Friends,

The past two Sundays were wonderful celebrations of the inclusive and diverse Beloved Community that God calls us to become. On June 25, we celebrated the LGBTQIA+ communities with our ‘Worship With Pride’ service. We reflected on what it means to be Chosen Family and include those who are different from us as members of our family of faith here at PCLT. Then, on July 2, we celebrated a vision of America as a nation full of diverse voices who call us to patriotism and justice and equality and inclusion in all sorts of ways. Our ‘Voices of a Nation’ service helped us reflect on what it means to be both Christian and American, without falling into the idolatry of Christian Nationalism. We reflected on how our nation falls short on equality and justice for all her citizens, and we dreamed of ways in which we might share the righteousness God pours out upon our world. And we heard some exceptional music along the way.

But now, those ‘Special Sundays’ are over, and, even though the Pentecost banner and Pride colors are still adorning the sanctuary, we have a long stretch of ‘Ordinary Sundays’ ahead of us. We won’t replace the banners in the sanctuary with the ‘Ordinary Time’ banner until September – but there will still be plenty of time to enjoy it, because Ordinary Time lasts until Advent begins in December!

If every Sunday is going to be so ‘ordinary’ for the rest of the year (or at the very least, the rest of the summer), what do we have to look forward to each week? Well, we have the ‘ordinary’ joy of seeing friends and neighbors, our Chosen Family. We have the ‘ordinary’ opportunity to welcome strangers, visitors, and guests to our church (as we did last Sunday). We have the ‘ordinary’ task of extending hospitality to each other, to both strangers and friends. We have the ‘ordinary’ chance to sit in the presence of the Holy, week after week after week, bringing our joys and our sorrows, offering our praise and thanksgiving, and finding again and again God’s grace and mercy poured out for us. We have the ‘ordinary’ invitation to come to the Table and be nourished by a sacramental feast.

When you think about it, is there really anything ‘ordinary’ about it when the People of God gather to worship and study and sing and pray and break bread and share the peace of Christ?

I look forward to sharing these ‘Ordinary’ days with you!

Peace,

Jack