Not all our High School graduates could be present last Sunday, but we celebrated for them all!  These six each told us about the most memorable experience they had had in the church, and we were all touched by their stories.  God Speed to all of our grads!

A memorial service for Michael Warren Frame, 67, of Northfield Minnesota and Pokhara Nepal will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, May 31 at First UCC in Northfield.  Mike died May 23, 2008, after a seven year battle with Multiple Myeloma.  In Nepal there will be a Buddhist Puja all day Wednesday, May 28, and a memorial gathering on Saturday, May 31, at Mikes Breakfast in Kathmandu.  The service in Northfield will include readings from Mike’s book, Mike’s Breakfast: Cooking in Nepal and Then Some, and an opportunity for friends and families to share stories about Mike and his life.  Lunch will be served following the service.

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.

I may love my laptop, but for lots of young adults, it is all about the phone — the cell phone, that is.  Since we were honoring our high school seniors today, I decided to try to speak their language — the text message!

Baccalaureate Sunday

Psalm 131    Matthew 6:24-34 

Text Messages

Those of you who have been watching the website over the last few weeks have no doubt figured out that I have become very interested and engaged in that form of electronic communication. In fact I went to a continuing education event at the end of April that was designed to introduce pastors to the way the Internet and other electronic media are being used by young people – and how the church can use those media to be part of their world.

One of the things I learned at that seminar was that for teenagers, it is all about the phone. Among those with the financial means, the laptop or home computer is just for homework; everything else is on the phone: calls, text messages, surfing the Internet, reading e-mail – all on the phone. Presumably if I really wanted these seniors to pay attention to my sermon, I wouldn’t preach it, I would text it.

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While I was visiting Alaska earlier this month, I visited the wonderful Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward.  It was a fascinating place, and we loved watching the seals and sea lions (and learning the difference), the seabirds, and the displays about the importance of fishing in the Bering Sea.

What really caught my attention, though, was a glass bowl next to the “touch me” tank — a bowl with a small colony of barnacles.  I’ve always thought of barnacles as sharp, hard nuisances on pilings and rocks — but a moment with a magnifying glass changed all that. 

The barnacles were wildly alive — opening and closing, and sending out delicate tendrils to sieve food out of the water around them.  They were not brightly colored, but the soft colors blended subtly into one another.   Their movements were not exactly coordinated (they are individual organisms, I think), but I felt as though they had some sort of pattern to their mutual dance.

I wonder how often I have looked at something and dismissed it as hard, sharp, and dead — and missed something beautiful and wildly alive?

Many folks were moved by Damen’s sermon last Sunday, his response to UCC President John Thomas’ invitation for us to begin a Sacred Conversation about Race.

And it Lingers

Gen. 1:1-2:4a  and 2 Cor. 13:11-13

It seemed like an innocent idea. It was a Friday at the YMCA day camp in Duluth. I was working as a counselor and every Friday we did some sort of special event as a way of ending the week on a high note. This week the counselors decided to have a carnival with various stations. There was limbo, face painting, musical chairs, and pie throwing. I volunteered to let kids throw whip-cream pies at me. Only one other counselor was brave enough to volunteer for the duty. So she and I took turns letting kids throw whip-cream pies at us. We took our punishment for about and hour and a half. By the end of the time, my head, chest and arms were covered in whip-cream. The kids were amused, I was amused and I ate more whip-cream in an hour and a half than I ever thought I would.

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Summer Office Hours Begin May 19th

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

It was a bittersweet experience on Sunday as  Damen preached a great sermon, but it was also his last at First UCC, Northfield.  Damen has finished his time with us and is moving ahead on his journey to become a minister.  What an honor it has been to have him with us over these last many months.

  Damen and his fan club.  Parents David and Karen, Aunt Kathryn, Aunt Teresa and Uncle Denny Birdwell.  They traveled from various points in Iowa to be with Damen on this special day. 

One of the many social happenings at UCC is a group called 9 to Dine.  This project brings together 9 people who get together for “pot luck” meals shared at each of their homes throughout the year.  Many friendships are formed with these random groupings of people.  Some groups even have reunions even though they have moved on to new groups over the years.  This group formed in 2006 and still manage to get together once a year to catch up and socialize.  Pictured here are Ed and Doris Srsen, Julie Maxson, Elizabeth Olson, Bob Kahn, Sue Mieska, Liz Hankins, Garda Kahn and Jerry Hankins. 

Imagine a place where everybody counts. Where all kids look out for little ones, and little ones make faces at wee ones. And everybody laughs out loud.

A place where the sunrise tastes like strawberry ice cream; the sunsets glow like the face of a contented grandparent; where the breeze travels over the glistening lake….. And whispers your name.

Such a place exists and it’s named Pilgrim Point Camp. Where is it? Just far enough away…yet within reach….Alexandria, Minnesota. More than a destination, it’s a mind set; a spiritual oasis attended annually by many youth and adults. All shapes, sizes, ages and numbers are welcome.

Pilgrim Point Camp is a place where bonds are strengthened; where strangers discover their similarities; where goodness is given and where crickets and frogs sing a cappella ‘til dawn. It’s a place where campfires crackle, stories are retold and fowl language is for the birds.

It is also a state of “being.” Where now-ness replaces practicality; where a dinner bell replaces watches and clocks; where imagination is stronger than fact; and where God is as close as your breath.

This beautiful lakeside destination offers the traveler a place to cleanse their soul. An open air sanctuary invites quiet, while offering a chance to reflect, recharge, rekindle, reawaken. It’s as if the trees seem to say, “Whatever was troubling you will just have to wait.”

It’s a place where piggyback rides are the preferred mode of transportation and shooting stars and lightening bugs point to the heavens. A place that makes your heart sing and toes tingle. A place where God is found in moments of kindness and love…. And conversations can be had without speaking a word.

As you wander toward the place for which the camp is named a hand painted sign greets you, “all who enter here do so in silence for this is sacred space.” And indeed it is.

John R. Beard

Pilgrim Point Camp — Think about it for your Family this summer. Click HERE for more information.

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)

In my sermon today I talk about Strengthsfinder, a really interesting on-line inventory that — as the name suggests — helps people to identify what their strengths are.  I met Strengthsfinder through Jane Burg, a local “Strengths Coach” at a retreat with some clergy colleagues.  As you’ll see in the sermon, it got me to thinking about St. Paul’s words, “Now there are a variety of gifts …” [1 Corinthians 12:4]

Many Gifts, One Spirit

Earlier this year, I went on a retreat with my clergy colleagues with whom I do Bible study every week. We spent part of our time together working with an interesting inventory called the Strengthsfinder. We each took about a half hour to fill out the questionnaire on the Internet, and then printed out the list of the five strengths that were identified by our responses. Jane Burg, who is a local Strengths Coach, then met with us to help us make use of this information.

This exercise turned out to be valuable in all sorts of ways.

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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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In all of the media attention to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, PBS’s Bill Moyers has been a voice of reason and respect.  You may have seen his interview with Rev. Wright (aired April 25 on PBS).

In the aftermath of Rev. Wright’s words at the National Press Club and elsewhere, Moyers has written a thoughtful essay about the situation, and particularly about the role of the media. 

If you have friends who have jumped to conclusions about the UCC, pass this essay along to them, too.