One of the values that I hold very strongly to is, “If you didn’t participate, then you don’t get to complain.”  The one caveat to this being if you are not allowed to participate… then you get to complain about being kept out of the process.  But, generally speaking, if the process is fair, you have a chance to participate, and you decline to participate, you don’t get to complain about the results.

For me, this will take the form of me delegating a task or responsibility to someone else and that person doing that task/responsibility differently than I would have (or would have liked it to be done).  In that case, the price for me not having to do it is that I don’t get to criticize how it gets done.  If Logan takes on a chore in our household, does it in a way I deem inefficient (or simply it doesn’t conform to how I do that chore), and I don’t have to take care of that chore, I don’t get to complain about how it gets done.  Other times, I delegate tasks to members of Session or to committees.  To be honest with you, I can often do those delegated tasks faster if I do them myself.  The price I pay for not doing those delegated tasks myself is that it will likely involve more steps, it will take longer, and I am not in control of the results.  But then again, I didn’t have to do them.

I maintain this opinion when it comes to group decision making.  This is why we have had so many town hall discussions over the past few years about the budget, our committee structure, and the ministry focus; so that as many people as possible had an opportunity to learn, understand, and voice their opinions.  By not participating in those discussions, it is a cue to me that you have delegated your opinion to the resulting opinion of the majority.

In all of this, what will get under my skin faster than anything are people who complain about our government and the decisions it makes but have not participated in the most basic level of choosing who comprises our government leadership.

So, if you want to be able to complain about the choices that government officials are making, GO OUT AND VOTE TODAY.  I know that many people would not consider this a major election year, but policy begins at a local level.

After I wrap up here at church, I will be going to my polling station and voting for one City commissioner and one person to sit on the board of the Library.  Just two items, but they are still important.  AND I want to maintain my right to complain about the city I live in.

Blessings,
Pastor Chris

On Sunday, we had our Congregational Meeting to choose our Ministry Focus.  With around 31 voting members present (quorum is 25 members), we elected to choose the LGBTQIA+ community as our Ministry Focus for the coming years.  This was not a unanimous vote: the unofficial paper vote was 21 LGBTQIA+ focus to 10 Young Adults focus and the official vote to affirm the LGBTQIA+ community as our Ministry Focus had 2 "nay" votes.

It might surprise some to hear but I am actually glad that this was not a unanimous vote.  Here is why:

1. Session worked hard to come up with good ideas for what our Ministry Focus should be. They were all good ideas. To me at least, a vote for one idea was not a vote against the other idea. The hope was that people would vote for what they saw as the BEST option for our community, not to condemn the other option as bad.
2. One of my worries going into this vote was that Northminster folks would be too agreeable and go with what they perceived as the majority opinion was.  One of the downsides to Robert’s Rules of Order is that motions must be made in the affirmative of one opinion/point of view.  It doesn’t really allow for an either/or vote.  This is why we did the unofficial paper vote first.  Furthermore, if it sounds like the majority of the room votes “yes” for a motion, it can be intimidating to be the only one to vote “no.”
   That said, if members really did think that the other option for a ministry focus was truly better for our community, I wanted to vote to show that.  Thank you to those who voted their conscience and made sure that the record accurately reflects the sentiment of our community.

What do you do when the community did not vote unanimously?

Especially when you get larger groups of Presbyterians together, votes are rarely unanimous.  But fear not! Our polity is rather explicit about how to proceed.

•        F-3.01 Principles of Order and Governance
•        F-3.0101 God is Lord of the Conscience
  •    b. “Therefore we consider the rights of private judgement, in all matters that respect religion, as universal and unalienable.”
  •    This means that every person has a right to their own opinion and that is between that person and God.
•        F-3.0105 Mutual Forbearance
  •    That, while under the conviction of the above principle […] we also believe that there are truths and forms with respect to which men of good characters principles may differ. And in all these, we think that it the duty both of private Christians and societies to exercise mutual forbearance toward each other.
•        F-3.02 Principles of Presbyterian Government
•        F-3.0205 Decision by Majority Vote
  •    Decisions shall be reached in councils by vote, following opportunity for discussion and discernment, and a majority shall govern.

Translation: every person has a right to their own opinion; good people will, at times, disagree; and the community will be governed by the majority opinion.  Discussion and discernment happen before the vote.  Once the vote is taken and the majority opinion is expressed, that motion is put into effect.  The voice of the minority is VITAL in this process because it is a key piece of discernment.  However, once the majority vote is taken, the minority opinion is expected to support and help carry out the plans of the majority until such time that it is up for debate again.

This is not a perfect system, but it is the best system the PCUSA has found to lift up voices to be heard but not to be hamstrung into inaction by the dissenting opinion of the few.

If you want to know what next steps look like, keep your eyes peeled for the November Newsletter where I will lay out in detail where we go from here.

Blessings,
Pastor Chris

We are finally at our final stage in the process of choosing a ministry focus.


