Surrounded by the ebb and flow of traffic and commerce in downtown Seattle, Plymouth Church is at the heart of progressive spiritual experience lived out in service to our community and world. At our center is a spiritual connection with Christ that moves us toward one another and others in world-changing love. http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/list.html Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800 http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/upload/i20111214225510/img1.jpg We’ve searched for the perfect gifts, for bargains, for just the right decorations, for a parking spot! Ready or not, Christmas is almost here. It’s time to declare a victory and breathe a sigh of relief. Even in secular Seattle, most offices and stores will be closed. It’s amazing that an event that happened 2000 years ago, half way around the world, can still have such a profound impact on us today.


Now, on Christmas morning when everyone has opened their gifts and you’re sitting in the middle of the discarded wrapping paper, will you promise me you will take a deep cleansing breath and pause to reflect on why Christmas is such a big deal in the first place?


To assist you in your meditations, here are some thoughts for your consideration.


I can sum up the relevance of Christmas for you in one phrase: God came to earth. No other faith tradition holds to this notion. It is unique to the Christian faith--God coming to earth as a human being.

But that’s actually not the good news. The good news is why God came. And that’s the reason for Christmas. Why did God come to earth at Christmas? The Scriptures give us three reasons.


First. Jesus came to earth to show us what God is like.

There are a lot of crazy ideas, bizarre ideas about what God is like. All you have to do is get on the Internet and find them. There are a lot of weird ideas about God that just aren’t true. Jesus said, “I am the truth. I came to show you what God is really like.”


Now, I know many people say they can know God by communing with nature. And I agree with them, up to a point. For instance, by looking at nature we can know that God is creative. By looking at nature we know God is powerful—we feel the wind, we marvel at the stars, days turning into night. We know also that God is organized because there is order to the universe. We know that God likes variety because there is a lot of variety—no two snowflakes are alike. We know that God likes beauty. We learn these things just by looking at nature.


But some things, the most important things we would never know about God except that Jesus came to tell us. For instance, nature doesn’t teach us that God is loving. Nature doesn’t teach us that God is forgiving. We only know that because of Jesus Christ. Nature doesn’t teach us that God has a plan for your life, that you’re not an accident, that God put you on earth for a purpose, for a reason. Jesus Christ teaches us that. He is the one that lets us know what God is really like.

The second reason God came to earth is to show us what life should really be like, to show us how to really live.




The truth is most people aren’t really living. They’re just existing. They get up in the morning, they go to work or go to school, they come home, watch TV, go to bed, do it over and over for 60, 70, 80 years and then die. They never really are fully alive. They just exist. One of the most famous statements of Jesus is when He said, “I have come that you might live life to the fullest.” Jesus didn’t say “I’ve come to give you a religion, I’ve come to make you religious.” He said “I’ve come to make you fully alive, to teach you the kind of life that God put you on the earth to live.” And until you get connected with your creator you’re not going to live that full life.


The third reason God came to earth in the form of Jesus is to reconnect you with God—to be the bridge between you and your Creator.


I know people who celebrate Christmas every single year of their life and they’ve never unwrapped God’s gift to them. How sad! God says, I’m offering you life. That means your past can be forgiven, your future can be secured and you can have a purpose right here and now. That’s life in three dimensions. Most people spend their entire lives regretting the past, worrying about the future, and wasting today. Jesus Christ says, “I’ll forgive your past. I will secure your future and I will give you meaning and purpose to your life today.”


On Christmas you’re going to open up a bunch of gifts. Please don’t forget the most important gift of all—God’s gift of Christ to you.

--Brigitta remole

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3270.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3270.html Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800 http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/upload/i20111214142200/img1.jpg The Labyrinth is out, the candles are lit. Come, walk in the warmth and the light of this sacred space. Embrace the darkness as a time to remember, reflect, and rest. Receive what’s there for you on your labyrinth walk and return from the center absorbing the peace of this quiet time. Add your light of gratitude for what is, what has been, what is coming.

