May 2010 Church Newsletter Preview

CUTE, CUDDLY CHRISTIANITY

There has never been a shortage of inspirational stories and sayings—at least not in any of our lifetimes. With the advent of the internet, the words of advice are now only a mouse-click away, for almost all of us have friends who click “forward” on their e-mail and send them to us, and other friends who post these “good words” on their facebook statuses.

Just one problem. Based on my own experience, most (yes, most) of the stories Christians e-mail to other Christians are either untrue or embellished to the point of misrepresentation. And many—perhaps most—of the sayings or adages are more false than true. And the “moral of the story” is oftentimes almost completely opposite to the radical gospel of Jesus. They are all very nice, very sweet. But often they are just plain wrong!

Here’s one example, a posting from facebook:

God Knows Best, that's why He says NO!

At first glance, this seems true enough, right? Or at least harmless enough, don’t you think? But think about what it says and implies, based on what we believe about prayer. What does this adage say about prayer? In what ways might the saying imply that prayer is mostly “asking for stuff for ourselves” instead of “the most important way we say thank you to God” as taught by the Heidelberg Catechism? If you pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” does God ever say no?
How would you respond to this facebook posting? Would you just click “like” and forget about it?

Think for a moment…

Hypothetically, do you think your friend be offended if you challenged the adage? Would it be best to just ignore it? Is it best to just let it go?

I wonder…

And I’d be curious to know what you think about it, too…

Sometimes I just let it go. There’s not enough time to write about everything, after all. But sometimes, especially with a close friend, I will formulate my thoughts and take the risk of trying to do as the Bible teaches, “to speak the truth in love.”

I’d be curious to know how you would respond.

But anyway, for what it’s worth, here’s how I answered:

RE: “God Knows Best, that's why He says NO!”

I understand the sentiment, I think, but I don't think we should be teaching that sentiment to our children. Seems to me there's very, very little in the Bible about God saying no. And lots and lots about yes.

Just a few quotes from Jesus on this subject... "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (John 14:14); "Ask and it will be given to you... (Matthew 7:7); "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you" (John 15:7).

In my own family's life, we might very well ask, Did God say no to our prayers for healing? What do you think?

As we explained to our kids about a year ago, God said yes and yes and yes. Carolyn's many surgeries and four years of chemo and numerous "little miracles" were all YES answers to prayer. Even in dying there was healing and wholeness. And through the grieving process and in our "new normal" God continues to heal us. God says yes!

Finally, and just as important in our understanding of God, I do not believe God looks down on all the families of the world (all of them praying for protection and good health) and says, "Hmmm, Father Knows Best so I think I'll give this family an adventure with cancer. Like green veggies, they won't like it but it will be good for them! Ha-ha!" No, that is not how God works in the world. Whenever the Bible talks about God's Mighty Acts, the actions are acts of salvation in the fullest sense of that word. Cancer is part of the broken and hurting world in which we live—it is not something “given” by God.

The world is filled with mystery and ambiguity, with unanswered and unanswerable questions. God is far beyond our understanding and yet fully revealed in the face of Jesus, the Lamb, on the cross. And yet ambiguity is okay because Jesus has promised, "I will be with you always...." Mystery is okay because Jesus has promised, “No one can snatch them out of my hands.” God is beyond our understanding. Yet God is Emmanuel—God with us. And that, my friend, is God’s grand and glorious Yes!

CUTE AND CUDDLY CHRISTIANITY: ADDENDUM

There is no shortage of “cute and cuddly” quotes and stories. There is a time and a place for them. But “cute and cuddly” is not an accurate portrayal of the “tragedy, comedy, and fairy tale” (Frederick Buechner) of the Good News. God did not send his Son into the world to bring us a cute and cuddly religion. The crucified One is Lord. Our faith and hope and transformation is shaped by the cross. There is nothing cute and cuddly about the cross.