As a quick refresher of this process:

1. Session brainstormed and fleshed out eight ideas for potential focus topics.  Then, over the summer?  I put together a presentation about what these ministries could look like. In September, I gave this presentation to Session, and they voted for their top four ideas.  
2. These four ideas were presented to the congregation.  Four town-hall style meetings were held over two weeks attended by 36 individuals.  An additional 9 individuals read the presentation on their own and got back to me with their thoughts and votes. In total, I heard back from 45 people, exceeding our goal of 42 participants (80% of our 52 members).  Each of the 45 people voted for their favorite topics (two votes for one topic or one vote for two topics).  These votes were then tallied and totaled to give us our top two topics.

There was a clear first place choice in topics: the LGBTQIA+ Community.
The second-place choice was a close call.  Young Adults and Persons with Disabilities went back and forth as the second-place choice.  In the end, Young Adults won the second place slot with two more votes.

• The final step of the process is to hold a Congregational Meeting in order to discuss these two potential ministry focuses, their merits, their drawbacks, what makes people excited, and what makes people hesitant.  An outline of the two potential ministries will be made available, but I will not be walking through the information in the presentation again.  Rather, this time is intended to hear from one another, debate the ideas, and come to as close as a consensus as we can as a community.  Once we feel that we have discussed the ideas adequately, we will take a Congregational Vote. For this to be an authoritative act of the congregation, we will need a minimum of 25 voting members.  While non-members cannot vote, the members of the congregation can vote to give voice to those individuals wishing to participate in the discussion.

I am very excited to be at this step in the process and even more excited to hear what you all have to say this Sunday about these ideas.

Here is one final promise I will make to you all: while we will have chosen our ministry focus for the next few years, we will not try to implement everything that I have listed on the presentation all at once.  We will have to grow this ministry slowly and strategically.  This means tackling easy projects first in order to build momentum.  Part of Session’s work in 2026 will be creating a strategic plan for the committees and congregation to implement slowly.  The journey will be long, but hopefully we will make friends and build relationship along the way that will sustain us.


Blessings,
Pastor Chris

With the leaves finally starting to turn colors and the air having a chilly nip in the air, it is finally starting to feel like fall. I admittedly jumped the gun on fall when we had a cold snap back in August. I brought out my sweaters and started brewing my favorite cinnamon spice tea. But after a few chilly weeks, it returned to the heat of summer throughout September. Now that we are entering into the middle of October and Halloween is right around the corner, it good and truly feels like fall.

But with fall comes a plethora of things here at Northminster. It is Stewardship Season, Budgeting Season, and Nominations Season. And we need to get this business done before the beginning of Advent.

So, to keep us in line, I thought I would share with you all some dates to keep in mind:
 
Stewardship Sunday
Oct 26 in Worship – Please bring your pledge cards

The question we are asking you to consider this season is, “What will be more vibrant and fruitful with little more time, energy, or resources?” If you want to read my full stewardship letter, CLICK HERE.

If you want to print your own pledge card, CLICK HERE. Pre-printed pledge cards will be made available on Sundays for you to use. A 2026 preliminary budget will be made available shortly.

Congregational Meeting: Final Round of Choosing a Focus
Oct 26 after Worship – In Person and on Zoom

This fall, we have gathered in a series of Town Hall meetings to hear a presentation about the work of Session in helping this congregation choose a ministry focus.  CLICK HERE to access that presentation.
This is the final step in that process: to gather as a congregation to hear the top two choices of the town hall meetings, discuss the merits and drawback of the two ministry focus topics, and then vote upon one to become our official ministry focus for the following years.  Non-members can be given voice in the meeting and discussion, but only active members can officially vote.

Memorial Service for David Lundquist
Nov 2 at 3 p.m.

Memorial Service for MaryEllen VanCanneyt
Nov 9 at 2 p.m.

Congregational Meeting: Electing Elders and Deacons
Nov 16 after worship. In Person and on Zoom.

The Season of Nominations has begun.  This Congregational meeting is our annually scheduled meeting of the congregation to hear the report from Nominations and elect the next round of Elders and Deacons.

Memorial Service for Rod Griffard
Nov 16 at 2 p.m. – In Person and Live Streamed on YouTube

Hanging of the Greens
Joint Northminster/CCB Service to prepare for Advent
10 a.m. – In Person and Live Streamed on YouTube

Advent is a time of preparations. A Hanging of the Greens Worship Service is a service to prepare ourselves and our space for the season of preparations.  After worship, Northminster and CCB will work together in teams to decorate the building for Advent.  Projects will be made available for people with limited mobility.
.
Blessings,
Pastor Chris

I have this more or less memorized, but whether or not I say it exactly the same way every time is anyone’s guess.

This section of the liturgy is called, the "Invitation to the Table.”  It isn’t strictly necessary by the standards of our faith; many congregations and pastors don’t include it.  But I personally find this section necessary and will always include it.  Why?  Because I find that the Invitation to the Table does two important things:

1) It reminds us of the breadth of God’s love and
2) It situates us within the story of God’s loving redemption.

