Pastor’s Corner: August 2020
I begin to write this note listening to a recording of “Amazing Grace,” played on the sanctuary piano by Kathy Webb. I look up and out our front door and the snow-white squirrel that lives in our neighborhood pops up like a Jack-in-the-box in the lawn across the street.
The State of Our Democracy is troubled… What’s our role in renewing the path to “A More Perfect Union?”
Harry C. Boyte, Senior Scholar in Public Work Philosophy and Co-founder, Institute for Public Life and Work at Augsburg University, speaks to this on Thursday, August 20 at 7pm via Zoom. See the below flier for more information:
Pastor’s Corner: July 2020
I have long been fascinated by what Jesus looked like at the time he walked the dusty paths of Nazareth. I noticed early and often that the images of Jesus I encountered in the painting in the Sunday School classroom, in the stained-glass window in the sanctuary (pictured), and the small one in a book in my grandmother’s house looked nothing at all like one another.
This Is the Time
It is difficult for me to speak these days. It is difficult to stand in a pulpit that has historically belonged primarily to white voices and raise up my own white experiences and sensibility, my own comparatively insignificant pain and suffering. And “difficult” doesn’t cut it. “Difficult” can’t stop us. I am so deeply humbled by these times, that I can barely assemble a coherent sentence. And yet. A friend told me about hearing James Corden of TV’s, “The Late…
The Book of Job
We are studying the book of Job. It is beautiful. It is a wonderful vehicle for considering many of the questions we have about how (and why) we suffer. It is profoundly challenging. We’ve just begun our study and will be at this for awhile! If you are interested, please help us suggest where we study next.
Virtual Open Yoga with Leslie Ball
OPEN YOGA / Virtual Schedule Mondays at 6pmWednesdays at 5:30pmSaturdays at 11am Classes are open to all levels. No previous yoga experience necessary. Instructor Leslie Ball is a certified teacher in Vinyasa, Hot, and Yin formats. She trained at Corepower Yoga in Minneapolis, and at Kripalu Center in Massachusetts. She is a licensed practitioner of LifeForce Yoga, using Yoga to address depression and anxiety. For nine years she has been leading Open Yoga, a restorative yoga program incorporating spirituality and the arts…
Tapping Meditation: Calming Fear About What’s Happening in the World
In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, Angela Hed Vincent would like to offer the below tapping meditation. Whether it’s the coronavirus, climate crisis, or political unrest, there are so many things in the news right now that have us leaning into our fears. Studies have found that chronic states of fear, stress, and anxiety weaken your immune system. This tapping meditation was designed to help you reduce this fear, making space in your body for peace and boosting your…
PPUMC Responds to COVID-19 Outbreak
Beloved friends, by now, I’m certain you have heard several opinions about helpful response to the virus spreading throughout the world. C-19, Covid, COVID-19, the Pandemic – by whatever name, this contagion has its own momentum and must be reckoned with. Let’s respond boldly and set our goal at 0% illness within our small and mighty church community! The facts seem to shimmy a little depending on whose opinion is currently in front of you.This we do know – it is important for…
A message from Bishop Ough: Monitoring and preventing the spread of coronavirus
Dear Beloved in Christ: As if there is not enough fear and anxiety in our lives, the world is now enveloped in the fear of the spread of COVID-19, commonly known as coronavirus. This fear is fed by the repetitive 24-hour news cycle, crashing stock markets, and growing restrictions on travel and large gatherings. And now we have our first confirmed case in Minnesota’s Ramsey County. This probably means that community transmission of the virus is already taking place in Minnesota. The most common…
What Does Nonviolence Mean to You? (Video)
This year, during our annual winter retreat, we continued our series on nonviolence with a community discussion about Dr. King’s Six Principles of Nonviolence. This video shows the answers to the question: “what does nonviolence mean to you?”