Cleveland Park Congregational UCC
Nurturing love of God and love of neighbor in the world
I invite you to read my bi-weekly newsletters below for reflections on Sunday worship and updates on congregational life. I hope, and believe, you will also enjoy my Sermons. I look forward to seeing you and sharing worship with you.
- Blessings,
Pastor Ellen
Here are some spiritual resources that I find myself returning to time and again. I hope you will also enjoy them.
UCC Feed Your Spirit
Bite in the Apple
Patheos.com
The Listening Hermit
RickMorley.com
Larry Patten.com
Dear Church Community,
This Sunday we’ll celebrate Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, a holiday to revel in the coming of the Holy Spirit. Of course, Spirit is always here, but the Pentecost Story tells of a specific moment the followers of Jesus felt its Power. Please join me in wearing red this Sunday, the traditional color for Pentecost, as we celebrate the Power of Spirit in our lives.
Dear Church Community,
We had a great Earth Month with Robin Lewis, Director for Climate Equity at Interfaith Power and Light, preaching on April 23 and Dava Keavney, congregation member and scientist, leading us in a discussion about Climate Hope on April 30. I’ve included Dava’s presentation here. We also had a fun Children’s Talk about imagination and fungi featuring this fabulous video of the world’s most beautiful mushrooms.
If you’re interested in other ways churches
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Easter Greetings,
As I’ve said many times before: Easter isn’t a day, it’s a season! The Easter Season lasts from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday—50 days, which is ample time for renewal and rebirth. It’s also the perfect season to celebrate the regeneration of planet Earth.
This year, our congregation will celebrate Earth Month on two Sundays, April 23 and 30. On April 23, Robin Lewis, Director for Climate Equity at Interfaith Power and Light, will be our guest preacher
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Dear Church Community,
Holy Week is a fast-moving roller coaster with lots of twists and turns. On Sunday, Jesus enters Jerusalem to the shouts of “Hosanna” (save us). Monday (according to the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke) he overturns merchant tables in the Temple courtyard. By Thursday he’s celebrating Passover/the Last Supper with his disciples, saying one of them will betray him. This is followed by his prayers in Gethsemane, arrest by armed guards, and on Friday, Peter’s denial,
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Dear Church Community,
Have you seen the beautiful Lenten Roses (hellebore) in our church gardens? For some reason, I’d never heard the common name for this wonderful winter/spring flower until recently. In fact, I hadn’t paid them much attention at all. Now I’m a fan!
Like humans, hellebore isn’t without complications. First, it’s not a rose at all; it comes from the buttercup family. Second, its flower “petals” are actually sepals. And its Greek name, helleborus, means “injure
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