From the River's Edge

By Rev. Racquel R. Ray, MDiv Associate Minister of Congregational Life As the new year breaks open but has yet to reveal her secrets, we wait with darkness for dawn to enlighten our days. We reflect on the past year and are surprised at our ‘year in review’ posts, photos, and calendars. We did so much! And yet, the new year is a blank canvas; open for new possibilities and new blessings. As I...

Last year I was at Redlands UCC in Southern California, and I was officiating our first Blue Christmas service. I was carrying some grief and sadness in my own life but had a particular congregant in mind who had lost his wife to brain cancer earlier that week. I planned to light a candle for him and his family, but I didn’t have to: the man himself walked through the front door for the first...

By Rev. Joe Zarro, Interim Senior Minister It’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but I’m wishing you a “Happy New Year” because this Sunday marks the beginning of a new Christian liturgical year. Advent has many meanings, and one of them is “beginning.” It is the beginning of our sacred calendar, and it’s also the beginning of a lot of exciting Advent and Christmas themed activities. Check out the...

By Interim Sr. Minister Rev. Joe Zarro “The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” – 2 Corinthians 9:6-7  I have a special disdain for prosperity gospel preachers, the kind that tell...

By Rev. Joe Zarro, Interim Senior Minister On October 19, I kicked off our Stewardship Season with a sermon on Teamwork – how we are all part of the body of Christ, that we have different gifts and abilities, and it’s only when we come together, and practice our faith in community, that we are whole (1 Corinthians 12). I need this church – not only as a pastor dependent on the church for my...