Faith in Progress

I've been contemplating a quote lately by Rosemary Radford Ruether talking about the roles of the Church.  She wrote that the Church exists both to pass along the tradition from generation to generation and to be open to the winds of the Holy Spirit.  Often individual denominations or churches seem to veer towards one or the other of those, and so holding the two in tension is a good and important goal.  Pentecost seems like such a great marrying of the two.  It is the birthday of the Church and so deeply embedded in our tradition, and yet a time when we are thinking most intently about the new and living work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our churches.  It's also presents itself as an interesting time in the Church to introduce new possibilities to the congregation.  On Sunday, instead of a sermon about the possibilities of the Holy Spirit, I was hoping to create an experience of Pentecost.  I set up nine prayer stations around the church...

Easter 6, Year B May 13, 2012 Acts 10:44-48 For those of us who thought we knew Jesus’s disciple Peter based on what we read about him in the Gospels, the stories we’ve been hearing during the Easter season are turning him on his head.   Before Easter, I’m pretty sure Peter was someone I wouldn’t have enjoyed hanging out with.   He wanted to lead the pack.   He was aggressive and self-important.   He always wanted to be the first to speak and always seemed certain about his answers.   And he wanted to control every aspect of his religion.   When Jesus said his life would end in defeat and death, Peter interrupted him to demand Jesus be the kind of Christ Peter wanted him to be.   When Peter saw Jesus transfigured with Moses and Elijah he didn’t revel in the moment or sit in awed silence or even ask questions about what it all meant.   He wanted to erect tabernacles.   At the Last Supper he smugly denied the possibility of his forsaki...