Jesus died—not to bring comfort to people who are already “pretty-darned-good” and who are already quite comfortable—but to save sinners. We are all poor and needy; we are all shipwrecked and in desperate straits. God did not send Jesus to condemn this hurting and broken world, but that the world through him might be saved.

A POSTSCRIPT: “IN SEARCH OF… HAPPINESS”

Poets agree, happiness cannot be bought, neither can it be sought after. Happiness comes in the midst of not seeking after it, arrives in the midst of mopping a floor, shows up uninvited while emptying the in-basket. The deepest happiness always comes as a surprise party. "Seek God, not happiness--this is the fundamental rule of all meditation" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

Happiness surprises. Joy surprises. Grace surprises; the Spirit surprises! Poet Edward Hirsch says, "The stars surprise the sky." I like that. I like surprises.

A POEM (BY WENDELL BERRY): “WHY”

Why all the embarrassment
about being happy?
Sometimes I’m as happy
as a sleeping dog,
and for the same reasons,
and for others.

Glad to be on the journey with you…
Pastor Randy

Not an Option: a sermon for Maundy Thursday

“A new mandate: Love one another!”

Scripture readings: Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14; John 13:1-17, 31b-35

SERMON
“Not an Option”
by Randy Lubbers

That’s “Not an Option!” Every heard that? It’s a phrase used to describe something that “just ain’t gonna happen.” For example:

“Dad, can we skip school today?”
“Sorry, that’s not an option.”

There are some things so out-of-bounds, so impossible for whatever reason… they are… just simply… not an option.

However, there’s another way to read this phrase…

In football there’s a play called the “triple option” – the quarterback takes the ball and can (1) keep the ball, (2) hand it off to the fullback, or (3) pitch it to the tailback. Lots of options.

And we all like options, unless there are too many; like in some restaurants:

“Baked, au gratin, mashed with gravy, hash browns, American fries, French fries, rice pilaf, or veggies…”
“Ummm could you repeat that?”

Every car now has something like 275 options with multitudes of combinations making it possible to line up 100,000 red Mustang convertibles and yet all of them are slightly different. Lots of options.

We sometimes say, “I’d like to keep my options open.”
Generally, options are a good thing.
Options make us feel like we’ve got some choice in the matter.

People without options are imprisoned. Sometimes literally. In prison bedtime (“lights out”) is predetermined. Then the lights go back on and the horns blare when it’s time to get up. Breakfast is scrambled eggs… or scrambled eggs. No options for prisoners and slaves and workers treated like slaves.

Free people have options.


Now for the children of Israel living in slavery in Egypt, there were not a lot of options. But in anticipation of Pharoah changing his mind one last time, the Lord gave Moses and Aaron instructions for the Passover. The blood of the sacrificed, slaughtered Pascal lamb would be a sign and the angel of death would pass over those houses. But even in their deliverance there were not a lot of options. The instructions are clear—ignoring them is… not an option.

We sometimes fail to remember the connections between the first Passover and our Holy Week and Easter observances. Christ, the Lamb of God, is our Passover. Christ took bread and wine and said this is my body and blood freely given for you. Christ offered himself up to be the unblemished, wholly-sound Lamb to be slaughtered.
But before any of that, the gospel of John tells us Jesus offered himself up in another way. He took the towel, filled the bowl, and washed the feet of his friends. As we sang, he suffers and serves ‘til all are fed… and “shows how grandly love intends to work….”

Jesus takes the role of servant, of slave. And Jesus calls us to “go and do likewise.” Jesus calls us to be servants.

Now this idea of being a servant doesn’t feel quite right to many of us. After all, weren’t the children of Israel set free from being servants? Aren’t we set free in Christ?

