Author: Rev. Scott Sammler-Michael (Rev. Scott Sammler-Michael)

Today’s service, “The Beloved Divine: Women Mystic Justice Warriors”, invites us to explore women mystics through the ages, looking closely at what they wrote, what they did, and what people said about them. In this investigation we will discover how even the best work of female mystics was often co-opted by men for agendas that were often less than holy. We will also see that many of these women were warriors for a greater justice, singing songs the people of their age too seldom embraced, despite the championing of truth and service their lives embodied.

Too often we get bogged down worrying about the way "things might have been." And even though we may have good reasons to regret, at some point we must live the life before us, assuring we do not add new regrets to our history. Join Rev. Scott on a reflection on how to be gentle and kind with ourselves, no matter what mistakes we have made.

This service is inspired by “What Is Truth?”, a song written by Country Music legend Johnny Cash in 1970 to share his newfound Truth that the Vietnam War was a mistake, and he needed to help end it. Inspired by Cash, together we will explore notions of truth - how we build it, how we proclaim, how we recognize it. Rev Scott is joined by Rev Anya, Dionne Ford, Michael Gilch, Sam Schumann, Paul Lombardo & Dan Silver. Randy Crafton edits the video, Ann Trip calls and does audio, and Joe Palka monitors the broadcast.

Recognizing the deaths and births in our congregation over the past year.

Join Rev Scott and Dionne Ford Kurtti as they share insights from our Sisters in the Wilderness class. We will explore how to equip one another to tell stories from our particular experience and identities, and the theologies they demonstrate. Even though, as Dr James Cone says, there is no Universal about God, we each have our own individual, rich lens into truth and divinity.