We spread the glow of this season of Traveling Light by seeing past outer appearances, by seeing with our hearts instead of our eyes. We can look for the Christ Light in the world, in other faith traditions, in other countries, in those people different from us. When we expect to find it we will. Just as the light of a single candle parts the darkness of an entire room, so does our light shared through a smile, a thoughtful word, a moment of companionship brighten the world of another. Grow your light. Increase it each day from this darkest night. Do not wait for others, do it alone, person to person. Be the light that parts the darkness.

5:30-6:00 Meditative jazz for vibes, piano and bass with Susan Pascal, Bill Anschell, and Chuck Deardorf

6:00 p.m. Light snacks will be provided
in the Lounge

A Service of Remembrance will be held
in the Chapel from 7:00-8:00 p.m.

Through music, readings, Scripture and
communion you are invited to remember the passing of a loved one
during this holy season.

—Sharon Brown, Labyrinth Facilitator

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3269.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3269.html Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800 http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/upload/i20111214122211/img1.jpg On Saturday December 3, Hildebrand Hall filled with approximately 87 people, from many different faith backgrounds, as Plymouth hosted an educational panel of organizers from Occupy Seattle. We had a morning of rich discussion in groups. At the end when we broke in to caucus areas, one of the largest was “Getting Money Out of Politics.” Those in our midst who are already working on this, are making further connections through Occupy, in both secular and religious circles. This has also been happening for faith and labor leaders who are organizing with fresh energy, and for many groups active with economic justice. One new solidarity group we have supported is “Occupy Chaplains” who offer accompaniment, peaceful presence, and resources, much like our Plymouth companions.


The Occupy encampment has closed at Seattle Central Community College, and rippled to neighborhoods and faith communities for education. Members of Plymouth are at work to see what next ways we are called to respond. One request is that we offer space for the democratic process of Occupy, the General Assembly evening meetings, to be held at Plymouth twice a week. If you feel Spirit inviting you to join the growing think tank of our folks here who are planning for 2012, I can help connect you.

A good first link for ongoing information is: www.occupyseattle.org. You may also read reflection from Seattle faith leaders engaging with Occupy Seattle at: http://crosscut.com/2011/12/06/religion/21628/In-Occupy-movement%2C-religion-and-politics-mix/

—Lauren Cannon, Interim Minister for Faith Formation and Service

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3283.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3283.html Mon, 19 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800 Snow Camp is coming! Plymouth’s annual intergenerational camp at Koinonia is scheduled for February 18-20, President’s Day weekend. Mark your calendar now to save those dates. More information will be coming in January. Koinonia is centrally located in the Cascade Mountain range of Washington State. The camp is just off I-90, 25 miles East of Snoqualmie Pass and 7 miles West of Cle Elum. If you have any questions, contact Mari Mitchell-Putnam.

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3284.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3284.html Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800
It has become a tradition at Plymouth Church for the choir to sing a large choral work with chamber orchestra on the Sunday before Christmas. This Sunday, December 18, we are singing excerpts from the Christmas portion of the Messiah by G. F. Handel as part of worship at 11:00 a.m.

One of the most well-known and frequently performed choral works, the oratorio was first performed in Dublin on April 13, 1742 and received the London premiere a year later. The libretto is a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the English Book of Common Prayer.

The structure of the Messiah follows the liturgical year. Part I, which we will be singing from, corresponds with Advent, Christmas, and the life of Jesus Christ; Part II with Lent, Easter, the Ascension, and Pentecost; and Part III with the end of the church year — end of time. Although the structure resembles that of a conventional baroque opera, it is not in dramatic form: there are no impersonations and no direct speech. Instead, the librettist’s text is an extended reflection on Jesus Christ as Messiah.

Two movements are for instrumentalists only, and we will be playing both of them: The Overture at the beginning and the Pifa (a pastorale introducing the shepherds in Bethlehem) Soloists from the Plymouth Choir will be Jon Palmason, Linda Stran

dberg, Megan Drake, and Charles Robert Stephens. We are excited to share this glorious piece of music with you!
—Douglas Cleveland



http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3261.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3261.html Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800 Release, Receive, Return: Advent and Christmas at Plymouth

Return: Wednesday, December 21, 5:30-6:00
Meditative jazz for vibes, piano and bass with Susan Pascal, Bill Anschell,
and Chuck Deardorf
Labyrinth from 3:00-9:00 p.m.