I think a big part of the problem with the idea of servanthood relates to the mistreatment of some Christians over the last 2000 years by bigger and more powerful Christians. Examples abound— Christians with guns took away the lands of Native Americans while others were trying to convert the so-called heathen Indians into becoming servants of Christ. Christians justified slavery and preached, “Servants, obey your masters in the Lord.” Theologians in Latin America have been reminding North American Christians for decades of God’s “Great Requirement”: To act justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with God. Too often the richest people and cultures respond to the cries for justice by recalling Christ’s call to servanthood. Well it’s pretty easy for CEOs to tell people about being “a servant to all.” But the servants don’t really need reminding. Even today in many churches, only men can vote and preach and make the rules—and the women… do women’s work… the women… serve. So it should be no surprise, really, when the idea of being a servant doesn’t ring true.

Not to mention: We live in a world where serving isn’t very high up on the bucket-lists. In our culture, winning is almost everything. Greed is good. Violence is tolerated—even exalted—it’s cool to be tough, cool to be a gansta. Church youth groups shoot each other up with paint balls—“it’s just for fun.” And the kids rightly point out, “Hey, even my dad plays MafiaWars on facebook… it’s just for fun, right? What’s the big deal?”

I thought it was an April Fool joke at first, but it was headline news in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the April Fool jokes are usually at least below the fold.

Strapped for cash, schools and boosters bring in professional wrestling to raise money. A school administrator says, it might have been in bad taste, but it happened nevertheless. In one match “…a wrestler playing an Iranian made a show of unrolling a rug and kneeling to pray…” as the crowd booed and jeered.

We live in a world where the strongest are rewarded and the weakest left behind. We live in a culture that doesn’t merely tolerate “me-first”—it’s promoted. We live in a time when it is not really so difficult to imagine a crowd of thousands—urged on by an irrational, screaming voice—to turn on someone and shout, “Crucify Him!”

Being a servant? Not an option.
Serving? Pastor, aren’t there better words you could use?

But “serve” is a big word in Exodus.

The deliverance of the people out of servitude to Egypt was the Deliverance of God’s people into the freedom of… serving the one true God. Freedom. Without serving God…. Is just… not an option.

And Jesus… in a world where everyone is striving to get served first… takes the towel… and puts LOVE into action… serving the disciples… washing their feet.
And this is what love looks like:

Caring for people you love when they’re sick—not always pretty or fun;
Patience with people who you might not even like;
Listening when you’d rather be doing anything else.

Love is not always pretty. As Christ demonstrates, love is the humble act of a servant. “And this is my new mandate,” Jesus says. “Love one another. As you have seen me put love into practice by being a slave to all, that’s what I want you to be doing. Love one another. That’s how people will know that you are my followers.”

Love one another.

For those of us set free from servitude to evil to serve God and God alone: love-one-another is what we must do. It is Christ’s command.

It’s not an "option."

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless God’s holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all God’s benefits. We praise you, O God, for making your divine truth real to us in Jesus Christ. We ask that what we do, how we love, and the way we love, may increasingly become a worthy response. Amen.

East-a-whaaat?

Jesus said, “Nobody lights a lamp and then covers it with a basin or puts it under the bed. You put it on a lampstand so that those who come in may see the light” (Luke 8:16). The After-School Bible Class and I were talking about what it means to “let your light shine” and one of the answers was something along the lines of “coming to church.” We talked a bit about “when” and “why” people come to church.... Sundays for worship and Sunday school, special meals to be with people they know in the church, weddings, and so forth. And especially during Holy Week....

We talked about Easter and Good Friday and two of their comments and questions stuck with me. One, about Good Friday, after we talked about the crucifixion of Jesus: “Why do they call it Good Friday, if he died?” The other, about Easter, after I explained how Jesus’ death conquered death for all time because Jesus rose from the dead: “He did whaaat?”

The comment reminded me of the funny E*Trade television commercial—“milk-a-whaaat?!”

Most adults in the church know that Jesus rose from the dead. Many understand that the resurrection of the Lord is why Easter is the biggest day of feasting and celebration in the church year. Yes, bigger than Christmas.

But on Easter morning almost no one is astonished. Almost no one is amazed.

But we ought to be.

“He did whaat?”

He rose from the dead.

“How?”

