We had an accident with our pulpit Bible– the big one that we read out of every Sunday morning.  The shelf it was placed on during a funeral was underneath a leaking water container, and the book got soaked.  It was open — so Genesis 1 through Psalm 89 were particularly drenched.

Quick to the rescue came my friend and Carleton Librarian Carol Eyler.  With help from her colleagues, she located a service that will freeze dry (really!) the Bible to make sure that no mold develops and the pages stay flat (and not “cockled”– which is that wrinkly post-moist thing that paper does).  And she arranged to have it shipped — complete with dry ice to make sure it doesn’t get moldy — to the book hospital in Illinois.

So a big THANK YOU to our friends at Carleton for this bit of community service.  We’ll let you know when the Bible is back!

Pastor Sandy was awarded the 2008 Leysath Award tonight at the UCC MN Annual Conference in St. Joseph.

The Leysath Award is given to a person who lifts up the role of women in ministry, provides new life in the church and community , and who continues to grow through further education. Rev. Dr. Karen Smith Sellers, our Conference Minister, made the presentation at tonight’s awards event. Smith Sellers cited Sandy’s exemplary service to the conference Committee on Minstry and her own congregation at First UCC, Northfield.

Congratulations Pastor Sandy on this well deserved honor.

Here we are at the UCC MN Conference Annual Meeting in St. Joseph, MN Pictured are Pastor Sandy, Jerry Hankins, and our own Bob Gregory-Bjorklund getting the party started.

Don’t worry — I am not bragging about my own sermons. 

I just spent a week in Minneapolis at the “Festival of Homiletics” and learned about an easy way to hear to great sermons from Protestant ministers around the country. 

Day1 describes itself as “the voice of the mainline Protestant churches, on the radio and online.”  The online part is easy to use, and gives you the choice of text or podcast (voice).  The radio is not so easy in Minnesota, because Day1only list two stations as carrying their broadcasts: KAUS in Austin (1480 AM) and KCUE in Redwing (1250 AM)

It is tempting to make jokes about sermons — but some of the most interesting words about spirituality and religion are spoken every week from pulpits — and we might as well take advantage of them.

Summer Office Hours Begin May 19th

7am to Noon Monday -Thursday and closed on Fridays.

Our congregation is honored to host a showing of the moving video, For the Bible Tells Me So, on Friday evening, May 16 at 7:00 pm at the church (300 Union Street in Northfield).

Does God really condemn loving homosexual relationships? Is the chasm separating Christianity from gays and lesbians too wide to cross? Is the Bible an excuse to hate? These questions and more are answered in this award-winning documentary, which brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture – and reveals that religious anti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a misinterpretation of the Bible.

Through the experiences of five very normal, Christian, American families – including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson – we discover how people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child or family member.

Offering healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity, this landmark film “boldly takes on a loaded topic and examines it both intellectually and emotionally; the result may well leave you blinking away a few tears.” (Seattle Times)

Many UCC members, along with 50,000 other folks, participated in the 16th annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure at the Mall of America today.  It’s become an annual tradition for many at UCC to attend this important fund raising event to help find a cure for Breast Cancer.

Want a chance to talk about it?  First UCC invites young adults (college students and recent grads) to our new program, Leadership 21. 

Starting in the fall, this group will meet weekly for a variety of activities (prayerful and playful) that will help you explore your gifts and think about the ways you can use them in service to others.  That might be ordained ministry, or then again it might not.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Fund for Theological Education, we can offer small stipends (equal to 4 hours of work-study) to participants.

Here’s more information and an application sheet — hope to hear from you soon!

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The 3rd Annual Blessing of the Bikes drew such a large crowd that we couldn’t fit them all in one photo.  It was a glorious day and Sandy blessed us all with great care and concern.  We’re all ready for the 2008 riding season.  What a fun event. 

Caring for the earth is a spiritual discipline.  As Sandy said in her sermon on Sunday, we care for creation because God loves creation and we love God.  In that spirit, the Green Task Force is asking First UCC members to make their own pledge of carbon reduction.

FIRST, read the pledge below and check one or more things you will do.

SECOND, fill out the Minnesota Energy Challenge online (there’s a long and a short version).

Third, post this pledge where you can see it, give thanks to God’s creation by pursuing your goals, & return next year to report on what you have done & pledge action anew.

You can learn what other UCC churches are doing by reading this article from the United Church News.

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You’ll want to be at Babcock Park at 5:00 pm on Sunday May 4 for the big season opener between our own Fighting Apostles and St. Dominic’s Blue Team.

Fighting Apostles spokesman Scott Richardson says St. Dominic’s is a tough opponent.  “They actually practice!” he said.

Families of team members were delighted that this year’s opener is not on Mother’s Day.  “It keeps me out of the doghouse,” opined Greg Muth.

The team’s entry fee to the Church Softball League is covered by the proceeds of last Sunday’s French Toast Breakfast.  If you liked eating with them, you’ll love watching them play!

First UCC will hold it’s 3rd Annual Blessing of the Bikes on Sunday,  May 4 right after worship.  Bring your bike, trike, wagon, moped or motorcycle to be included in Sandy’s Blessing.   We’ll meet in the church parking lot.  Bring your friends and neighbors.  It’s a fun event and we always have a great blessing.

Even though we are many weeks past our celebration of Easter, our brothers and sisters in the Orthodox traditions will be celebrating this Sunday, April 27!

The Orthodox tradition is rich in piety and liturgy.  I had the pleasure of worshipping at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in San Anselmo, California (pictured here), during my sabbatical in January.  My friend and I were warmly welcomed and we were touched by the beauty of the service, especially the music.

I bought their choir CD, and will take time to listen to it this Sunday — and send along our prayers for their sacred celebration of Easter.

Our good friend and former Pastoral Care Coordinator, Kathy Baughman, is being ordained on April 19 as a minister in the Unitarian Universalist Association.

I’ll be preaching the sermon for the ordination service, and Sue Mieska and I will be presenting this beautiful quilt that Tanya is holding in the picture.  There are 48 white squares, each one with a message of love and good wishes for Kathy.

I had the honor (and delight!) of stitching the blocks together and doing the decorative quilting (using one of the long-armed quilting machines at Quilt Yourself up in Savage).   Thanks to everyone who helped make this quilt-ful of good wishes!

Who are Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego? And what are they doing in Northfield?The answers will be revealed Sunday morning at First UCC, when energetic young singers and actors lead the service with their presentation of “It’s Cool in the Furnace.”

The narrative comes from the third chapter of the Book of Daniel, but reading the Bible won’t be nearly as much fun as seeing nearly 30 children and youth bring the story to life. You’ll be humming the theme songs when you leave the building.

Some of our adult members have been humming them for 20 years! About a half dozen (mostly now parents) remember being part of productions of “It’s Cool in the Furnace” when they were kids. We’ll see if they really do remember all the words.

The service is at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 16, at First UCC, 3^rd and Union Streets in Northfield.