Dear friends, On a Sunday afternoon in November, about thirty people gathered in Edwards Hall and on Zoom for the first program in Open Spirit’s Multi-Faith Collaborative series, Liberating Hope: Spiritual Perspectives on Climate Change. The program, called Planting Seeds of Hope: A Gathering for Inspiration, featured beautiful slide shows created by Fran, a reading […]
Staff
Music News November
In the interest of utmost caution as we return to the sanctuary, the Edwards Church Council voted in October to refrain from singing in the sanctuary during our initial worship services. While we are sad about this fact, it felt like the right decision at the time of that meeting and all we can do […]
Pulling Up Tent Stakes
“And they came, everyone whose heart was stirred,and everyone whose spirit was willing, and brought God’s offering to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the sacred vestments.” Exodus 35:21 Dear friends, This November finds our beloved community again in a time of uncertainty and change. As the leaves change […]
Sanctuary!
Dear friends, After almost twenty months of worshipping virtually and outdoors, we are preparing to move into the sanctuary in November. What a journey it has been! It is cause for celebration—celebration of the beauty and peace of our sanctuary; celebration of the beauty and peace we have experienced through slide shows and origami cranes, […]
A Vision for Edwards Church Music
I had been hoping for more clarity in the world before trying to provide a fuller picture of my vision for Edwards Church Music once we get back into the sanctuary. But it has become clear to me in the last few weeks especially, that it could be a while before everything makes complete sense […]
One Small Kindness
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32 […]
A Wondrous Surprise
Dear friends, What a wondrous surprise! Thank you for the very special service honoring our twenty-five years of ministry together. The video was so moving, with so many thoughtful, loving expressions of thanks. And then a knock on the door…and another…and another. It felt like love overflowing. I couldn’t have possibly imagined such a lively, […]
At the Crossroads
Greetings, friends. The release of this newsletter falls right on the cusp of knowing some things in general terms about Edwards Church Music this fall but not yet having full details figured out yet. One of the greatest things I’ve learned during the pandemic was that music helped get many of us through a very […]
Wave after Wave
“Blessed be the name of God from age to age, for wisdom and power are God’s.God changes times and seasons, deposes kings and sets up kings;God gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.God reveals deep and hidden things; God knows what is in the darkness,and light dwells with the Holy […]
Fall into Worship!
Dear friends, In the opening worship for our September church council meeting, I drew upon imagery from the book of Exodus—particularly the frustration of the Hebrew people as they wandered in the wilderness toward an elusive promised land. I chose that story because it resonates with our lives in the last eighteen months. It speaks […]