Longest Night (Winter Solstice)
Wednesday, December 21
3:00-9:00 p.m. Labyrinth Walk,
Hildebrand Hall
6:00-7:00 p.m. Light snacks available
7:00-8:00 p.m. Service of Remembrance,
in the Chapel

Sunday, December 18
11:00 a.m. Excerpts from Christmas portion of the Messiah for choir and chamber orchestra

Christmas Eve Saturday, December 24

5:00 p.m. Family Christmas Eve Service
(no potluck this year)

9:30 p.m. Cookies and Fellowship

11:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Service
Prelude music for brass and organ of Corelli, Torelli and Gabrielli will begin at 10:30 p.m.

Service music includes
special carol arrangements
for choir and bells

Christmas Day Sunday, December 25
11:00 a.m. only Christmas Worship
An intimate service to celebrate the coming of the Light into the world.

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3250.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3250.html Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800
Join with family and friends for Christmas cheer. Share your favorite Christmas cookies and candy at the Christmas Eve Fellowship Hour in the Lounge at 9:30 p.m. Bring several dozen either this Sunday, or on Christmas Eve, clearly marked “Christmas Eve.” — Fellowship & Recreation Board

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3251.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3251.html Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800 http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/upload/i20111114151309/img1.jpg "The longer you read the Bible, the more you will like it; it will grow sweeter and sweeter; and the more you get
into the spirit of it, the more you will get into the spirit of Christ." —The Reverend William Romaine (1714-1795)

Scripture reading as a Spiritual Practice is encouraged at Plymouth. Reading the scripture lesson aloud is a vital
element of worship. Plymouth provides training, support and encouragement for anyone interested in participating
in this ministry.There will be three opportunities to participate in Scripture Reader's Training sessions in December.

Each two-hour class will cover the basics of preparation and presentation of a public reading, specific requirements for
reading at Plymouth Church and scripture reading as a spiritual practice.

Sessions will be held in the Sanctuary on Saturday December 3, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. and Tuesday December
6, 6:30–8:30 p.m. An additional session will be held at Mary's Place on Wednesday December 7, 8:00–10:00
a.m. Drop-ins are welcome, but if you know you will be attending a session, please respond to Worship, Arts and
Music Board liaison J Howard Boyd at crom-howard@usa.net, or 206/324-7792.

"Until I come, spend your time reading Scripture out loud to one another. Spend your time preaching and teaching."
(1 Timothy 4:13)
—J Howard Boyd, Worship, Arts and Music Board

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/365.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/365.html Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800 Do you want to give holiday gifts to your friends and family and feel good about your
purchases? Do you yearn for an alternative to the holiday commercialism that surrounds us?
Would you consider making a donation in honor or memory of a special person, or as a gift to a
friend or family member who doesn’t want more “stuff?” If so, the Graceful Giving alternative gift fair is for you!
Fair-trade and non-profit organizations will be present to sell unique gift items and to offer
information and opportunities for you to make donations! Graceful Giving wil be Dec. 11 in Hildebrand Hall, before and after the 11:00 a.m. service. Please save the date and plan to
come! Help us to support these organizations and celebrate the twelfth anniversary
of this event! —Ardy Bergman



http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/399.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/399.html Wed, 09 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800 http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/upload/i20111214125529/img1.jpg On Monday, October 24, more than 40 religious leaders and concerned laity from a spectrum of faith traditions gathered at Plymouth, "robed up," and then headed to Westlake in order to listen to those at Occupy Seattle. Lauren, Brigitta, and myself were among the group.

The Reverend Peter Ilgenfritz has written a great reflection on the time which you can read at http://ucucc.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/occupy-clergy/

Once we arrived I tried to focus my time with occupiers around two questions, "What inspired you to Occupy?" and "What is something that has happened since you've been here that keeps that inspiration alive a midst the elements and uncertainty?"

If you want to know what I heard or are curious about the live streaming interview I was pulled onto then find me at church and let's chat.

—Brandon Duran

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3260.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3260.html Wed, 09 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800 http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/upload/i20111214115519/img1.jpg
To be a “Christian” is to identify oneself as a follower of Jesus Christ. To be a follower of Jesus Christ is to engage in intentional practices that align our lives with that of Christ’s. Our very lives are to be a testimony to the transforming power of God’s grace.