The Breadth of God’s Love
Many denominations and congregation have what they call a “closed table.”  Closed table theology dictates that only Christians that meet certain requirements – like baptism, confirmation/catechism, and/or membership in that tradition – can take Communion when it is served.  The scriptural reason for this goes back to Paul’s fist letter to the Corinthians where he is scolding them for abusing the Lord’s Supper:  “So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord,” (1 Cor 11:27).  In order to prevent people from sinning against the body and blood of the Lord, these traditions put restrictions on who can partake in Communion so that no one who approaches the table is unworthy.  The social/cultural reason to have a closed table is because some traditions have a certain set of ritual movements or patterns that go along with taking Communion.  Traditions such as the Catholic or Orthodox have such rituals and movements that are taught to people and children in the congregation, but which outsiders would not know.  By restricting who can come forward, they are ensuring that everyone knows the proper way to partake in the sacrament.

The PCUSA is an “Open Table” denomination.  That means that we do not restrict who can partake in Communion; we simply ask that people treat the sacrament with respect.  This theology comes out of the fact that Jesus, himself, doesn’t put restrictions on who can partake of the Last Supper.  Jesus even included Judas in the ritual as he is in the middle of turning Jesus over to the authorities.  So, we believe that Communion is a demonstration of the breadth and depth of God’s love, and all are welcome to experience that grace.


Our Place in God’s Story of Redeeming Love
The first major split in the Christian Church was in 1054 with the Great Schism that broke apart what would become the Orthodox tradition and the Catholic tradition.  Martin Luther’s 95 Theses in 1517 created further divisions and factions in the Christian tradition.  Protestant Christianity would continue to splinter into smaller and smaller denominations as the United States would grow in population and territory.  It is not uncommon to find congregations or traditions that want to claim that only they have the correct and true understanding of the Bible.  But Communion reminds us that we are only a one piece of the story.  We play a part in God’s story of redeeming love, but we are not the main characters.  Our God is a universal God that loves, guides, and protects people all over the world.  So, yes, while we might ask God to protect our family, watch over our community, and even guide our nation’s leaders, God does not favor any one country or group of people.  We don’t worship a Northminster God, a Presbyterian God, or even an American God.  We worship the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end; the God that always was and always will be.  We are invited into God’s story, but we play only a part in that story.

World Communion Sunday is a reminder of these things.  God is so much bigger than us and God’s love surrounds us and the world so fully.

Blessings,
Pastor Chris

On Sunday, we held our final Choosing a Focus Town Hall meeting.  Thank you to everyone who has participated in this process so far!  The turnout has been good and the discussion around these topics has been wonderful.  It has been amazing to share with you something that Session and I have been working on for quite some time.  It has been even greater to hear you all get fired up and excited by the ideas we are putting forward.

With that said… we only have 67% congregational participating rate at this point!
The goal I set was for 80% participation.
That means that we need 7 more Northminster people to participate.
​
While we have a clear preference for our #1 idea, two ideas are tied for our #2 spot. In order to complete this step in the process, we need a clear second choice.

Therefore, I am asking those who have yet to participate and vote to join in the process!  It doesn’t matter if you live close by or far away; it doesn’t matter if you attend frequently or infrequently, it doesn’t matter if you are an official, card-carrying member or just a part of the wider Northminster community: if you are invested in the future of Northminster, we want to hear from you!!!

In order to (hopefully) achieve the goal of 80% participation, I am extending the process 2 more weeks.  HERE and on our website is the Choosing the Focus Presentation.  If you have not yet done so, please read through it.  The presentation includes:

1. Background of how we got here
2. An explanation of the process and how to use the rubric
3. Explanations of the four proposed ideas
4. And an explanation on how to vote.

​Feel free to walk through this process yourself or reach out to me if you want to discuss it with someone.  And if I don’t hear back from enough folks, I will begin reaching out directly asking folks what they think.

Once this process is done, we will tally the results, share the top two ideas, and schedule a congregational meeting to discuss and vote on which of these two will be our ministry focus moving forward.

Again, thank you to all of you who have participated so far.  I have added in many of the suggestions that have been discussed in the town hall meetings thus far.

Blessings,
Pastor Chris

Hello fellow heathens, apostates, and sinners!!
If you are reading this, then you have officially missed the Rapture that was predicted on social media to have taken place on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025.  This means that a few things could have happened:

1. You were left behind to experience the trials and tribulations to come while “true” Christians were beamed up to heaven.
2. Jesus took one look at this world and decided that none of us were good enough to Rapture up to heaven.
3. The Rapture, as a theological idea invented in the 1830’s, is being used once again to instill feelings of fear and/or self-righteousness in people.

I have spoken about the Rapture in sermons before.  I largely consider it to be “Christian Fan-fiction,” Christian propaganda, and a tool of control.  It is used to get believers to abdicate responsibility for the state of the world because they are about to be beamed up to heaven and Jesus/God are left to punish those who made life on earth miserable. It is used as a fear tactic to often used by authoritarian pastors get people with questions or doubts to “fall in line” with their teachings or be “left behind” for the trials and tribulations.

