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
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Whenever I remember the Irish Troubles and the good news of Ireland today, I always feel more hopeful. People can change for the better. Peace is possible. Healing does happen.
There’s so much going on in the world right now, both good and bad. Often, it feels overwhelming. And with the news we see, hear, and read typically synonymous with bad news, we’re justifiably horrified and angry—not just at the cruelty and injustice we observe,
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Dear Church Community,
I write this on Ash Wednesday, as Putin marches on Ukraine, many other people suffer under violence and tyranny worldwide, and LGBTQ+ children and adults in our own country are oppressed by attitudes and laws that prevent them from being safe, accepted, and equal.
This is the time and place in which we live. Yet, as T.S. Eliot wrote in Ash Wednesday, “Time is always time, and place is always and only place.”
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Dear Church Community,
As we move forward in 2022, I look forward to reaching out and connecting with other churches and communities that share our values. This includes UCC congregations, ecumenical Christian churches, interfaith groups, and non-profit secular organizations. In this (fingers crossed) post-pandemic era, it’s time to work together with those outside our own small circle on issues of racial justice, affordable housing, human rights (including refugees and the LGBTQ+ community), and environmental justice. We can’t do it
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Dear Church Community,
Last Sunday I preached about Ubuntu, a Zulu or Bantu word meaning, “I am, because we are.” As we move into February, Black History Month, I invite you to think about these words as they apply to the Body of Christ and the patchwork of humanity that comprises our nation. Let’s ask:
Dear Church Community,
This quotation from 14th century mystic and anchoress, Julian of Norwich, has always given me a feeling of deep peace. Julian lived during a time of plague, war, political upheaval, and class divisions. Sound familiar? Even so, she claimed, “All shall be well.”
Yet sometimes when I share it, others have a different reaction. “All shall be well? That’s a stretch with everything going on in this world!” And I agree. It is a
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