To be a “Christian” is a daunting task. It doesn’t help that the name feels as if it has been high jacked by the far right. How many of us have given over the name of “Christian” to the religious eccentrics and extremists? Only weird people in train stations and stadium rallies talk about their faith openly. We don’t like their positions or their strong-arm methods. We’re proud that we would never act like ‘them’ and so the result is we don’t have much to say about who we are and what motivates us to serve.

I’m concerned that this lack of boldness in our faith has consequences for our children. In the sacrament of baptism, promises are exchanged between parents, the congregation and God. Parents promise to teach their child to resist oppression and evil, to show love and justice, and to witness to the work and word of Jesus Christ as best they are able. The congregation promises in return to love, support and care for one about to be baptized.

But a child cannot be what she or he has not seen. If she never sees Mom at worship, if he never sees Dad speak the truth in love, if they never see a congregation stand up for what’s right—well you can’t be what you haven’t seen.

We need to show the way; we need to show the way by our words and our actions. We need to set the pace and be the light. Recently, I took my first ferry ride. As we entered the harbor, I saw a sign that read, “Watch your wake.” Parents need to lead; faith communities need to nurture and support. A child cannot be what he or she has not seen. Watch your wake!

Let us rejoice that we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.

What’s in a name? Sometimes everything.

—Brigitta Remole

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3254.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3254.html Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700 http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/upload/i20111214122211/img1.jpg Thank you to all our Plymouth disciples who organized and hosted and attended the launch of the Center here at church and participated in Moving Planet Seattle for local climate action to move beyond fossil fuels. Our national and regional partners have extended their gratitude for Plymouth’s generosity and welcome as we took up this mission.

Edwin, in our office, and I have prepared the recording of the program- so you can now listen on the Plymouth website (www.plymouthseattle.org) to the young adults who presented, and share it with others. Recordings can also be ordered through the office. Gregg Brekke of UCC News was with us for the events. Take a look at the story “Environmental Justice Center Opens in Washington” from September 29: www.ucc.org/news/ucc-environmental-justice.htm.

The first workshop at the Center at Pilgrim Firs UCC in Port Orchard WA will be February 10-12, 2012. You can listen to a local KBCS radio report about the day at: http://greenacreradio.blogspot.com/2011/09/september-29-2011-moving-planet-local.html

In thanks to many more than can be named here,


—Lauren Cannon
Interim Minister for Faith Formation and Service

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3257.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3257.html Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700 http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/upload/i20111214115519/img1.jpg
I want to thank you for your extravagant welcome! It certainly has been a whirlwind of coffee connections, meetings, worship, retreats, and community gatherings. Someone recently wondered if the experience has been like trying to drink from a fire hose. Mmmm! Maybe a little bit. Certainly the start of any new pastorate involves a steep learning curve. That is why I am so grateful for everyone’s kind words of encouragement and thoughtful acts of kindness.

Someone on the Woman’s Retreat remarked that she wasn’t sure if she knew what it was like to be “extravagantly” welcome. It made me wonder if what makes us feel welcome is dependent to some degree on us. One person may enjoy being fussed over; another person may feel welcomed by being given space. For example, recently, during a worship service I attended, visitors were invited to stand and introduce themselves. How would that make you feel if you were a visitor?

In the beginning of my ministry at my last parish, someone from the New Members Committee would make a personal call to a person’s home following their visit to church. The visitor was offered a fresh homemade loaf of bread and an information packet about the church. Over time this practice changed; it was felt to be too pushy. The “Membership” Committee became the “Hospitality” Committee. They were stationed at the doors of the sanctuary following the service to offer a little “welcome” gift of honey grown by our local bee keepers, information about the church, and a response card that they could mail back to the church.

There are workshops and whole conferences devoted to the ministry of hospitality—especially to the visitor. It is so hard to second guess what will be experienced as gracious and what will be experienced as intrusive. My own experience of extravagant hospitality by Plymouth has retaught me the importance of sticking to the basics. To ask what is the intention? Your intention was kindness and love. In your acts of kindness, in your love you have embodied the Good News to me. You are Good News! Thanks be to God.