However, repeatedly, throughout scripture, Jesus states that no one knows the time or place of the coming of the Son of Man… not even Jesus himself!  The Apostle Paul reiterates that Jesus will return “like a thief in the night.”  By the witness of scripture itself, the one way to guarantee that the Rapture won’t happen on a particular day (apart from the fact that the Rapture has no Biblical basis) would be to predict that it would happen on a particular day.

As I have stated before, I have stopped wishing for and a believing in the end of the world.  I now advocate to look around every day for how Jesus has come again that day.  Every time that someone apologizes for the harm that they’ve caused, Jesus has returned!  Every time that someone works to repair a relationship that has been broken, Jesus has returned!  Every time someone feeds the hungry, shelters the homeless, or gives hope to the hopeless, Jesus has returned!  Jesus has returned again and again and again, if we only look around us.  With that in mind, we have work to do: The Kingdom of God won’t build itself “on earth as it is in heaven” without us getting our hands dirty.

So - what can we do?  Well, if you haven’t yet, please attend one of the Town Hall Ministry Focus discussions.  We will be discussing various way that we can reach out into the community and make Jesus return to people’s lives yet again.

The next one will be THIS THURSDAY, September 25th at 7 pm on Zoom.  (Check your email for the link.)

The last one will be after church this Sunday, September 28th in the lounge.   Even if you haven’t signed up, please come anyway.

So, I hope you have a wonderful post-rapture day.   And may you see Jesus in the faces of others and in your own actions.

Blessings,
Pastor Chris

As September is the PCUSA's Season of Peace, I thought I would discuss with you all a new term I recently discovered: Stochastic Terrorism.

Britannica.com defines the term thusly:

“stochastic terrorism, the repeated use of hate speech or other vilifying, dehumanizing rhetoric by a political leader or other public figure that inspires one or more of the figure’s supporters to commit hate crimes or other acts of violence against a targeted person, group, or community.” source

In order to create peace, we must understand all forms that violence takes.  So, let’s create a scenario to explore this term further:

• Billy is known on the playground for being mean, but he is only mean with his words.  Billy never hits people or pushes them.  For the past few weeks Billy has been picking on Tim.  Billy tells all of his friends that Tim is smelly and that he doesn’t think anyone should play with Tim at recess.  Slowly, other kids stop wanting to spend time with Tim at recess, in the lunchroom, or in the classroom. 
  
  A few days ago, the whole class got in trouble and lost 10 minutes of recess.  While the whole class was at fault, Billy blamed Tim for it, saying that it was all his fault for not following the rules.  The other kids believed Billy and were angry at Tim.  The next day, Billy made a comment that Tim really deserved to be hit, or kicked, or pushed down to pay for what happened the day before.  Other kids listened to Billy and agreed that someone should make Tim pay for his alleged wrongs.
  
  At recess later that day, Garrett pushes Tim off of the jungle gym in anger, and Tim gets hurt.  Garrett gets in trouble and is sent to the counselor’s office for being violent towards Tim.  However, Billy should also be held responsible for what happened to Tim because he repeatedly villainized Tim and remarked that someone should hurt Tim.
  
  While Billy was not directly violent towards Tim, Billy created a situation where someone else was likely to be violent towards Tim.

Billy engaged in stochastic terrorism towards Tim.

We often have kids memorize the singsong saying, “Sticks and stone can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  However, words can and do hurt people.  Words may not break bones and words alone cannot shoot guns.  But when people string words together it becomes rhetoric.  Rhetoric influences people’s beliefs.  Repeated rhetoric changes what is normalized.  Norms shape acceptable behavior. What is acceptable influences whose actions we see as violent and whose actions are justified.

When politicians and newscasters villainize immigrants, it becomes acceptable to treat migrant workers inhumanely, putting them in camps and cages.

When talking heads valorize gun ownership as a sacred right, the 304 mass shooting in 2025 so far becomes acceptable collateral damage, (source).

When government officials turn the Palestinian people into a caricature of a terroristic people bent on eliminating the Jewish people, the starvation, bombing of civilians, and genocide of the Palestinian people is seen as necessary.

When the rich villainize the poor and the disabled as unworthy leeches on the system, people happily accept the violence of denying assistance and healthcare to the most vulnerable people in our society.

When city officials describe homeless individuals as violent drug addicts, the community cheers when the police destroy homeless encampments and imprison the homeless. 

• While I saw many people this week condemning all political violence, I was struck by the political violence carried out by systems we have put into place.
• Arresting migrant workers without warrant or trial is political violence.
• Refusing to pass gun legislation while gun violence continues is political violence.
• Bombing Palestinian civilians is political violence.
• Refusing to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza is political violence.
• Allowing people to die because they cannot afford healthcare or were kicked off government healthcare is political violence.
• Imprisoning homeless individuals for the crime of being poor is political violence.

And the people who vocally support these policies - be it government employees, elected officials, news reporters/anchors, talking heads, podcasters, etc. - are engaging in Stochastic Violence.  They may not be the ones that were personally engaged in the violent act, but they used their rhetoric assuming that someone else would.

