Monthly Archives: March 2024

Represent the goodness and love of God.

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Advent 2B, 10 December 2023. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Isaiah 40:1-11. Comfort, O comfort my people says your God.
  • 2 Peter 3:8-15a. New heavens and a new earth where righteousness is at home.
  • Mark 1:1-8. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah.

O God of the prophets, may we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth – come when it may and cost what it will.

The season of Advent in the Church is meant to be more an annual pilgrimage than a shopping spree or a holiday frenzy. The observance of Advent is a spiritual, theological practice, and it’s also political, sociological, economic when we are paying attention to the scriptures. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it is also a pilgrimage in a season marked by darkness. For those of us in and around the city, true darkness is barely possible to experience, but the loss of sunlight is felt deeply, nonetheless. So many of us are unaccustomed to noticing the beauty of darkness. I have found that I need to slow down to notice the beauty of darkness, to appreciate the growth that occurs in the darkness, to identify the many blessings of darkness. It takes some slowing down and remembering that to the Divine, darkness and light are both alike. Continue reading →

If You Want to Hear the Truth

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Advent 1B, 3 December 2023. The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Isaiah 64:1-9. O that you would tear open the heavens and come down….We are your people.
  • 1 Corinthians 1:1-9. So that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Mark 13:24-37. Keep awake.

O God of repentance, repair, and reconciliation, may we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth – come when it may and cost what it will.

Hello! Happy Advent! Happy Churchy New Year! I’m so glad to be back with you after four months of time away.  I’m eager to hear about how you’ve changed and grown while we’ve been apart.  I hope you’ll find a time to talk with me so we can catch up; or if you’re new to Emmanuel, so that we can get to know one another. I have stories to tell you about my adventures learning about my Maryland ancestors and my Civil Rights pilgrimage with my wife Joy across the deep South – from Louisiana to Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. I’ve been learning about and reflecting more deeply on my family’s relationship with racial oppression, my Church’s (big C) relationship with racial oppression, and my government’s relationship with racial oppression. Along the way, I’ve been building new relationships with folks who are engaging in racial reckoning by learning and practicing restorative and reparative justice in meaningful and sustainable ways. My heart is full of gratitude for Emmanuel Church’s gift to me of time away for rest and restoration, and for education and inspiration. Continue reading →