This Sunday we come to the dramatic story of Saul’s sudden conversion. He transforms from the murderous religious extremist into the apostle and evangelist who wrote nearly all of our New Testament! Because of a personal encounter with Jesus AND because of the kindness and forgiveness of someone who was previously His enemy. Do we believe such a transformation is really possible? Can people really change so dramatically? Can we? And if so, how does such a thing happen? What if we don’t have such a huge dramatic saving moment in our own faith journey? Does that mean we are missing something in our own relationship with Jesus? We explore those questions together today, and we are blessed to do so on a Sunday when we also have a baptism of a new adolescent member.

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This Sunday we come to a story that is in all lectionaries year after year, right after the celebration of Easter Sunday—the story of so called “Doubting Thomas”. Yet we explore why Thomas does not deserve this bad reputation. Doubt is actually an important tool in the journey of faith. The prolific Christian writer Frederick Buechner says “doubt is the ants in the pants of faith. It keeps it awake and moving!” In a world that is in a “post”pandemic fog and trying to find its way, we need a faith that is awake and engaged and fully alive! Easter’s resurrection is just the beginning of our calling to new life in the world. We hope you will join us!!

Also a special note: this Sunday features our contemporary band AND FUN-Day school is offered this week as well (future Sundays it is being offered before summer break for ages 4-5th grade are: 5/22, 6/5, 6/19)

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This is our church’s second annual Green Sunday, with elements of worship planned by our Green Team in honor of Earth Day. Music was chosen related to the theme, a special recording is included of our children, youth are presenting a special welcome and we even have the honor of guest speaker Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin!

Nina Beth Cardin is a community rabbi who works at the intersection of faith and sustainability. She makes her home in Baltimore MD where she founded and led the Baltimore Orchard Project, a food and land justice organization dedicated to building healthier connections between people, food, place and each other. She is co-founder and director of the Maryland Campaign for Environmental Human Rights, an initiative that is working to place an amendment in our state constitution that would protect all Marylanders’ rights to a healthful environment and ensure the pursuit of public health and environmental justice. She is currently on the Board of Waterkeepers Chesapeake, a coalition of independent programs working to maintain and restore the health of the waters – and the communities – of the Chesapeake and Coastal Bays.

Join us for this unique and enlivening service! Perfect for the Easter season of new life!

We made it to Easter! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!!

What does this mean to us really? This is a central piece of our Christian faith, but really and truly, what difference does resurrection make? We have been thinking about the wholehearted Jesus all throughout Lent; how Jesus was one of us as a human being and lived human life with compassion, courage and integrity. Jesus died the same way. But what now? We are called to follow Jesus, but can we too be made whole? Can the fragments of our lives that are broken or don’t make sense to us now be brought together and made into something new and beautiful and hopeful? Can tired, burnt out, cynical people (AND churches!) experience resurrection? And what might that look like?

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This service is one of the most special  of our entire church year—it is when we remember as a community something that makes Christianity unique among all religions throughout the world and throughout history. We believe in a God who does not remain in Heaven, removed and all-powerful, but rather becomes one of us and joins us in human suffering. It is a mystery so great that we return to it year after year. This service includes a remembrance of the Last Supper and walks through Jesus’ crucifixion as told in the Gospel of John by using scripture, song and prayers of confession. Our prayer is that, this year, the story of what Jesus endured on the cross will speak to you and your own personal struggles in new and meaningful ways.

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