Blessings,
Pastor Chris

Dear Northminster,

September is "off to the races" and already zooming by!  So, let us talk briefly about what is coming up.

This Sunday, after service, is our All-Committee Meeting at 12:15 in the Lounge.
Lunch will be served and then we will hear the Pastor’s report, Treasurer’s report, and Session’s report before breaking out into individual committee meetings.
 
In the following weeks, we will have a series of town-hall style talks to discuss choosing a ministry focus.  These talks will be around 45 minutes and will have time for discussion and voting for your favorite ideas.  These town hall meetings are open to everyone in the Northminster community, regardless of membership status.

The Town Hall meetings will be on:

• Wednesday, September 17th at 10 a.m. in-person in the lounge.
• Sunday, September 21st online on Zoom at 2 p.m.
  Meeting ID: 837 0501 4543
  Passcode: 796880
• Thursday, September 25th online on Zoom, at 7 p.m.
  Meeting ID: 813 3547 9669
  Passcode: 998799
• Sunday, September 28th, at 12 noon in-person in the lounge.

​We hope that everyone can attend one of these town hall meetings.   If you are unable to attend one of these town hall meetings, but you still want to look at the presentation and vote on your favorite idea, please let me know:  I am happy to email you the presentation to look at.  I also plan to record and upload one of the Zoom meetings to make it available for a limited time on YouTube: youtube.com/@troynorthminster.

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up to attend one of these meetings.

Blessings,
Pastor Chris

Welcome Back!
Happy September, everyone!
​
I hope everyone enjoyed their summer months.
And what better way to begin the fall than by a "Welcome Back" Barbecue?
Well, folks, you are all in luck!  As I assume most of you know, this Saturday, September 6th at 5:30, we are lighting up the grill under the pavilion for our Welcome Back" Potluck Barbecue.  Hamburgers and Hotdogs will be provided by the Community Connections team.  Everything else is provided by YOU!

So, bring a side, dessert, or drink to share!
And thank you to everyone who has already signed up with what they plan on bringing.
While there are picnic tables for everyone to use, feel free to bring a camping chair to sit in.

When you arrive, feel free to park along either side of the driveway.
Thank you to the Building and Grounds team that ensured that the trees and underbrush were trimmed back to allow for easier parking.
 
Lastly, we encourage everyone to reach out to folks you haven’t seen in a while and make sure they are coming as well! Invite a friend!  Call a neighbor!
This is an opportunity for the community to gather.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask by emailing or calling myself or Suzanne in the office.

Blessings,
Pastor Chris

The sermon on Sunday was titled, “Setting People Free,” and I discussed what it means to ignore bad rules in order to make people freer in their own lives; but what does it mean to be free?  What does freedom look like?  American Culture holds up FREEDOM as a cornerstone to its identity.  As nation, we use freedom as the reason we pass certain laws and uphold various policies.  Freedom is the banner we fly every national holiday including Independence Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day.  We go to war on behalf of freedom, and we are told to be grateful for the freedoms we have in this country.  But what does freedom mean? Thinkers smarter than I have put forth that there is a dual nature to the idea of freedom: "freedom from" vs. "freedom to".

“Freedom to” is the easier idea to get our heads around because it is the one that is most often used when American Culture evokes a sense of freedom. "Freedom to" is the freedom to do whatever I want to.

• The freedom to choose what you want to do for a job
• The freedom to use one’s hard-earned money however one sees fit
• The freedom to live where you want and how you want
• The freedom to make your own medical decisions on what you are willing or not willing to do
• The freedom to make decisions, even if they are bad decisions
• The freedom to ride a motorcycle without a helmet even if it is dangerous
• The freedom to build a homemade hot tub with a kiddie pool and a propane tank on your own property

The idea of “the freedom to” is often guided by the idea that a person should have the freedom to choose their own destiny without interference or coercion from outside forces, including the government.  When people declare that the United States is “the freest country in the world,” what the speaker is often implying is that the US interferes the least with the actions of its citizenry.  When these same folks decry government overreach, they are often implying that the US government is impinging on their right to do whatever they want to do.

On the other hand, “freedom from” evokes a sense of collective freedom that is present in more collectivist cultures.  "Freedom from" evokes a standard of living where citizens are free from the worst outcomes of life.  

• Free school lunches provide children freedom from hunger.
• Free education provides freedom from ignorance and student loan debt.
• School vaccination standards provide freedom from potentially deadly diseases.
• Worker protects provides freedom from workplace abuse.
• Health and safety standards provide freedom from unsafe conditions.
• Environmental regulations provide freedom from toxic pollutants.
• Certain laws provide freedom from discrimination, racism, and sexism.
• Guaranteed housing provides freedom from the threat of homelessness
• Universal healthcare provides freedom from the threat of medical debt or death due to unaffordable healthcare or delayed healthcare.
• Social programs (are supposed to) provide freedom from poverty.

