- Corned Beef Supper on March 14th at 5pm (please RSVP today)
- Neighbors Waffle Breakfast on March 21st
- This Lenten Friday is with North Quabbin Citizen Advocacy at the Boiler Grille
- We have begun collecting items for our Adopt a Family for Easter
- We continue our collections for Fuel Assistance for local families in need
- Death Cafe March 28th at 4pm (please RSVP)
- Discussion Circle is on the last Sunday after Church; this month we will look at passages from Matthew to inspire, teach, guide, and challenge us–all are welcome to join us (this is an exploration of sacred passages, poetry, and words to inspire us toward freshness, surprise, and wonder)
Visit our Calendar of Events to explore our upcoming dates and times
Our Sunday Reflection is recorded and can be found HERE (posts each Sunday late morning or early afternoon).
All are Welcome. If you are uncomfortable with the word God, please feel welcome to insert your own word for the divine or Mystery in your life (Universe/Grace/Spirit/Divine).
If you missed our Lenten Friday (the roads and weather were a bit unpredictable), this is an expanded version of Friday’s: Who Are We at the Community Church of North Orange and Tully?
We come together as the UCC, the UUA, and our Nondenominational group. I think better said, we are a Community Church. A church for neighbors, friends, and a whole community. A place where all are welcome and we hope all feel welcome.
We come as United Church of Christ which, as Reverend Megan shared last week on our Lenten Fridays, where people keep putting periods (or bold, underlined, big exclamation points), God puts a comma. God is still speaking. It is a group led by the footsteps of Jesus. Led by Love.
Within the UCC, we are not the same. We may be all carrying blue umbrellas, but they aren’t all the same blue. Some are light blue, some are dark blue, some are cobalt blue, or navy, or baby blue, or azure, or cerulean blue. Each blue umbrella is as unique and special as the person carrying it. Each of us carrying different ways of expressing Love in this world.
We come as Universalist Unitarians, which you’ll hear more about on our Lenten Friday with Reverend Meredith. Our Universalists believe that there is a Universal Grace or God…or put another way, an organizing Universal Love. It is a group led by Universal acceptance and Love.
Maybe the UU umbrellas are green, but they aren’t all the same green. Some are light green, some are dark green, some are emerald green, and mint green, and teal, and lime green. Each green umbrella is as unique and special as the person carrying it. Each of us carrying different ways of expressing Love in this world.
So many blue and green umbrellas walking a way of Love and gathering together in community with an overarching theme of Love.
And then we get really colorful. We come as Nondenominational. These umbrellas are red and yellow, pink and purple, orange, and all the colors possible. And again, even these umbrellas come in shades of each color. Because each and every one of us is unique and special and Loved. Each umbrella is as unique and special as the person carrying it. Each of us carrying different ways of expressing Love in this world.
We come together as Community.
We come for different reasons. We come when we are hopeful and when we are struggling to find hope. We come to lay down our heavy burdens at the feet of something bigger than ourselves and we come full of heaviness we are unable to shed. We come to forgive and we come struggling to forgive. We come lost and we come found. We come in need of help and we come to be of help. And everything in between.
We come for many reasons. We come to a place of shelter and comfort. A place where we can find a bit of respite from the storms of life. We come to mend and heal and reinforce our little umbrellas.
Sometimes it’s messy. Sometimes all these umbrellas get tangled. Sometimes, we have to watch out for those pokey edges—our own and those around us. But we sort it out and untangle our umbrellas when they get too tangled. We practice forgiveness, knowing that we didn’t mean to almost gouge each others eyes out with our umbrellas.
We are reminded to use our tools wisely—umbrellas can keep out the worst of the storm, but if we’re not paying attention we can accidentally hurt one another or, worse, we can turn our umbrellas into weapons instead of shelter and comfort.
We remember that through it all, that all are welcome to join us in Community.
Because we need community. Sometimes, one single umbrella isn’t enough, but holding two (or three) umbrellas by yourself doesn’t really work. It just gets complicated, especially when we also have arms full of the other stuff we carry. We need each other.
And…it’s an umbrella. It’s not perfect.
They keep us dry, but sometimes it is impossible to keep completely out the slanting and unpredictable weather. As Community, we can link them together to better protect one another and keep warm and dry.
We can use our umbrellas as weapons, or as shields, as something to hide behind. We can put our umbrellas all around us and overhead so no one feels welcome behind our wall. Or we can all lift them high, so others can feel welcome to find shelter with us. Sure, we might feel the blowing wind and rain a bit more, but what are a few damp toes when we’re welcoming to a lone pilgrim, a lost soul, or a hungry traveler.
Whatever you do for the least of these, my people, you have done for me.
It’s so easy to feel alone. It’s so easy to try to “go it alone”. “I got this.” “I don’t need help.” “Theres’ no one who understands.” “No one can help me.” “No one cares.” “I’m so ashamed.”
Sometimes, we are carrying heavy burdens, our arms are so full that even if we have an umbrella, we struggle to get it open when we need it.
We’ve all had times when we’ve found ourselves without our umbrella at the mercy of the elements. We’ve all had those times when the wind blows our umbrella inside out. The times when the wind tears our umbrella from our hands and as we chase it down the street we find it in the high branches of a tree or we pick it up from the ditch and fear it’s broken beyond repair.
Maybe our car is nearby and we seek refuge…wet and bedraggled and feeling so alone and scared.
Sometimes, we fall on our knees into a puddle and we just sit there. Wet and hopeless…and despair soaks us to the skin.
It’s those times when Grace happens. It really is…
It is in those times that we find the hands of grace when someone simply comes by and holds their own umbrella over us for a time.
This is why, though it’s easy to leave our umbrellas in our pews where they are safe and protected, it’s better to bring them out into the world with us.
The world needs our umbrellas.
Our most deeply courageous moments are when we are brave enough to give up our own umbrella to someone else (maybe, especially the stranger or.the “enemy”). It’s scary, but…
…umbrellas are like the mustard seed…like Love…they are infinite. When we give it away…another comes. Mind you, it’s not a second umbrella, it’s not “more”, it’s not a “better” umbrella—like we earned bonus points by being “nice”. It’s simply and perfectly another useful and humble umbrella to help shelter us from the storms.
Because above all of this. Above our community of umbrellas and above the larger Church umbrellas is a greater umbrella that is sheltering and Mysterious. Always there. Whatever we call it, however it shows up in our lives, we know there is a larger Mystery that Loves us.
And maybe it’s not even an umbrella, but a bright and beautiful and colorful arch of a rainbow of Grace.
Something that loves us and loves it when we love one another and share the burdens and joys of this life.
Community Church of North Orange & Tully 