Well, the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly how. The New Testament book of Romans says Christ was raised “through the glory of the Father”—that is, by the glorious power of God.

But we don’t know how.

All we know is that it happened. As Frederick Buechner wrote, “He rose. A few saw him briefly and talked to him. If it is true, there is nothing left to say. If it is not true, there is nothing left to say. For believers and nonbelievers both, life has never been the same again. For some, neither has death…”

Christ arose!
“East-a-whaaat?”

We ought to be
amazed,
flabbergasted,
confused,
lost in wonder,
speechless.

Christ arose!

There is nothing left to say.

Ash Wednesday Mini-Retreat

ASH WEDNESDAY ORDER OF PRAYER

Centering Yourself in God:
I belong to you, O God; I belong to you;
I belong; I belong; I belong. I belong to you. Amen.
Silence
Reading: John 3:16-17
Prayer:

O God the Father, creator of heaven and earth—
Have mercy on me.
O God the Son, redeemer of the world—
Have mercy on me.
O God the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide—
Have mercy on me.
Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity—
three persons and one God—
Have mercy on me.
Loving God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: I confess that I have gone astray from your ways and I humbly ask for your mercy. Bring me again with a penitent heart and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son. I acknowledge my need for repentance and my need for the love and forgiveness shown to me in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Self-examination:
• In what specific areas of my life have I failed to invite God?
• In what things do I need to “die” so that I might really live?
• Am I sharing time, talents, and treasure in the church?
• Listen for God’s voice. Not a voice of accusation, but of voice welcoming you home. Listen for the Savior’s kind voice through the Holy Spirit, assuring you, “Do not be afraid; I am with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you; I will never let you down, and never let you go!”

Confession and Assurance of Pardon:
• Psalm 51
• Silence
• And then read this psalm of thanksgiving, celebrating the good news of God’s steadfast love: Psalm 103

Prayer in your own words… and then, go in the peace of Christ!

BACKGROUND: For all the years I've been at First Presbyterian Lake Crystal we've observed Ash Wednesday with some sort of Service of Ashes, even though my first year here it was almost completely new to most of the congregation. (Or, thought of as something "only Catholics did" to begin Lent.) But attendance hasn't been... Well, let me preface that thought: I'm not one to stop doing a good thing just because only a few attend or find it meaningful. I'm a great believer in the idea, "where two or three are gathered..." That said, I just really felt this was a good year to give the "new tradition" a rest. I don't know, just to see if anyone misses it. I know I will. And I've already heard from my son, Luke, who--come to think of it--has participated in the service of ashes for about half his life. Luke will miss it, too. Maybe we'll do it at home. But anyway, this service of prayer was designed to encourage members of the church to observe Ash Wednesday with a discipline of personal prayer. The inspiration comes from "An Order of Worship for Ash Wednesday" written by John Paarlberg, pastor of First Church in Albany, New York. The written prayer is a direct quote from his service. The rest of the stuff is mostly written by me.

Blessings as you begin your Lenten journey.

Peace Love & Coffee....... Randy

A prayer for Valentine's Day

We're observing the Feast of St. Valentine with worship focused on the theme, 'Be Mine': We love because God first loved us. Here's the intercessory prayer I wrote by adapting two prayers, one from the Liturgy of the Feast of St. Valentine from the Irish Province of the Order of Carmelites and one from a prayer by Robert Louis Stevenson (Book of Common Worship: Daily Prayer, p. 440).

Eternal God, whose steadfast love endures forever, we praise and worship you as Lord of our lives on this, the feast of St Valentine.
We ask you to listen and to grant our prayers:

We pray for all who have promised to love, honor and cherish each other in marriage, that they may be strengthened through prayer and the sacraments; that they may be a witness to the world of the joy of their lives together.

We pray for those who have recently become engaged: we thank God for them and pray for them that the Lord will help them in practical ways as they prepare for their lives together and that they will be blessed with good health and material blessings. And though their eyes may be bright with love for each other, keep in sight a wider world, where neighbors want and strangers beg, and where service is a joyful sacrifice of praise.