Part of the divide in our country that has polarized us is a different understanding of freedom. Many people are fighting for more “freedom to,” while others are fighting for more protections in “freedom from.”  In my personal opinion, both senses of freedom are necessary.  However, American culture has been weighted towards an idea of “freedom to,” and has often forgotten our obligations to protect each other by developing robust freedoms that protect us from the worst outcomes of life.  Unlike Cain, we are our brother’s keeper.  And if we are to lift the weight off of people’s backs, we need to develop more "freedom from"s.
​Blessings,
Pastor Chris

Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.”  Jesus continued in Matthew 25:45, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”  Have you ever wondered who counts as “the least of these?”  Well, an expert in the law wanted to know who counted as his neighbor and Jesus responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Afterward, the lawyer answered that the neighbor was, “The one who showed him mercy,” (Luke 10:37).  Add this to Jesus’s command to “Love your enemies,” (Matthew 5:44) and no person can really be excluded from the category of people we are supposed to look after, care for, and love.

On Sunday, I gave you a type of rubric to use to judge whether policies of our government follow Jesus’s gospel message.  They were:

•  Does this policy feed the hungry, provide clean water, or shelter the homeless?
•  Does this policy heal people’s body, mind, or soul?
•  Does this policy help us to be less judgmental of other people’s lives or choices?
•  Does this policy help us to welcome the strangers among us?
•  Does this policy prioritize the health of the entire community, not just a subsection of it?
•  Does this policy lead people to repentance of wrongdoing and work toward repair and reconciliation?
•  Does this policy prevent the hoarding of wealth by the rich and powerful?
•  Does this policy hold powerful people accountable for their actions?

If the answer is no, I suggest that Jesus would advocate burning away that policy to make room for one that is more just and equitable.

But today, I have a different mental exercise for you: imagine Jesus being the person that the policies affect.  Jesus was born poor in a village of peasant families.  Jesus learned a trade (woodcutting or stonecutting, depending on the sources).  Where he lived was ruled by an oppressive empire that squashed political opposition.

When I think about how we treat people in our country, I imagine Jesus in the people’s place.  How would it change what we are doing if Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, was:

•  a child in Gaza at this moment?
•  an undocumented immigrant detained by ICE and taken to Alligator Alcatraz? 
• a child at school being taught how to hide under their desk in case of an active shooter?
•  a sweatshop seamstress working 12 hours a day for poverty wages sewing t-shirts that American consumers will wear once while the manager locks the doors so she can’t escape?
•  a black teen being chastised by the school cop because he was wearing his hood up in the hallway?
•  a disabled adult who is being kicked off Medicaid because they made a simple error in their paperwork when re-applying for benefits?
•  a single mother working 60 hours a week to provide for her family who is being kicked off her SNAP benefits because she didn’t have the time or energy to re-do the paperwork to prove she still qualified for benefits.

This isn’t just a mental exercise; if we take Jesus’s words seriously, these people ARE Jesus.  “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me, [and] just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”

Blessings,
Pastor Chris

On Sunday, I admittedly did not talk about the beginning of the scripture passage we had for that morning.  I skipped this part because it would have made the sermon way too long and I figured that you all would like to be out before 1 p.m.  That said, I didn’t want to forget about these verses because it ties into what I have been discussing in our Tuesday Notes emails for the past few weeks: some of Jesus’ teachings are difficult to follow if we don’t water them down or spiritualize them.  Luke 12:32 is a case in point: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions and give alms.” – Luke 12:32

In this verse, Jesus is literally commanding his followers to sell their possessions in order to give to the people who having nothing.  Jesus encourages this behavior by telling the people that it is good for the soul; that these actions will build up their spiritual treasures in a place where no one can steal it from them.  I love the idea of this, but I have a few questions for Jesus:

First, how much should I sell off?  I have a house full of stuff but I need some of that stuff to live… and some stuff to be comfortable.  How much stuff is “you should sell this and give the money to charity” amount of stuff?  How much is it ethical to own?

Second, where should I give the money?  Directly to the people on the streets?  To the church?  To charities?  Or to scientific research?  Does it count as giving alms if my tax money goes towards Medicaid, housing vouchers, and food assistance?  Is it better to have church-led charities, community actions groups, or government assistance?

In Acts 2:44-45, the early Christian Community took this instruction of Jesus seriously:  “All the believers were together and had everything in common.  They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”  In light of the explosion of growth that the early church saw, it makes complete sense to me.  Of course people wanted to join the Christian Community!  They were giving away free food and provided people with housing.  Poor people were being supported by their community and those that were better off had the joy of seeing other people flourish.  But as time went on, Christians and their communities started to hold back more for themselves.  As it turns out, this kind of living is difficult to sustain over the long-term.  But the ideal remained.

When I think about the type of society that I want to live in, it is a society that takes care of its people.2`  It is a society that pools resources together so that communities can do together what it is difficult to do by oneself.  Personally, caring for people is exactly what I want our pooled resources (in the form of taxes) to go toward.  I want kids to not have to worry whether they can eat at school or not.  I want every person to be guaranteed a roof over their head.  I want every person to be able to access medical care without fear of financial ruin.  And if every person could potentially be the Son of Man, a mortal or representative for the whole human race - like we talked about in service - I want to make sure that every person is cared for and treated as if we are caring for Jesus himself.

