produce stand called Szalay’s, which always had the freshest fruit and the most delicious sweet corn. However, one of my favorite sites was Brandywine Falls. You can still find it on all of their brochures. Brandywine Falls attracted all sorts…
Pastor’s Column – Apr 2024
Ever since I was a little boyI believed in something good.And so I did my best to go to Sunday school,Every Sunday like I shouldAnd I remember the day when I had to leaveAnd I thought it was all a stageI let fear and anger get hold on meAnd they locked me in their cageBut when love came creeping through the window paneAll I could do was wonder whyI swore I did not deserve it but still, it came,And now…
Pastor’s Column – Mar 2024
In a world of noise, confusion and conflict it is necessary that there be places of silence, inner discipline and peace. In such places love can blossom. In Silence God ceases to be an object and becomes an experience. Thomas merton 4’ 33’’ is a world-famous song composed by John Cage. It was composed in 1952 for any instrument or combination of instruments. It is divided into three movements, and when you add the total time of each movement together…