Easter... "Resurrecting the Way of Jesus"

This past Sunday was Easter, and my sermon was very much inspired by and based on Robin Meyers' book, The Underground Church: Reclaiming the Subversive Way of Jesus.

I titled my sermon "Resurrecting the Way of Jesus".

The reading that I shared before the sermon was straight out of the book, and it focused on Matthew 13:33, "Heaven's imperial rule is like leaven that a woman took and concealed in three measures of flour until it was all leavened." According to Meyers, this "may be the most subversive parable in the New Testament".

The sermon itself builds on this, in a way.  You can listen to my sermon at this link.

Occupy Religion

Lara Hoke and Patrick Wilson. Photo by Maurice Morales.

As I've mentioned before, I've been taking a course at the Andover Newton Theological School this semester called “Occupy History: Leadership for Social, Economic, and Religious Transformation” (taught by Prof. MT Davila). It's been an excellent and thought provoking course.

It's very hard to summarize all I've experienced and learned in my personal experiences with the Occupy movement, and I can't begin to summarize all I've learned in the course so far, either!

But on April 6, I shared some of my thoughts in sermon form. You can listen to the sermon at this link.


The picture to the left is from the April 4 event at Dewey Square, mentioned in my sermon. At 7:05 ET, I had the honor of leading a moment of silence, remembering the moment of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death 46 years ago. (The clock you see here is on South Station, across the way from Dewey Square.) Other speakers at the event were Catherine Hoffman, a local peace activist and nonviolence trainer; Eli Gerzon of the Better Future Project; and a keynote by Chuck Turner.

UUCiA Celebrates 20 Years as an LGBTQ "Welcoming Congregation"

Addendum: Pulpit/altar on March 30, 2014.

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Andover will celebrate 20 years as an LGBTQ “Welcoming Congregation” at our worship service this Sunday, March 30, at 10:30 a.m. The “Welcoming Congregation Program” is an initiative launched by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) in 1990 in order to help congregations who want to be intentionally welcoming and inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer persons.

In 1994, twenty years ago, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Andover was among the very early congregations to be certified as “Welcoming” by the UUA. According to the UUA’s website (uua.org), “Today, 66% of U.S. Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations… are recognized as Welcoming Congregations”.

People forget how different things were twenty years ago.  By coincidence, I came out as lesbian twenty years ago myself as a student in divinity school.  The climate was very different then, even here in Massachusetts. In those times, a very small minority of congregations really understood the issues involved.  I am the first openly LGBTQ minister to serve the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Andover, though the congregation has had openly LGBTQ members for all of these twenty years.

This Sunday’s special Welcoming Congregation worship service will be primarily organized and led by the congregation’s lay led Worship Committee, in particular by Andover resident Nancy Mulvey, who is also the congregation’s representative in the LGBTQ Welcoming Communities of Faith working group (more commonly called “Welcoming Faiths”). Welcoming Faiths is a “coalition of LGBTQ welcoming congregations of faith promoting equality and inclusivity within our greater communities based in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts” (welcomingfaiths.blogspot.com).  In addition to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Andover, other Andover congregations who are members of Welcoming Faiths include Ballard Vale United Church of Andover, Christ Church (Episcopal) Andover, Havurat Shalom, South Church in Andover, and West Parish Church of Andover (in addition to other congregations in the Merrimack Valley).

As part of the twenty year celebration, we will show “Through Gay Eyes”, an excellent locally made documentary, on Friday, March 28, at 7 p.m.  Deb Fowler, one of the two makers of the documentary, will be present at the screening and for Q&A afterwards. See details at this link.

Free Movie Night: "Through Gay Eyes", followed by Q&A with filmmaker

 

We are excited to announce that for the next (free) Movie Night at the UU Congregation in Andover, Friday, March 28, we will show “Through Gay Eyes”, an excellent locally made documentary. Deb Fowler, one of the two makers of the documentary, will be here for the screening and for Q&A afterwards!

From the film’s website: “ ‘Through Gay Eyes’ is a film project that gives a voice —a veritable revelation — to the embedded furtive lifestyle of gays. This documentary film will encompass personal stories that tap every realm of life and social context. ‘Through Gay Eyes’ extends beyond ‘coming out’ stories and delivers a profound realization that there still exists a silent and stifling vein in our society. Gay partners, parents and individuals tell their stories and rip the veil – emblazoning a promise toward our perpetual path of the Civil Rights Movement. ‘Through Gay Eyes’ wrestles with poignant and consuming questions that affect every member of society — bringing forth the invisible into a tangible piece of reality.”

Filmmaker Deb Fowler has been teaching English Language Learners at Lowell High School since 2005. In 2010, Deb was introduced to Connor Crosby (a junior at the time) and to the power of filmmaking. Together, Deb and Connor collaborated on “Through Gay Eyes”.

The timing of this particular screening coincides with the UUCiA’s 20th anniversary celebration of becoming a LGBTQ “Welcoming Congregation”, which will include a special worship service on Sunday, March 30.

As always, UUCiA Movie Night is free and open to the public. We provide the popcorn! To be more comfortable, please feel free to bring your own lawn chair or other portable chair. Please join us! Directions at this link.