Blessings,
Pastor Chris

“Chris, pause. You need to straighten your wrist when you do that motion.”  I have now heard some form of this comment weekly for the past four months.  For my ongoing health and well-being, I have started going to a physical trainer to help me build strength.  Last fall, I was diagnosed with a genetic condition where my body doesn’t synthesize collagen correctly.  That results in ligaments and tendons that act like old, stretched out rubber bands.  One of the ways to combat this is to build strength in the muscles to compensate for what those ligaments and tendons can’t do.  Only one problem: I hate lifting heavy things and so I haven’t done so for years.

In order to get me to actually lift heavy things a few times a week, I have started seeing a trainer.  This also doubles as protection from me hurting myself by using bad form.  In recent weeks, I have struggled to keep my wrist straight when doing a particular set of exercises.  Me being me, I stood there for a minute trying to figure out when I kept returning to a bad form that would injure me in the long run.  What I realized is that curling my wrists felt like I was protecting that joint from stretching out (due to my overly stretchy ligaments) and the weight was heavier when I straightened my wrists.   The side effect of this slight change meant that I wasn’t working the muscle intended and I was opening myself up to injury later.  Correct form was more difficult, but I told myself that I can do difficult things.

Jesus’ teachings are difficult to follow.  There is no way around it: so many of Jesus’ teaching are difficult.  Some of them are difficult because we are fallible humans and it is difficult to love everyone 100% of the time.  Other teachings are difficult because - if we were honest with ourselves - we actually don’t want to follow them.  One topic that Jesus returns to again and again is how the accumulation of wealth is immoral.  He tells followers to give up their lives and follow him in a life of nomadic ministry.  He instructs a rich young man to sell all of his possessions.  He tells parables about rich men dying and burning in the flames of hell.  He says that it will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  At the end of his ministry, Jesus flips the tables of money changers in the temple.  There are many questions that we have about Jesus, his ministry, and his life; but his feelings toward people who have accumulated wealth is clear: he thought it was sinful and immoral.

Following Jesus’s teachings on money and wealth are some of the most difficult teachings to follow.  I know very few people who are willing to take a vow of poverty and sell all of their worldly possessions.  I fully admit that I am one of the people who doesn’t want to live in poverty due to my faith; but when I read certain parts of the Gospel, I can feel myself doing the theological equivalent of protectively curling my wrists to make the weight lighter. 

I ask myself:

• How much do you need to have to be considered rich?  Yes, I live comfortably, but Jesus is talking about the millionaires and billionaires, not me!
• Can you have wealth and not love it?  Jesus criticizes the love of money.  Just because I have some money doesn’t mean that it is a priority above my faith!
• What about the middle class?  In Jesus’s time, there were landowners and peasants.  It isn’t fair to apply his teachings today; Jesus would have a slightly different message to the middle class.
• Doesn’t God want good things for us?  If I sell all of my things, that doesn’t actually solve the problem of inequality in our society.  I might as well keep it.
• Jesus died to offer us forgiveness for our sins. I guess sinfully holding on to my money is a forgivable sin.  Jesus, I’m working on it!
• What matters most in not how we sin, but where we end up in the afterlife.  We don’t need to worry about how much money we have; we should worry about how many souls we have saved! (One perspective, not mine).

But in the end, all of these points are just lifting the heavy weight of Jesus’s most difficult teachings.  I don’t have answers to most of these questions, and I still wrestle with how to understand Jesus’s teachings about money today.  But if I am being honest, I find that I am often all too willing to curl my wrists to make the weight a little bit lighter.
​
Blessings,
Pastor Chris

As you know, I am away on vacation this week. 
Rather than write you a letter this week, I want to forward you a letter from the Office of Public Witness of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  Below is an excerpt from their article "We stand with our immigrant brothers and sisters!" published on June 23, 2025.  You can read the article in it's entirety here. 

"Presbyterians are called to a response due to our history of speaking against government overreach. We have a long history of calling for resistance to any laws or commands that contradict God’s word. Our policy reflects this belief as for centuries we have maintained the belief in being lawful citizens but have also acknowledged that there comes a time for resistance against tyranny. Our policy statement, “Honest Patriotism,” supplies theological and contextual grounding: “The 223rd General Assembly (2018) acts to lift up our church’s long commitments to active civic engagement, responsible citizenship, and prophetic witness; believing these commitments to be rooted in our faithful response to God’s call for Christians to be stewards of creation; and witnessing the corrosion of democratic institutions.”

The witness of the church has manifested as many, diverse PC(USA) Presbyterians, members and leaders in all expressions of the denomination, including General Assembly agency staff, have spoken out against federal overreach. We unequivocally condemn the separation of families and the unlawful deportation of fathers, mothers, and children. We condemn the use of the National Guard and Marines on the streets of L.A. as if we were at war. We have rallied with our ecumenical siblings in a series of rallies sponsored by Repairers of the Breach and Sojourners.