—Brigitta Remole

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3256.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3256.html Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700 http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/upload/i20111214115519/img1.jpg As soon as a child is old enough to speak, one of the fun activities parents love to do is ask: “How big are you?” With hands raised above their head to appear even bigger, the child’s answer is always: “Soooo big!” We want our kids to realize they are growing. We know that the way they think of themselves matters. We don’t want them to think of themselves as small, weak and insignificant.


And yet, when it comes to God, the problem many of us have is that our God is too small. We’re not convinced that we are absolutely safe in the hands of an infinitely loving God; a God who is irrepressibly committed and devoted to our well-being; a God who is with us for the long haul; a God who is fully competent, and ever-present.


In my case I grew up in a loving but stoic Scandinavian family where everything was measured carefully and everything had to be earned. As a result I am hard-working and responsible; I do my best to think and care for others—all good stuff! And yet a curious side-effect and consequence has been that God is so big that God has become too small! (How weird is that!)


Let me try to explain.


When our God is too small we can find ourselves living in a state of low grade anxiety because everything depends on us! Our mood becomes governed by our circumstances. We see ourselves living in a world that leaves us deeply vulnerable. And so, too often, we shrink when we should confront; we worry when we could pray; we cling when we could generously share!


So, how does one shift perspective? There does exist a spiritual practice that helps us come to perceive the vastness, intimacy, loving-kindness, and strength of God.


It’s called worship.


We live in a world that doesn’t promote worship. Most of us are used to being measured by what we do. And worship, on the surface of it, does not seem to be productive—it is not getting things done! So why do it? Well, I don’t know about you, but I need it. I need to worship. I need to worship because without it I can forget that I have a big and loving God beside me and live in fear. I need to worship because without it I can forget his calling and begin to live in a spirit of self-preoccupation. I need to worship because my natural tendency is toward self-reliance and stubborn independence. I need to worship because without it I lose a sense of wonder and gratitude and plod through life with blinders on.


Psychologists speak of the frequent human condition of MINDLESSNESS. In mindlessness, my body is present but my mind is floating off somewhere else on auto-pilot. For some of us, it has become a way of life.


Worship fundamentally is about the definition of reality. In worship our perception of reality is changed and sharpened. We worship to remember that reality is more than what we can see and touch. In worship, we remember who we are and whose we are.


You are a piece of work by God! Next time someone sarcastically tells you you’re a piece of work, you can thank them because it is literally true. And because you were made in God’s image, you were also created to work, to create, to lead, to heal, to love. This is a holy task. What did Jesus say? You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. If God’s reign of healing and wholeness is to manifest itself, it will have to be through you.


Our God is an awesome God! How big is your God? Soooooo Big! Amen.

—Brigitta Remole

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3252.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3252.html Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700 http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/upload/i20111214120416/img1.jpg This year, Sunday school opens with a psalm. The Seasons of the Spirit curriculum leads the children of Plymouth into a selection from Psalm 139:


Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.


This psalm reminds us of the presence of God. We have miles to go before Advent, but a reminder of the Immanuel, the God with us, is always welcome. It is an especially good way to begin the church school year. The knowledge of God’s presence grounds us and provides a foundation for how we live and move. In Practicing the Presence of God, the ancient Carmelite monk Brother Lawrence shares this insight, “The most excellent method of going to God is that of doing our common business without any view of pleasing people but purely for the love of God.” Helping the children of Plymouth grasp and experience the presence of a faithful, loving God is the work of every volunteer in the children and youth program, and in reality, it is the work of every church member. Each interaction we have, from the Sunday school classroom, to side conversations in the Lounge, to the pew in worship, presents another opportunity to practice God’s loving presence with one another from every generation.


Of course, it is not only the children who need to hold fast to the loving God present with us. The deep knowledge of the God who is near can be healing and restorative to all. This Sunday marks the tenth anniversary of the tragic events on September 11, 2001. When remembering searing moments such as this, it is common to reflect on the question of location. “Where were you when…?”


God has been present when we have cried the tears of the lost, when we have struggled to know where now to turn, and when we have raged against the pain and damage resulting from that dark morning.


