All Blog Posts (10)

Ever hear of the Prodigal Son? Certainly. This Sunday, we focus on his extravagantly wasteful father, running to welcome him home. With that image in mind, all are invited, post-Worship, to join us for a served lunch in our Fellowship Hall for new member Gail Hutchison's riveting personal story, "From Strive to Survive to Thrive." Gail, a Potomac native, has served 20 years in the Outer Banks of NC as a sexual assault services coordinator, running to welcome the wounded home in her prodigally ge… Continue

This Sunday's gospel scripture -- heard the world 'round that very day by disciples and seekers of every tongue and land -- is a difficult one for many to understand. Luke 13:1-9 seems to cast a judgmental eye on those who do not repent of their ways. But this scripture is not a promise of punishment. It's a needed Lenten dose of reality, to wit: Instead of asking God, "Why me?" when bad times befall us, we can best listen for God's desire in our lives by asking, "Why not me?" Instea

… Continue

For details about J on T: See "Progressive-Our Outreach" on our menu bar. SERIES: VOCATIONS. So many of us have built a career. What, however, is our life's calling? Is it reflected through our career? Is it more than our career? Is it other than our career? Can one have a calling without a career? Through food & food-for-thought, we listen to and engage a BPC member and her/his call journey.

… Continue

Hope you enjoy this message!. It can be found here. Continue

During the 1980s, congregations, synagogues, and temples across America humanely responded en force to the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees from the political dictatorships gripping several Central American lands: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras. Their bold and costly witness was widely known as the Sanctuary Movement, or -- due to coordinated resistance from our federal government propping up these dictators -- t… Continue

"Listening for God: When Dependence Means Independence" can be found here.

Continue

This First Sunday in Lent worldwide, the classic tale of Jesus' temptations in the desert wilderness will be retold from Luke 4:1-13. Throughout Lent, we will be listening for God at BPC -- not to God as if we are awaiting a direct revelation, but for God's heartbeat in our midst. This Sunday: Our attachment to material goods that are meant to increase our independence often focuses more on the attachment than on the independence. How, in this wilderness of glut, can listening out… Continue

Sometimes, God's call of us is simply to make a phone call or two.

To connect with those on the margins of our consciousness and perhaps our consciences. Those who may particularly need -- or at the very least appreciate -- a listening ear midst snowbound isolation. To remind ourselves, on this church-less Sunday, that, while a community gathered to praise God can be a radical act in today's get-mine, got-yours world, this blizzard's aftermath can draw our ears into individuals' hearts

… Continue

E-e-e-e-evangelism. We mainline Protestant are prone to stutter each time we encounter this word -- and why shouldn't we? The dominant discourse of televised "Christian" culture has framed "that E-word" for far too long as pious, privatized pablum -- as "winning souls for Christ", through "just-you-and-me-God, how-Jesus-and-I-feel-about-each-other" theology. We have forgotten that the New Testament Greek word euangelion was a Roman technical term lauding Caesar's victories in battle. How… Continue

The offertory music this Sunday will be more collaborative than usual with Jack and I singing "In the Bleak Midwinter" by Gustav Holst. We had initially discussed making a duet out of the lovely arrangement for solo voice by Richard Walters which I've sung in years past, but that version proved a little too dissonant and free rhythmically. We opted instead for a more traditional take while LeeAnna improvises a flowing accompaniment that carries the piece through. If you have a moment, you may w… Continue