Therefore, we call Presbyterians to steadfast prayer. Everything we do as people of faith begins and ends with prayer. God is the ultimate deliverer of justice and calls us to join in God’s bringing about the Beloved Community. We seek to discern God’s will for the nation and to ask for peaceful and diplomatic solutions to our problems.

We call Presbyterians to disciples in action by:

• Participating in peaceful protest by joining rallies, marches, petitions, lawsuits; lobbying legislators and other actions of justice advocacy all around us.
• Connecting with the advocacy offices (Washington Office of Public Witness and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations) to be updated on what’s happening in the nation’s capital and United Nations and ways you can engage.
• Joining local efforts to raise a prophetic voice as almost every community is increasing its activity. Write letters to your local newspapers and utilize social media to decry the oppression occurring. Support local institutions (schools, churches, immigrant centers) that are under attack.
• Calling upon military leaders to make a moral decision to refuse to comply with immoral, and even unlawful, orders from a commander-in-chief who has no regard for legality or morality.
• Contacting your state and national representatives and tell your story as it relates to justice for immigrants. Share your faith and passion that America is a land that treats all with fairness and consistent kindness. Urge that they be courageous in their defense of the nation’s core values to respect dissent and respect the dignity of all persons.

We call upon you to exercise your freedom of conscience. You have the freedom to decide how God is leading you to stand during this period of political and societal chaos. The choice is not whether we will defend our democracy and our immigrant brothers and sisters, but how. Each one of us must choose to stand with those whose rights are being trampled upon by persons who respect only those they consider worthy.

This is not the way of our God who is impartial and just toward all, a God who left us the timeless charge in scripture to defend the stranger, the foreigner, the migrant, the immigrant and the refugee. “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” (Genesis 18:2, 19:1; Exodus 12:49, 22:21, 23:9; Leviticus 19:9-10, 33-34, 23:22, 24:22, 25:35-38; Numbers 9:14, 15:16; Deuteronomy 1:16, 10:18-19, 23:7, 24:14,19-21, 26:5,12-13, 27:19; Job 31:32; Psalm 146:9; Proverbs 5:10; Jeremiah 7:5-7, 22:3; Ezekiel 22:29, 47:22-23, Malachi 3:5; Matthew 25:31-46, 22:29; Luke 10:25-37; Hebrews 13:1-2).
​
Blessings to you all. See you on Sunday. 
Pastor Chris

Once again, countries are dropping bombs on each other.  Once again, people are afraid of nuclear war.  Once again, human beings are being killed out of fear.  Once again, world leaders are attempting to convince their people that the people will be protected only by a show of strength and aggression.  Once again, we are being told that peace will only be found through preemptive violence.  Once again, families are being told that their loved ones will never come home again.

When conflict breaks out, Christians often consider what side Jesus or God would be on.  Many people automatically assume that God/Jesus would agree with their own personal opinion regardless of what scripture might say.  Indeed, if one turns to scripture, they will find both pro- and anti-war sentiments throughout the Bible.  The Bible is a collection of writings written by various people-groups over thousands of years.  It is more accurate to see all of scripture as a conversation over centuries about various peoples’ understanding of God.

That said, the major themes that scripture returns to again and again are clear:

• Leaders that ignore the plight of the common people are bad leaders.
• God listens to the plight of those who are oppressed and works towards their liberation and justice.
• God cares for - and tells us to care for - the hungry, the homeless, the friendless, the outcast, and the disenfranchised, regardless of where they are from.
• God opposes wealthy people whose riches come at the expense of the well-being of others.
• God's Kingdom is a place where all people are reconciled together; where all people are safe and their needs are met.

Based on these themes, Presbyterians in the United States wrote the Confession of 1967 which states:  God’s reconciliation in Jesus Christ is the ground of the peace, justice, and freedom among nations which all powers of government are called to serve and defend.  The church, in its own life, is called to practice the forgiveness of enemies and to commend to the nations as practical politics the search for cooperation and peace. This search requires that the nations pursue fresh and responsible relations across every line of conflict, even at risk to national security, to reduce areas of strife and to broaden international understanding.  Reconciliation among nations becomes peculiarly urgent as countries develop nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, diverting their manpower and resources from constructive uses and risking the annihilation of mankind.  Although nations may serve God’s purposes in history, the church which identifies the sovereignty of any one nation or any one way of life with the cause of God denies the Lordship of Christ and betrays its calling. 
- PCUSA Constitution Part 1: Book of Confessions 9.45
When I read this confession last summer as a part of our 2024 summer sermon series, my jaw about hit the floor.  I was dumbfounded by one of the documents in the PCUSA’s Constitution stating that we are supposed to pursue peace, reconciliation, and relationships event at the risk of endangering our national security.  Moreover, to see it plainly stated that conflating the will of God with the actions of a nation is a betrayal of our faith.

In other words, if you are wondering where God is as bombs continue to be launched, know that God is on the side of the injured, the hurting, the hungry, and those who cry out against the aggression of empires and the powerful.  And we are called to be peacemakers who deescalate anger and aggression, to increase understanding, cultivate compassion, and be daring in our reconciliation.

​Blessings,
Pastor Chris