We hear of many for whom marriage has broken down or where sickness or sadness seems to be their lot: Lord, you have promised we are never on our own…… Be with those who suffer and grant them your healing…. Be with those who go separate ways and grant them restored confidence, new understandings, healing and hope.

We pray for our family here assembled.
We thank you for this place in which we dwell,
for the love that unites us,
for the peace given us this day,
for the hope with which we look for tomorrow,
for the health, the work, the food, and the bright skies
that make our lives delightful,
for our friends in all parts of the earth.
In our journey together as sisters and brothers,
Give us courage and laughter, patience and quietness.
Bless us on our journey together
and in the mission of Christ you have given us.
And grant us the strength to endure and persevere
whatever may come our way, whether of good or ill.
And in all things, keep us loyal and loving to one another.

Like the seed that falls to the ground and dies,
may we die daily to our own selfishness
so that the true wheat of love may grow in our lives
for others to see and take to heart.

All this we ask through the powerful name
of the one who loves us to the uttermost…
who taught us to pray with each other and for each other… praying…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

An Order of Worship incorporating a congregational meeting

THE SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY

We are a “Community-of-Belonging” that gathers together each week to celebrate the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
"A House of Prayer for All Peoples"
LAKE CRYSTAL, MINNESOTA
REV. RANDAL K. LUBBERS, Pastor & Teacher

FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
10:00 PM • FEBRUARY 7, 2010

THE APPROACH TO GOD
Welcome, Announcements, Joys & Concerns, Prayer of Preparation
CENTERING OURSELVES IN GOD: Prelude
GOD WELCOMES US INTO WORSHIP: Psalm 100:1-2, 5
Leader: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
People: Amen.
Leader: Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come into God’s presence with singing!
People: For the Lord is a gracious God,
whose mercy is everlasting;
and whose faithfulness endures to all generations.
OPENING HYMN: “Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty" (LOBE DEN HERREN)
PRAYER OF ADORATION
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH: What we believe about the Church from the Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 54
I believe that the Son of God through his Spirit and Word, out of the entire human race, from the beginning of the world to its end, gathers, protects, and preserves for himself a community chosen for eternal life and united in true faith. And of this community I am and always will be a living member. Amen.
CHOIR ANTHEM: "Song of Fellowship"
CALL TO CONFESSION: Based on Hebrews 4:14-16
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (unison)
God of light,
we have been so blind when truth has been so clear.
When we could have looked ahead, we fell behind.
When we could have viewed the wider picture, we saw only a part.
When we could have sensed the Spirit leading, we missed the way.
Forgive our dim apprehension of love’s clear leading.
Give us faith that trusts when it cannot see,
through the light that lingers when all else fails,
even the bright Morning Star of our faith, Jesus Christ, the Savior. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: 1 Tim. 1:15; 1 Peter 2:24
THE PEACE
Leader: The peace of Christ be with you all.
People: And also with you.
Please stand, if you are able, and greet one another with signs of Christ’s peace
GLORIA PATRI (sung in unison)
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost: as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.

THE WORD OF GOD
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
OLD TESTAMENT LESSON: Isaiah 6:1-8
Leader: The Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God.
PSALTOR: Psalm 138
GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 5:1-11
SERMON: “Deep Waters” (Rev. Randal K. Lubbers)

THE RESPONSE TO GOD
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
OFFERING / OFFERTORY MUSIC
DOXOLOGY: OLD HUNDREDTH
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God, all creatures here below;
praise God above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
HYMN: “Built on the Rock”
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE CONGREGATION
CALL TO ORDER WITH PRAYER
AGENDA
CLOSING PRAYER
CLOSING HYMN: “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee" (HYMN TO JOY)
CHARGE & BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE

Some of my favorite women...