The psalmist reminds us that God’s presence goes well beyond geography and gently touches all of our hurts, be they a decade or a day old. God is present as we sift through painful and confusing memories. The breath of God is soothes as we grapple to imagine what is next for our families in the blurry light of loved ones lost. The grace of God is surrounds us in our recovery as we strive to cultivate new life, new work, and new relationships.


It is the presence of God that gives us words to pray on this Sunday of old wounds and new beginnings, “God of compassion; hold us, heal us, guide us as we seek to live your dream of a peaceful and just tomorrow for all of your children.”

—Brandon Duran

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3253.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3253.html Wed, 13 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700 http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/upload/i20111214122211/img1.jpg Depending on our location, do we find that some, many, or all of our days are simply heart wrenching, during these times of economic cuts? So much more is coming down the pike yet too. Thank God we are also called together in our season leading to Easter's hope.


Each day at Plymouth my work connects planners and new groups here, that are each striving to vision our next actions and missions. Each day welcomes more people- please be in touch to join this work. We are moving from interim time, and preparing for our next years to come, with your settled ministers to come.


Today is a classic sampling:


5:30 AM: even before hitting my yoga mat, The Seattle Times headline screams red: "Cuts to fall on illegal immi¬grants; parties at odds; denying more services" (April 4, 2011.) The inbox confirms: "Action Alert: March 31: Casa Latina stands to lose $625,000. The State has frozen $325,000 of capital funds that were already allocated to Casa Latina in 2009; despite all readiness, Casa will then lose $300,000 in private matching funding (Kresge Foundation) if this is not restored."

6 AM: Thinking about how Plymouth just celebrated some updates in our partnership with Casa Latina on March 27. Many listened with hearts full of fire to testimonies on wage theft. We are being asked to help advocate when an employer is stealing wages. See www.casa-latina.org


7 AM: My prayers fill with thanks for the immediate re¬sponse Plymouth offered to Japan in the wake of the earth¬quake. In times like these we are being asked to help in endless ways. As of March 29, $6,065 is at work through Church World Service and the United Church of Christ; meanwhile our Lenten Special offering is putting $6757 right to work for local hunger, Mary's Place, and Down¬town Emergency Services Center.


8 AM: At coffee with a pastor colleague we share our su¬preme frustration by what is going on in Olympia and all over the country as programs for the poor are under assault everywhere. We dream how progressive churches can come together — not to band aid, but to take up concerted actions to transform. But every hour brings the next urgent appeal.

9 AM: I help prepare our largely new Community Service and Social Action (CSSA) Board for a task to design... yes, our next special offering. This is for Easter day, even above our ongoing pledging at church. I meet with members and staff to describe the ten latest hemorrhages among cherished community partners, as well as new groups. In this time of downturn, the CSSA Board gives me hope. Board members who can not help but be deeply conscientious and serious about what otherwise might seem mere 'special' drops in a bucket. I raise thanks to God for the shoulders upon which we stand. Our privilege has been a winter of steady preparations to review applications for a significant Change Grant we will make this spring. As of April 1, we have 20. Mean¬while our Community Investment Committee is looking to make sizeable loans.

10:30 AM And...thank God — for Holy Week. Outrage over Olympia need not fester. With the worship team, and our friends at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, we are craft¬ing the liturgies for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday. Our Christian walk through Holy Week will move us yet again to believe toward Easter.
Our hearts need not tarry too long in the mourning, but can break into new ways of living. Our Gospel of John indeed promises abundant life (10:10). We come again to Palm Sunday from the midst of mornings like these.

Yours in Christ's hope,

--Lauren Cannon
Interim Minister for Faith Formation and Service



http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3259.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3259.html Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700 http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/upload/i20111214120416/img1.jpg My March 11th weekend began with a litany:

VOICE ONE: Why havewe come together?

ALL: We come to worshipGod in whose imagewe were created –spiritual physical beings.

VOICE ONE: God gifted us with bodies andemotions to express our spirituality in concrete ways. One of the ways we affirm thesacredness of life is through healthy sexuality.

