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…
Pastor’s Column – June 2025
Within the biblical tradition, when either the nation or individuals went through periods of despair or challenge, those of faith often employed a literary tool known as lament. When leaders of Israel failed to care for those on the margins, thus weakening the unity and strength of the nation, Babylon conquered and exiled God’s people to a foreign land. From that experience came the book of Lamentation, which from beginning to end contains lament after lament. Despite how Monty Python…
Pastor’s Column – May 2025
Every week I meet with a small group of seminarian friends over Zoom. Together we survived our studies, and together we continue to support one another in life and ministry. I wanted to share with you about our meeting at the beginning of Holy Week, specifically our response to the question we end every meeting with, “How can we be praying for you in the week ahead?” For the first time ever, we all had the same prayer. It could…
Pastor’s Column – Apr 2025
Have you ever looked into the eyes of another person and, in an instant, felt accepted, loved, and seen? No words. No gesture. They look past your appearance without a drop of judgment. They embrace you at a soul level just by looking into your eyes. Our son’s first and middle name is Jamie Lane. We hid an Easter egg in the pronunciation if you say it together. Elaine, Jessica’s grandma’s name, had this gift to look into the eyes…
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…