March 15, 2019
This week, a few quick "In Case You Missed Its" on several topics:Â
If you missed church last week and want to know what changes to expect for Lent, you can read last week's e-news message: "The season of Lent brings changes." (Did you know that whenever you miss one of these e-news messages, you can find them on our website? Just go to www.thefallschurch.org and scroll down to "Weekly Clergy Message." There's also an archive.)
If you missed Rev. Kelly's especially powerful* sermon last Sunday, do yourself a favor and click here to listen to it (or click here to read it). Â
(*I hesitate to say any one of Kelly's sermons are "especially powerful," because Kelly is a consistently great preacher: her sermons are Biblically-based, thereby both interesting and relevant; they are intellectually challenging, yet also speak to the heart. I hope you realize how fortunate we are to have her here. So when I say that one of her sermons is "especially powerful," I don't mean to imply that others of hers are not -- if, after dinner one night, you tell your spouse, "wow, that was an especially delicious dinner," that does not mean their other dinners were not delicious! It just means that that dinner, for whatever reason, cleared another yet-higher bar in your mind and struck you as particularly good.)  (Speaking of our website: did you know that audio versions of  "latest sermons" are posted and archived on our website in the same area? You can listen, download (or even share!) sermons from there.)
A couple weeks ago, I posted a special e-news about the good work that parishioner Amanda Doyle through her organization Together Rising is doing to fight back against the taxpayer-funded cruel practice of separating asylum-seeking moms and dads from their asylum-seeking babies and children, and to reunite those asylum-seeking families. Take a look at this encouraging and touching video which shares a story of progress being made (Kleenex Alert -- I can't watch that video without tearing up!). And I was also made aware that NPR did this story yesterday. However, at least 17 families whom Amanda and others helped re-cross the border on March 2nd to seek asylum and find their children are still being detained and separated from their children. Lent is a time to repent of wrongdoing, not only individually but collectively, and America is better than the "zero-tolerance" and other policies like it that are rooted in anti-immigration demagoguery. We are the ones who need to insist on keeping Judeo-Christian values in regard to immigrants and refugees in place whenever and from whomever they are under attack.  If you, like me, are looking for ways to "transform your heartache into action" on this non-partisan but pressing moral (and patriotic) issue, I encourage you to follow Amanda's progress through Together Rising. See you Sunday,