Friday Prayer: Rest

Holy One, We have sung and chanted and prayed and exulted. We have alleluia’d and amen’ed. We have moved the half-dead flowers and re-set our churches for Eastertide. We have studied and prepared our next sermon series. We have scheduled all the “after-Easter” tasks. We are tired. Lord, After you taught and preached and healed… Read More

Saturday Prayer – Blessing

May you hear the Voice calling, “You are my beloved.” And if you cannot hear it just now May you hear our voices instead. “We will hear the Voice for you, beloved, until you can hear it for yourself.” Amen. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Jennifer Garrison Brownell serves as pastor at First Congregational Church -UCC in… Read More

Saturday Prayer – Right On Time

Dear Friend, As I move from appointment to meeting to errand to activity, I am either too early or (more often) too late. As I rush and scramble, remind me of the gentle, abundant grace of your kairos, that time outside of time. Where no one is ever too late or (even) too early but… Read More

Tuesday Prayer

God who created the expanding universe and designed each atom which dances in our world- let’s talk about anxiety for a minute. Why is it that my mind churns night and day wondering and worrying? Why is my heart racing, and why do I feel overwhelming nausea? Why do I feel like I can’t move… Read More

Saturday Prayer – Christmas Eve Eve

Hey God, Somewhere I heard that everything is a prayer. If that is true, can this list be my prayer today? Grocery store run. Check. Put tree up. Check. Shovel walk. Check. Hospital visits. Check. Walk dogs. Check. Sermons one, two, three. More or less check. Wrap presents. About half check. Prepare the complicated… Read More

The Pastoral Is Political: On Overload

Are you on overload? I’m on overload. Just in the past week alone, listening to two men threaten one another with nuclear weapons and watching the white nationalist/supremacist/Nazi rallies in Charlottesville has given us more than our souls have bargained for. There’s too much hate happening in our world, and we see it firsthand in… Read More

Ask the Matriarch: Relief from the Winter Blahs

This week’s question is comes from a RevGal stuck in the winter blahs. Can you relate to her cry for help? Dear Matriarchs: I have a long stretch ahead with no vacation or continuing education time, just my usual days off (Friday and part of Saturday). Normally I try to get away every 7-8 weeks… Read More

Friday Five: Sick Edition

At some point over winter or as spring approaches, we find ourselves sick with a cold, upper respiratory infection, influenza, stomach bug or other ailment. Even though we wash our hands and take our vitamins, our human bodies will pick up germs somewhere along the way. Or maybe we have a chronic health condition which… Read More