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Kairos Moments . . .

Reflections by Rev. Pamela Moyer 

March 5, 2024

Happy Spring! Happy Easter! I realize it’s a little early, but the church’s daffodils are blooming! THANK YOU to whoever planted the pansies in our front office entrance planter. They are lovely! Also want to say thank you to Thuy Phan, Pastor Francis’ wife, from the Vietnamese Gospel Baptist Church, who in keeping with our theme “Finding Beauty”, generously brought in silk flower arrangements for us to enjoy in the Sanctuary and around the building! She is talented.

 

Finding beauty in creation is easy: this month’s sermons studied God’s act of creating earth, sky, stars, the sun, moon, the oceans, seas, land and water creatures, and of course we humans. They all exude beauty in image, color, shape, texture, sound, in all the senses, but also in their very essence of existence. Beauty is subjective, perceived by the beholder or the maker of any creation. In later sermons, we’ll discuss the joys and challenges that come with the act of making something or creating something of beauty, so you need to be with us on Sundays! [I also post the sermons under “Services” on our website if you miss one.]

 

Visual art, sculpture, poetry, prose, or music’s beauty lies in its form, media, genre, style, meter, composition, harmony or dissonance. In “modern” art (1860’s-1970’s) and music, which I happen to love, I believe the beauty is found by deconstructing traditional elements into their most basic and simple components. Although modern art began with van Gogh, Cezanne, Gaugin, Seurat, and others, I am referring to Picasso’s Cubist paintings; he thought that all nature could be reduced to cube, sphere and cone shapes. I do not agree with that concept, but I am intrigued by what it means for the church. This space will not permit a thorough discussion, but deconstructing one’s faith and the church is popular right now.

 

During our pause without a weekly organist, our Worship Vision Team is deconstructing the bulletin (worship elements) to better evaluate and present options to introduce more people to the Jesus we know so well. Paul’s farewell to the church at Philippi is guiding our discussions.” 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, fill your minds with beauty and truth. Meditate on whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is good, whatever is virtuous and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8 The Voice).” If you have worship ideas or talents, please talk to me. And the Food Mission’s plan [see the article on page 2] came about through the beauty and power of the Holy Spirit, guiding us to examine unmet community needs and how we might find justice in the beauty of being more generous. Another praiseworthy change came from the CDC this week regarding respiratory illnesses. New guidance instructions are posted on our website home page: www.theunitedbaptchurch.org. This means finding beauty in relationships, kindness, and concern for your fellow human beings. (Masks are still optional.) For Lent, be still to listen, touch, taste, and see the daily beauty of God.

February 5, 2024

Happy Valentines Day! And Happy Leap Year! And Ash Wednesday (Lent begins), Heart Health month, National Caregivers Day (3rd Friday every year), National  Ice Cream for Breakfast day, National Chili Day (4th Thursday every year), and more than I have room to list here! February for a short month has a lot of recognition days. The one I now have on my radar is National Wear Red Day (the 1st Friday every year for Women’s Heart Health). So I wore Red this first Sunday with a heart pin my friend and NorthStar Church Network’s Associate Director, Katie Harding, gave me before my surgery. I am truly grateful to have celebrated 8 months of recovery, strength, and vitality. I am also truly grateful for the 5 years I have served this congregation as Senior Minister, and reflected upon my time at the MACBF leadership meeting and clergy retreat near Sugarloaf Mountain, MD. We participated in several group and individual Labyrinth prayer walks, both indoors and out. It was beautiful!

 

On January 28th, our church was blessed to have Jeff Snavely join us with clarinet/piano duets with his wife, Melissa, on the same day I introduced our 2024 theme of “Finding Beauty”. It was a holy coincidence to expand our thoughts from visual beauty to multi-sensory beauty. It inspires us, centers us, and connects us as human beings; beauty is restorative and has the divine power to heal. Think about it: beauty nourishes and feeds our souls. Have you ever been exhausted, burned out, or sad when you happened to see one of those spectacular sunsets, so pink, blue, orange, and purple that the sky took your breath away? Your mood immediately lifted seeing the glory of God our creator still at work in our world. Our world needs beauty now, with two wars, sickness, devastating weather events, violence, and the political climate. Beauty is a gift of love and loveliness from God; it reflects his character and is needed for human flourishing, not just survival.

