Several times this week, I found myself discussing how our beliefs about God affect how we view the world. When there are so many different denominations and churches - especially protestant churches in the U.S. - it is easy to say that the differences between them are minimal. In the grand scheme of things, the difference between two protestant denominations is not worth losing sleep over.
We do, however, come from different theological traditions, some of which result in us believing different things about God and about the world.
Those in the Reformed tradition (Presbyterians fall in this category) believe in the sovereignty of God. Almost all major doctrines and beliefs we hold come back to this: God is God. God is in charge. We are not God. Believing that God is sovereign affects the way we talk about salvation, the Christian life and even what a pastor does.
What we believe doesn't just affect church-y things. Believing that God is sovereign also means that I do not believe rich people deserve to be rich or poor people deserve to be poor. I believe that the life we were born into is out of our own control, which affects the way I view individual and systemic economic struggles.
Beliefs about God and the world are not just for those in church. We all have them, whether we acknowledge it or not. With other Christians, I have the opportunity to engage what I believe with what is going on around me and seek to follow God's will in everything I do. That's one reason I go to church.
See this clip from Shane Claiborne about what he would say to a future church. 
Shane will be speaking in Albany June 22 and 23, and I look forward to our Westminster youth hearing from such a compelling Christian.What would you say to a future church?
This past Saturday, the confirmation class and I joined people from all over the presbytery to work in the village of Schoharie, which had been devastated by hurricane Irene.
 Part way through the day, I asked my confirmands why they thought this work day was part of their formation. Of course they all passed with flying colors, saying that helping people is part of what Christians are supposed to do.
What I hope they took away from the day is that we are all in this together.
There's more to being a part of the Body of Christ than helping people in need. It also means sitting with people who are crying, or trying to understand people who are angry. Church gives young Christians opportunities to practice being in community with people through the highs and lows of life.
These young people know that God is alive in their lives, even if they are not always enthusiastic about answering adults when they ask them questions. How do I know? I can tell by how they have love for others.
On this day of celebration across the world, we remember all for whom today is not a happy one – all people who are in need of your loving presence and who cry out to you for help.
We pray for those in need of care. Draw near to those who are lost, alone or afraid. Be with those who are sick in body, mind or spirit. We especially lift up to you those known to us who are in need of your healing touch. Be with people in institutions of care and their families. Bless all people recovering from addiction and their families.
We pray for those in need of forgiveness, for anyone who carries a heavy burden of guilt from the past. Relieve them of their burden. Let them know the power of your redemption to cover any sin of the past, no matter what it is. Forgive your beloved children; forgive us all.
We pray for those in need of justice, for those who are poor, unemployed and underemployed, those who have no voice. Be with those who work for peace in the world and in our streets, particularly an end to gun violence. Bless our beloved city that divisions would crumble and that unity would prevail.
Jesus, on this day of your resurrection, surprise us with your grace and your unexpected love in our lives. Jar us out of cynicism with the awe of the empty tomb. Make us anew so that we may be your agents of change in the world.
In the blessed name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
It's Holy Week - kind of a big deal around here.
Yeah, sure things are busy: extra services to plan, preparations to be made, people to visit.
Aside from the busyness, Holy Week has a kind of stillness about it, especially at the beginning of the week. Anticipation hangs in the air for the events of the coming days. Life and death, deepest sorrow and ultimate joy - we will experience all of these this week.
As I join with Christians all over the world to remember these events that took place long ago, I also remember significant Holy Weeks in my life. In India, Good Friday is the most observed day of the Christian year, bigger than Easter and Christmas. I remember the Easter I sang "A Toi la Gloire" in France and the Maundy Thursday stations of the cross at Nunraw Abbey in Scotland. In college I attended a Holy Week service at an Orthodox church in Chicago and in seminary preached at a Seven Last Words service in inner city Trenton.
This week has found me in many different places in my life, both geographical and spiritual. Where does Holy Week find you this year?
At Night Church, worshipers interact with prayer spaces throughout the sanctuary. This past Friday, one prayer space in particular invited worshipers to take sustenance for their journey of faith.
Several foods are on a table, each labeled with a different characteristic of Jesus: honesty, compassion, humility, grace and love. Here is an excerpt from the directions-
When we choose to follow the path of Jesus, we begin to live how Jesus tells us is the best way to live. The Holy Spirit starts to change us from the inside out, making us into the people God meant us to be.
Look at the different characteristics of Jesus on the table before you and think about which characteristic needs the most work in your life. When you have chosen the one you need most help with, go to that area and follow the directions.
It just so happened that a lot of people needed more grace in their life (chocolate represented grace on this table).