ALL: Let us celebrate God’s gift of incarnationand affirm our desire for sexual health and the joy it brings.
(NCH #742)


This litany served as the opening ritual for the facilitator training on the Our Whole Lives and Sexuality and Our Faith curricula. Our Whole Lives is a comprehensive sexuality and faith program developed in a joint project between UCC and UUA communities. I joined with members from both communities at the First Congregational UCC in Eugene, Oregon for training in the OWL program. The weekend’s facilitator training was packed solid as we discussed gender roles, gender identity, sexual orientation, the development needs of adolescents, equipping parents, facilitation skills, and the spiritual foundation to sex education. Despite the length of each day’s training schedule, I noticed that the participants remained invested in the material. Throughout the weekend I heard a common refrain from the trainees, “I wish I had a class like OWL when I was a kid.”


I too experienced this sense of longing, particularly when we covered the principles guiding the UCC’s commitment to sexuality education. These principles, along with the OWL program values, provide a foundation for OWL facilitators and create a context where all questions are honored and youth are freed to express worries and wonders. I felt embraced by these guiding lights and wished they had been with me throughout my youth. I hope we can find ways to teach and embody these principles to the youth of Plymouth.

Sexuality is a God-given gift.

The purposes of sexuality are to enhance human wholeness and fulfillment, to express love, commitment, delight, and pleasure, to bring new life into the world, and to give glory to God.

When making decision about sexuality, the primary guide is God’s call to love and justice as revealed in both Testaments.

From a biblical perspective, sexuality is intended to express mutuality, love, and justice. In judging whether behavior is ethical or unethical, the norms of mutuality, love, and justice are the central criteria.


From a biblical perspective, sexuality is distorted by unethical behaviors, attitudes, and systems that foster
violence, exploitation, infidelity, assertion of power, and the treatment of persons as objects.

A responsible and mature sexual ethic respects the moral agency of every person.

The church, at all age levels, ought to be a context for discussion about human sexuality.

The church ought to encourage and support advocacy with those who are sexually oppressed or the victims of sexual violence and abuse. The church can and must have a role in defining and implementing public policy.

--Brandon Duran

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3258.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/3258.html Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800 Finding Brigitta was hard work. For Brigitta, moving to Seattle to join us, starting a new life and job was hard work. For Plymouth, walking together as a church through a long interim time was hard work.

I pray I’m ready for more hard work.

On December 11 we will joyfully welcome members and friends of Plymouth to a Service of Installation that celebrates and cements the covenant between Brigitta, Plymouth, and the wider UCC Church. This is a big day. It will mark another important milestone in this experiment of being Church at Plymouth. It will be a reminder of the hope, the faith, the love the holds us together. It will be a moment to reflect on the road we’ve traveled, and wonder about the roads ahead.

I’ve been thinking about those roads lately. I’ve been wondering if the roads we traveled to be who we are today are the same roads that will allow us to be what we need to be tomorrow. And I wonder, as I think many of us do, what we will be up to next as a faith community? How will we be Church? How will we respond to and engage with the world? What will define and galvanize us? Will we thrive, and what will that look like? What is God calling Plymouth to be? And why don’t we already have this all figured out? There is that hard work. The hard work of patient, persistent listening for God’s voice; of responding to Christ’s call; of getting out of our own way and letting a spirit of bold followership and gracious leadership take hold. I am feeling this at work already. I’m marveling at the energy I feel each Sunday and the sustaining anticipation that carries me through the week. I see that spirit that is allowing us to experiment and evolve our worship. I hear it at work as we examine bravely how we engage our resources — our hands, voices, wallets, minds and hearts. I pray it will help me boldly question my assumptions about what Plymouth is, or should be, to not be lulled by the comfort of well-worn ways, but instead put my shoulder into the hard work of opening new possibilities. I know that what God has in mind for us is beyond my imagining, beyond what looking backwards at the roads we’ve traveled would tell me.

So on December 11 I will be trying to exercise my patience, my prayer, my discerning heart, and I will take this covenant by the hand — to support and love our new Senior Minister, to support and love the members and friends of Plymouth, and to find our new roads together.

—Robert Neer, Pastoral Search Committee

http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/719.html http://plymouth.lytleworks.com/news/article/rss/719.html