Author Archives: Elizabeth Richardson

May our love overflow!

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Second Sunday of Advent (C), December 6, 2015; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Baruch 5:1-9 So that Israel [“the one who wrestles with God”] may walk safely in the glory of God.
Phillipians 1:1-11 And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
Luke 3:1-6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

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

In the third year of the presidency of George W. Bush, son of George H. W. Bush; when Mitt Romney, son of George Romney, was governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, during the Episcopacy of M. Thomas Shaw, Jr., and during the 26th year of the Rectorate of George M. Chapman and the 2nd year of the Assistant Rectorate of Pamela L. Werntz at a parish in Brookline named after St. Paul, the word of God came to a homeless person named Matthew in the wilderness (the wilder-ness) of the Boston Common. [1] He went into all the region around Boston, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah and the evangelist Luke: “The voice of one crying out: “in the wilderness ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” In other words, the lone voice of one yelling — in the wilderness – the dangerous place – the unclean place of madness, of testing and of demons and of chaos: get to work on making God’s way, which of course, is Love’s way. To make God’s way, you will raise up the depressed places, lower the insurmountable obstacles, straighten out the run-around, make the rough ways easy so that ALL people can see the goodness of God – the goodness of Love — salvation. Continue reading →

Notice beauty!

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I’m noticing as the weather gets colder and the holidays are here, that there seems to be a rise in tensions for several members of the Emmanuel Church outreach programs. Individuals who are homeless or marginally housed may face challenges as rudimentary as survival and like many populations, some of our members may experience depression during the holidays. As I became aware of the subtle change in atmosphere, I reached out to Rev. Pam Werntz for guidance in how best to not succumb myself, but to maintain a helpful presence with those I’m serving. Continue reading →

Empathy vs. Fear

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“A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one.”  — Bill Hicks

In light of what is happening in our world today, this quote from comedian Bill Hicks keeps coming to mind.  There are certain groups of people that provoke our fears.  We clutch our purses a little tighter, we look down and give them a wide berth when crossing paths on the sidewalk, and we choose not to engage (if we can help it) with people that we have been taught will cause us harm.  Continue reading →

Make your spirits ready!

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Last Sunday in Pentecost: Christ the King, Proper 29B-15, November 22, 2015; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

2 Samuel 23:1-7 The spirit of the LORD is upon me
Revelation 1:4b-8 Grace to you and peace
John 18:33-37 For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.

O God of hope, grant us the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may and cost what it will.

Today is the last Sunday of the church year. This day has come to be known as The Feast of Christ the King. It’s a new church holiday — first declared by Bishop of Rome, Pius the 11th in 1925 – so not yet 100 years old even in the Roman Catholic Church. As recently as fifteen years ago, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church described it as observed “unofficially in some Anglican churches.” As Episcopalians live into our ecumenical commitment to use the Revised Common Lectionary (shared with other major Christian denominations), Christ the King Sunday has become a part of our practice, printed on our calendars and worship planning books (so you know it’s real). Continue reading →

Thanksgiving

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The significant aspect of Thanksgiving for me is not the abundance of food but the time to reflect on the things for which I am grateful. In my family, it is a Thanksgiving tradition that we each share with the others gathered at our table our most favored blessings.
This year I will credit my internship with Emmanuel Church as being my greatest blessing. From the start, I have felt honored to be accepted into the three programs that are a part of this internship, and anticipated this would be a tremendous opportunity. My association with Emmanuel Church has been enlightening and is providing experiences rich in ways no textbook or classroom could begin to relate. Perhaps what I am most grateful for are the relationships developed with people that I would not have likely met otherwise. These relationships have contributed to a newfound sensitivity for the wellbeing of populations not previously known. In turn, this has led me to being more aware in my choices of words or actions around others as I learn more about their lives.

Continue reading →

We are doing it.

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The Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, 27B, November 8, 2015; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17 Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin.
Hebrews 9:24-28 Now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
Mark 12:38-44 This poor widow has put in more than all those…she out of her poverty has put in everything she had.

O God of all, grant us the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may and cost what it will.

The Gospel lesson that we just heard is a very familiar story about the woman who put two copper coins, approximately enough money to buy one meal, in the offering in the temple. It’s a story many of us learned in Church School. People know it by the title, “the widow’s mite” (mite meaning a tiny little bit). It’s a nice story for little children who are learning about mite boxes and putting coins in offering plates. I’m aware that when the story gets told about Jesus commending the woman for giving everything she had, especially during pledge stewardship season (probably no coincidence, by the way), many of us adults kind of seize up inside. You know – we kind of brace ourselves for what’s coming next. Continue reading →

What color of the rainbow are you today?

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I’m very excited to share a project that Briana and I started this past week with the Café Emmanuel attendees.  As art therapists in training Briana and I appreciate the opportunity to present our ideas and be able to incorporate art therapy into the LGBT group. Although this is deliberately intended to be a small change in routine for the Café Emmanuel group, it is a big step for Briana and me toward our future professions.   Continue reading →

Spiritual Infrastructure

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All Saints’ Day (with alt second reading), November 1, 2015; The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9 The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God
Revelation 7:9-17 Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!
John 11:32-44 Come out!…Unbind him and let him go.

O God of all, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Some days on the church calendar are really big – Christmas Eve, Easter Day, Pentecost and All Saints are generally the four biggest for us. Today is the great Feast of All Saints; it’s a day to celebrate the saints, known and unknown. Tomorrow is All Souls’ Day – the day set aside in the church calendar for commemoration of all those who have departed this life, whether they were saints or sinners or both. So this is a Sunday to remember the present as well as the past – to honor all those who go and have gone before us – all saints and all souls. Continue reading →

Being Observant

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I love to watch people draw and create. People reveal aspects of themselves through the way their bodies move and the facial expressions they make when they draw, paint, and play instruments. Some people move with aggression and furrow their brows, and others move with melancholic lethargy and have a sullen look in their eyes.  Some people make bold, confident gestures while painting, and others make tiny, meticulous brush stokes.  When we are engrossed in the creative process, we are not using our cognitive energy to monitor our facial expressions or body movements; instead, we are using that energy to create.  Our need for control takes a back seat and our sadness, anger, jubilation, and many other aspects of self rise to the surface when we stop using our mental power to stifle these things and instead use it to express ourselves through artistic media. Continue reading →

Reflective Listening

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A skill I’ve found valuable as an intern with Emmanuel Church is one that I learned when volunteering with the Center for Grieving Children called reflective listening.  Commonly when we are conversing with others, we may appear to be listening but instead we’re processing what the other person is saying by evaluating how it relates to ourselves.  This can result in unsolicited (and unhelpful) subjective responses or advice. Continue reading →