This prayerful action has really stuck with me these past few days. Lent is a journey, a journey where we walk alongside Jesus through his most difficult days.
Jesus also walks alongside us when we are going through difficult times in life and gives us sustenance for the journey.
What do you need most in your life now? During these 40 days, reflect on your faith journey and your relationship with God. Ask God for that particular food you need to get through today and the length of your journey of faith.
_I moved to Albany about a year and a half ago. Since I came here, I have made an effort to get to know the people who live in our near neighborhood. Of all the neighborhoods in the Capital Region, the few blocks that surround our church are the most quickly changing, the most alive day and night and the most concentrated during the workday.
The fun part of my job is dreaming up ways to reach out to all these different groups of people in a meaningful way. What needs do people working downtown have? How can we connect with the young students and professionals who live in these blocks? There is no single program that will reach them all. Nevertheless, in Lent we are trying something new to reach out to our neighborhood.
A few years ago, I visited the Danish capital, Copenhagen. In the height of Northern European winter, the Cathedral is open three nights a week. They call it Night Church. On the night we attended, an artist had created an installation of images and pathways weaving through the aisles and small side chapels. Hundreds of young people wandered in and out of the building as a choir of a dozen sang soothing tones that echoed in the massive sanctuary. We came away feeling we had truly encountered the Holy.
Here at Westminster, we are attempting a Night Church of our own. Our version will have a mixture of silence and readings with music at 10-minute intervals. Worshipers will have the opportunity to visit interactive prayer spaces throughout the sanctuary or just sit quietly and pray. They can come for a few minutes or for the whole hour.
Please join us in praying for this new endeavor. Pray for the people who wander by or who are looking for God in their lives.
You are welcome to attend and see what it is all about. Who knows what will result from this experiment. As long as we are open to the movement of the Holy Spirit, we take this risk in faith.
Last night, we marked the beginning of Lent with an Ash Wednesday service. The service was fairly typical: scripture, prayers, sermon and imposition of ashes.
My colleague, Jim Reisner, and I each had a set of ashes that we used to mark worshipers' foreheads. As we did, we said the traditional words, "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return."
As I spoke these words over and over, I couldn't help but consider them. If we are told to "remember" that we are dust we must already know, we must have been told before.
When were we told? Every Ash Wednesday for starters. But we were also told earlier: at our baptism.
Baptism is another ritual in the church that we are told to remember. As the saying goes, "Remember your baptism and be glad."
In general, we think of baptism as a joyous celebration of a new Christian in our midst. When we celebrate infant baptism, we also give thanks for the new life God is welcoming into the world. We don't think of it as a celebration of dying.
But that's what baptism is: dying to ourselves so that we can be alive in Christ.
A blessing said over the water at baptism contains these words: "We thank you, O God, for the water of baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. From it we are raised to share his resurrection..."
While we have been told before, we still need some reminding. That is why once a year we are told in word and in deed that it is not about us. We are told that our small self-centered world is not all there is, that we are called to die to our very selves in order to live in Christ.This Lent, may it be so among us.
Also, see this Ash Wednesday photo slideshow from NPR.
That's right, friends. The time has come for my annual retreat for rest and spiritual renewal with 5 other women from seminary.
As I prepare to leave town, I find myself hurrying around to tie up all the loose ends and delegate all that cannot be finished in time. That's exactly why I need to go away: to remove myself from the treadmill of my daily and weekly routine.
 Several years ago, I read Sabbath by Wayne Muller. He encourages his readers to find and create space for rest in their regular routines. I cherish his words and try to live by them.
Sometimes you just need to leave town in order to truly have a time apart.My prayer is that this time also equips me to seek and create Sabbath more faithfully and more regularly. There is always something that needs to be done. We will always find some excuse to keep us from truly taking the commanded Sabbath rest.
May we all intentionally create Sabbath, especially when we think we are too busy.
I ran across this blog post from Emily Morgan, entitled A Letter to the Church about Young Adults and Worship. Many churches want to "get more young people" in church. Morgan considers this question from many angles, as a young adult and a churchgoer herself.
A point that really sticks with me is the difference between ministry to young adults and ministry with young adults.
A good friend of mine is pastor of Redemption Church in Pennsylvania, a new church start that intentionally reaches out to college students and young adults in Bucks County outside of Philadelphia. They have young adults at every level of leadership and are reaching new people all the time.
They have so many young adults, in fact, that they are trying to reach out to older people. Instead of the typical question, "how do we get more young people?" they are asking, "how do we get older people to join our church?" A unique problem to have.
I am reminded of churches that want to be more culturally diverse. How do we get more people who don't look like us to be a part of our community?
Themes from Morgan's article can be applied to each of these situations. Now I'll p. What would you add?
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