Holy Week Reflection
My friends,
As we move through Holy Week, my mood is mixed. On the one hand I have experienced the joy of parts of 10 worship services I visited for Palm Sunday. On the other I am moving toward Holy Thursday and Good Friday experiencing the ebbs and flows of spiritual experiences and encounters with loss and grace. I awoke this week thinking about the apostles who are not named this week in our worship lectionary scripture readings. I wasn’t thinking about Judas as the one who Betrays; Peter as the one who Denies, the beloved disciple and Mary Magdalen who knelt at the cross. I was thinking about those whose concerns, fears, and experiences might be much like mine as I sit in isolation this week.
While I have family around me, as many of the disciples probably had, I am not able to gather with community, share my experiences with teachers and pastors, leaders in the faith, and those with whom I regularly interact and share. The disciples had to be feeling the increasing anxiety and the shifts in community attitudes and support for Jesus as the week progressed. I, too, am experiencing the increasing anxiety of our pastors and congregations as the shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders remain. Worship preparation may be becoming easier, as we all adjust to the technology, but the stress of the isolation from physically-present pastoral care and sanctuary worship is growing as times passes. This tension, I think, almost mirrors the tension the followers of Jesus must have been feeling. Think about the events as they unfold. There is the cleansing of the temple in Matthew 21; the decision of Judas to betray in Matthew 26; the servant leadership of the foot washing and the first “communion” sharing in Matthew 26; the condemnation and crucifixion of Jesus in Matthew26-27…all these events moving us toward the grief and loss of Holy Saturday, the Easter Vigil – the in-between time.
I feel in-between right now. I am offering gifts and support as I am able, but feel in-between during the isolation of this time and the need to touch and personally minister to those in our conference. I expect many of us feel the same kind of disquiet, discomfort, desolation. Yet, I am a person of faith so I know these feelings do not dwell forever. I know that no matter how empty the sanctuaries, the tables, the streets, the communities are… Grace lives. Hope lives. Jesus lives. We will celebrate this on Easter Sunday – no matter if we are alone in our homes, sheltered with a few close family members, or isolated in hospitals or nursing homes. The Holy Spirit is not encumbered by time or space - the Holy Spirit dwells within, between and among us. That is my fervent belief and my fervent prayer for all of us this Holy Week.
Blessings, Bonnie
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Introduction to Becoming a WISE Congregation
(Virtual Training)
Is your congregation considering becoming a WISE Congregation? Have you ever wondered why it is important to be a WISE Congregation? Or maybe you are just wondering what it means to be a WISE Congregation.
On Wednesday, April 29 from 10AM to 12 PM, Christian Creyer, PNEC Search and Call Associate and Pastor of Chestnut Hill Church in Coopersburg will be hosting a 2 hour ZOOM introductory session on what it means to be a WISE Congregation and giving an introduction into how to become a WISE Congregation. The session will cover some definitions, resources, and a brief introduction to the process.
The session qualifies for 2 hours of continuing education credits.
See below for the link to join the ZOOM meeting on April 29 at Noon.
Meeting ID: 559 777 477
Password: 006159
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The Festival of Homiletics
May 18-22, 2020
On-Line and Free
The World Needs Good Preaching…Now More than Ever
The Festival of Homiletics is moving online! And because there’s no better time than our current crisis to learn how to “preach a new earth,” registration for the virtual conference is totally FREE!
Preaching a New Earth: Climate and Creation
Be inspired by God’s Word proclaimed by some of the nation’s finest ministers and teachers. Experience the fellowship of hundreds of preachers. Learn and worship in an atmosphere that is dynamic, friendly, nurturing, and prophetic. Come renew, refresh, and recharge your spirit.
Scripture’s first description of God is as creator. God brought the world into existence and all that makes up the world as we know it. But God realized that caring for creation could never be a sole endeavor. We are charged with that co-tending, and preachers are challenged with imagining and preaching about an ecological God. Our God is committed to, dependent on, and immersed in all the Earth provides, sustains, and yet, needs our help to bring the fullness of God’s creative work to bear. Our God needs our help to speak the truth about where and how God’s Earth groans for renewal, even resurrection, how our very climate changes are God’s cries for help. The 2020 Festival of Homiletics theme invites preachers to imagine their own role in God’s creative work, to be courageous in preaching about God’s creative activity, and to claim boldly our role in caring for God’s creation, when God’s very creation is at stake.
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Clergy Convocation May 5-7, 2020 CANCELLED
Dear Clergy Colleagues,
After consultation with Doubletree in Lancaster, our Conference Ministers and staff, and the Clergy Convocation Mission Team, we have decided in the interest and safety of our communities and authorized ministers to cancel our May 5-7, 2020 event. The good news is that our presenter, Rev. Dr. Emily Heath, will be able to be with us at Convocation in 2021. Refunds for those who registered will be issued through Eventbrite in the coming weeks. On behalf of the Convocation Team we pray for all of you faithfully serving your communities in these days of pandemic and give thanks for the grace which binds us together as one in Christ.
Faithfully, Nick Pence, Convener
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IMPORTANT DATES RESCHEDULED…
Rev. Dr. Bonnie Bates will be installed as our fourth Conference Minister on
Sunday,
June 28, 3:00 p.m. at UCC Greenawalds
.
(The original date of Saturday, April 4 has been cancelled.)
The April 24-24, 2020 Spring Meeting
of the Penn Northeast
has been postponed
until
April 16-17, 2021 at The Chateau at Camelback
If you registered through Tithe.ly or sent a check to the Conference Office
a refund will be issued
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Please be aware
that you can find continuous updates on the Coronavirus on the Penn Northeast Conference website
www.pnec.org
Just click on the COVID-19 tab. Thank you.