Following the July 21-25 General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) held in Ft. Worth, TX, we took a few days vacation. We relaxed in San Antonio, visiting the beautiful San Antonio Botanical Garden, the Riverwalk, and a marvelous Southwest Arts School located in the beautifully restored buildings of an old Roman Catholic [...]
Archive for July, 2007
Recovering Beauty
Posted in Beaumont Botanical Garden, Church Garden, City Planning, Gardening, Hurricane Rita, Sacred Spaces, community on July 31, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Visiting New Orleans
Posted in City Planning, Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, Prayer, Spiritual, community on July 20, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
While visiting family in Baton Rouge, we spent today in New Orleans.This was our first visit since Katrina and Rita visited there. Though many from the Church have gone there on work trips, this was simply a visit. We had lunch and a long wonderful discussion with a family friend born and raised [...]
Noon Prayer Unfolding
Posted in Children and Prayer, Church Garden, Compton Heights Christian Church (DOC), Divine Hours, Muslim-Christian Relationship, Noon Prayers, Prayer, Religious Community, Sacred Spaces, Spiritual, Urban Church, community on July 11, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Several posts ago I wrote about the beginning of our Wednesday Noon Prayers. This prayer time has taken an interesting path. The first week, I prayed alone. Though others did not join me this first time, as I prayed I could hear those who were down the hall in the food pantry, [...]
Preaching from the Cloud
Posted in Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Cloud of Witnesses, Compton Heights Christian Church (DOC), Lectionary, Medieval Women Mystics, Open and Affirming Congregation, Religious Community, Sacred Spaces, Spiritual, Thomas Troeger, Urban Church, Worship, community, progressive church on July 11, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve recently picked up again Thomas Troeger’s book Preaching While the Church is Under Reconstruction (Abingdon, 1999). Indeed, we are always ‘under reconstruction’ but it seems that in these days we are called to examine ourselves anew. In recent years the pull toward ’seeker’ and ‘contemporary’ worship has often included a rejection of [...]
Prayer for the 4th of July
Posted in Divine Hours, Loretto Community, Open and Affirming Congregation, Prayer, Religious Community, Spiritual, Urban Church, community, progressive church on July 4, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
I struggle with some aspects of the celebration of the 4th of July, yet today as I prayed at a gathering of friends, I was reminded of so much for which I am thankful. Rabbi Michael Lerner wrote and shared a prayer for this 4th of July and a wonderful colleague Maureen Fiedler sent [...]
The Summer Worship Dip
Posted in Open and Affirming Congregation, Religious Community, Spiritual, St. Louis City, Urban Church, Worship, community, progressive church on July 3, 2007 | 1 Comment »
These are the days of the summer worship dip — when it seems that half the congregation is off taking a dip in the pool at the time of worship on Sunday mornings. I know that this happens every year. I know that a couple of months ago I was feeling encouraged by the [...]
