Dear Friends,

With Valentine's Day upon us, I am reminded of our late Rev. Paul Baumer, who was a minister at First Community Church from 2005 until his (second) retirement in October, 2018. Paul tells the story that after his retirement, he and his wife, Jan, joined First Community Church to try and "get lost" and blend in with being such a big church. However, Dr. Dick Wing had other ideas and brought him on staff instead. His titles at First Community included Minister of Missions, Minister of Stewardship, and Minister to Staff. He is one of the reasons I am on staff today, as he along with Paula Russell and Missy Obergefell interviewed me to be their Administrative Assistant in 2010. I am forever grateful.

One of the things that reminds me of Paul is his amazing way to tell the history of anything! Including, the history of Valentine's Day. So, for this month, I give you (in his own words) an article from Rev Paul Baumer, Minister of Stewardship, written in February of 2012:

You can read more about everything The Reverend Paul Baumer accomplished in his life here. A celebration of Paul's life will take place on April 9, 2022 at 1 pm in the Sanctuary at North Campus (3777 Dublin Rd).

Blessings and love to you all,

Robin Hood

Congregational Care Coordinator

UCC Still Speaking

Keep the Faith and Struggle On

Kaji Douša

Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” – Genesis 32:24 & 30 (NRSV)

As a minister, I have the privilege/responsibility of responding to people’s deepest questions (sometimes). The most frequent request has something to do with a version of this question: “How am I supposed to respond to this?”

My ego tells me that I have a fantastic answer. But my faith tells me something different. Because the truth is that there is no one way to listen to God, engage God, ask questions of God.

This doesn’t mean that there won’t be folks who will tell you otherwise. There are some who will tell you that they know exactly how God wants you to respond to a challenging moment. (Heck, if I’m honest, I’ve certainly done the same.)

But here’s the truth: your questions, your struggle, your relationship with God are your own. Being in relationship with God calls you to relationship with others who profess the faith. It’s not a solitary endeavor. But, while you hold God in community, you are given the chance to struggle with God in a place no one else can see.

Jacob, a progenitor of the faith, struggled hard! In the end, he emerged completely changed (bless his heart, his hip was never the same).

Struggle with God and watch yourself be transformed; your questions are valid and blessed. Your challenges are never beyond God’s reach. You are not meant to follow without question. Push back and see what God can do.

God, you meet us in the struggle. Help us to ask the right questions so that we can see you more clearly. Amen.

Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” May you find yourself surprised by joy this Winter. And may you overflow with hope (for Spring?).

Watching an interview at the Bexley Library with Kevin Boyle, author of The Shattering: America in the ‘60s, brought me back to my own idealism from the Peace Movement and the Countercultural Revolution inspired by youth actions before and during my undergraduate years from 1968-72.

And preparing for this week’s Much Matters book discussion of Princeton professor Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.’s Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Us All, I’m both disheartened at the possibility of this statement, yet inspired by Glaude’s themes:

“We have to find and rest in a community of Love.”

That “community of love” is Martin Luther King’s “Beloved Community,” or Jesus (and Judaism’s) “kingdom of God.” But first, as Glaude says cryptically (unless you read the book), we have to “cultivate our own elsewhere.” Our own elsewhere is what the important spiritual sage you’ve never heard of, Karlfried Graf Dürckheim, calls “the celestial origin of humanity,” or “our essential being—that which participates with Divine Being and can become conscious of It in specific experiences.” Dürckheim explains:

Our 2022 First Community/Burkhart Center Spiritual Searcher, Rabbi Rami Shapiro, has several Howard Thurman texts in his annotated anthology of sacred texts in Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent. This quote by Thurman from Baptist Wisdom for Contemplative Prayer, lays out more meaning to the Jewish and later, Jesus commands, to “love your neighbor as yourself,” making the act of self-love primary:

Rabbi Rami’s comments on this text point to Glaude and James Baldwin’s “elsewhere” and to Dürckheim’s “the celestial origin of humanity, our essential being:”

I have a silly childhood story to share with you. When I was young, my family attended Trinity United Methodist Church on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Cambridge Boulevard, just down the street from First Community South. Trinity offered an engaging Sunday School program that my older sister, Virginia, and I enjoyed. But some days (and maybe you have these days, too), Virginia and I simply did not want to attend. In the ultimate act of childhood rebellion, Virginia and I would follow the parade of children from the sanctuary to the Sunday School classrooms and, with cool confidence, walk right out the back double doors onto Fifth Avenue.

Luckily (a gift from God?), Trinity shares a parking lot with Anthony-Thomas Chocolates. With the dollars intended for the Sunday School offering plate, Virginia and I would buy peanut butter buckeyes and chocolate bunnies, making sweet conversation with the store clerk until we guessed Sunday School might be over. We would sneak back into the church and return home for a hearty post-church lunch for which we were (inexplicably) not very hungry.

Virginia shared this story from the pulpit at First Community South during my Service of Ordination in November 2019. She joked that our congregation should be wary of me, due to my shifty church history: “‘Sneaking out of church’ and ‘spending the offertory for personal use’ are not exactly the attributes one looks for in a pastor,” she said.

But looking back on those “escape from Sunday School” days, I think young Virginia and I might have been onto something important. Don’t get me wrong: I do not condone children leaving the church premises unattended! But I do think we should all bust through the church double doors from time to time. Here’s what I mean: I think we should all leave church seeking connection. We should all find the places where we might receive nourishment (literally and spiritually) in our neighborhoods. There’s something to be said for making small talk with store clerks, indulging in a sweet treat, and sharing some giggly, sisterly fun. You might imagine the mischievous smiles that donned Virginia and my faces all afternoon on those Sundays. Such moments of connection are magical. Holy, even.

Such moments are hard to come by in the time of COVID and in the dead of winter—but not impossible. I recently read The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices by Casper Ter Kuile. The book challenges readers to become curious about how our habits might be (or become) spiritual practices. Can we reread a beloved book seeking spiritual guidance, light a candle in remembrance, or call an old friend to reconnect? Can we take a walk (or just look out the window) with the intention of connecting to God’s creation? Can we set aside sabbath time to nurture our relationship with God—instead of with technology, projects, or responsibilities?

How are you taking the spirit of church beyond its double doors? What spiritual practices are you cultivating between Sundays? May we all seek do so, not instead of our involvement at First Community, but in addition to it. Go ahead: escape from church. Just, please, don’t spend all your offering money on chocolate, ok?

If you have a ritual, spiritual practice, or way of intentionally bringing the spirit of First Community beyond the church doors, I would love to hear about it! Email me at skientz@FCchurch.com

Dinner at Chammps

Dinner at Windward Passage

Dinner at Carrabba’s Italian Grill

Dinner at Der Dutchman

The First Community Church Annual Meeting was held on Saturday, January 29 at 10 am in Grace Hall at North Campus. Members were approved for Governing Board and Board of Deacons. Votes are being tallied for the incoming Nominating Committee. You can see the incoming members for the Governing Board and Board of Deacons, as well as the candidates for Nominating Committee here. Thank you to all who attended and voted!