In a fairly recent survey of clergy, woman authors do not fare well. In fact, that's an understatement. In the research project commissioned by the Duke Divinity School's Pulpit and Pew, clergy in three traditions (Catholic, Mainline Protestant, Conservative Protestant) were surveyed regarding reading habits. There is only one woman, Barbara Brown Taylor, in any the "top twelve" lists. Taylor shows up as #12 on the Mainline list. For Conservative Protestants and Catholics no women -- not a one -- made it into the top 12. Going even beyond the top 12, there are women read by Catholics and Mainline Protestants. But not a single woman made the author list of conservative clergy. Not a single one!

In my humble opinion, that is totally outrageous, scandalous, and very sad.

Is it any wonder the people in the pews are hungry?

So here is a list of "some of my favorite women" for pastors and spiritual leaders and others looking for breadth and depth of spirituality. These are spiritual (and some not-so-spiritual) writings by women: a brief and subjective list of good stuff from my own library......


From my Church History class in seminary: In Her Words: Women's Writings in the History of Christian Thought. Edited by Amy Oden. Abingdon Press, 1994.

Oneness in the Eucharist: On a certain Pentecost.... My heart and my veins and all my limbs trembled and quivered with eager desire... so that dying I must go mad, and going mad I must die. On that day my mind was beset so fearfully and so painfully by desirous love that all my separate limbs threatened to break, and all my separate veins were in travail.... (Hadewijch of Brabant, c. 1200s)

From my pastoral care professor: The Spirit of Adoption: At Home in God's Family. Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner. Westminster John Knox Prsss, 2003.

We need a new image of God as Adopting Parent. If the church can develop the Christian anthropological view of human being as "adopted child of God," then God can be viewed more centrally in our liturgy, preaching, and teaching as Adopting Parent as well as Birth Parent.... God's merciful compassion is God's womb-love.

From a shelf of books which could be labeled, "Books I could never write but I'm glad I could read": Great with Child: reflections on faith, fullness, and becoming a mother. Debra Rienstra. Putnam, 2002.

The world is different, for a new person has arrived in it. He is here, he is real, he has a name and a birth date. Each of us is different, too. I, the mother, given over completely from dark clouds to light and joy. Ron, a buoyant father now of two sons. Miriam and Jacob, feeling their bigger-than-ever status as sister and brother. This tiny infant will go on changing us, God willing, for the better. Philip Aaron, born July 10, 1999.

From my poetry shelves: Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women. Edited by Jane Hirschfield. HarperPerennial, 1995.

At last free,
at last I am a woman free!
No more tied to the kitchen,
stained amid the stained pots,
no more bound to the husband
who thought me less
than the shade he wove with his hands.
No more anger, no more hunger,
I sit now in the shade of my own tree.
Meditating thus, I am happy, I am serene.
(Sumangalamata, 6th c. B.C.E.)

From a shelf reserved for edgier memoirs: The Horizontal World: growing up wild in the middle of nowhere. Debra Marquart. Counterpoint, 2006.

And no matter how far from that uncompromising land we drift, a long, sinewy taproot summons us, always, home.

And, add to the list, these more well-known contemporary writers...

Barbara Brown Taylor - (it's all good)
Kathleen Norris - A Cloister Walk & The Quotidian Mysteries
Annie Dillard - Teaching a Stone to Talk & Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Mary Oliver (her poems are all good!)
Alice Walker - Her Blue Body Everything We Know
Anne Lamott - Operating Instructions
Naomi Shihab Nye - 19 Varieties of Gazelle (poetry)
Lucille Clifton - Blessing the Boats (poetry)

And three more...

Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue. Danielle Ofri. Beacon Press, 2003.

Not Counting Women and Children: Neglected Stories from the Bible. Megan McKenna. Orbis, 2001.

Coven. Susan Deborah King. Folio Bookworks, 2006. (poetry)


My challenge to men: In 2010, read at least book by a woman each month. Of course, for some this will be more of a challenge than others. The survey reported just over 10% of clergy read less than one hour per week. Unbelievable!

Peace Love & Coffee,
Randy