 

The Biblical Greek word for beauty and beautiful is kalos (καλός), seeking the root of moral beauty. Platonic Greek philosopher Plotinus saw that beauty revealed the glory, power, and goodness of the spiritual world, not just material culture. That revelation connects and bonds us as sentient humans. Transcendent beauty like that sunset I described or standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon or at the foot of a glorious snow-capped mountain expresses and connects the world above to earth. Beauty is found in the Hebrew Scriptures creation stories and in the Greek Scriptures through Jesus’ works of healing, generosity, and love. The Apostle Paul uses “kalos” to describe “the new possibility of the Christian life” and writes our 2024 key verse, Philippians 4:8. Some of the places we’ll find beauty, or at least seek it as we study, will be in the natural, physical, and spiritual realms, and in love, justice, stillness, prayer, fellowship, serving others, suffering, the cross, Christ’s resurrection and ascension, music, the arts, sports, education, travel, faith, healing, and other areas you may imagine. Please join us at 11 am Sundays to hear more

January 3, 2024

Happy New Year! Thank you again to our Worship Team, Woodwind Quintet, and the Choral and Instrumental Ensembles with guest musicians for last Sunday’s beautiful music. If you were here, it was lovely to have you with us for Christmas Eve Day. There are more photos and one video on Facebook.

 

At our monthly UBC Friends & Family Breakfast, I asked the group, and I ask you too, to reflect on last year. What highs and lows did you experience in 2023? What goals, resolutions, or an inspiring word have you chosen for 2024? This is an introspection exercise I learned in my first church staff position, and continue to do each year. For me, the lowest point was an unexpected heart surgery; and yet the highest point was all the good that came from it—how you all supported me prayerfully and visited, and stepped up to lead the church! I marvel at God’s healing and how new fitness levels are improving my ability and vision to carry out our mission together. My 2023 word was “courageous”! Isn’t that interesting? I hadn’t looked at it since my trip to Israel, but it was surely God-inspired. What might be your word for 2024? Mine for this year is “vitality.” The Latin “vitae” means to live or living, and the noun vitality means energy and life; isn’t that a great goal also for the church as we invite families to serve intergenerationally with us in new relevant pop-ups?

 

During Advent we studied hope, peace, joy, and love, all words filled with deep spiritual meaning. Love was the connecting thread:

 

9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends,

since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:9-10 NIV). 

 

“Finding Beauty” is our theme for 2024, but loving each other in a world of conflict and violence is anything but beautiful! It is messy, and yet, that is exactly what we are called and empowered to do! To love the unlovable, to find beauty in ashes, and to recognize divine beauty in the world’s ugliness. “Finding Beauty” is a broad topic, so we start with Creation. May the vitality and strength of the triune God who sent his Son and the Holy Spirit to save, comfort, and join in service be upon this people!

December 5, 2023

Merry Christmas! November was a busy month for most pastors: UBC held an Annual Membership Meeting with a good report; over 400 attended the 200th Anniversary Celebration of the Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV) in Richmond (I went as your Messenger and Resolutions Committee member, to be chair in 2024); the Virginia Baptist Women in Ministry (VBWIM-I am on their Board) presented a successful workshop and panel for hiring female pastors and submitted an approved motion to create a Task Force to study and improve BGAV processes and systems for equality; and then, of course, there was Thanksgiving! Gratefully, “Deck the Halls” preparation for the Advent Season of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love was delayed one week due to the liturgical calendar. December promises to be a full month too, and I love every minute as I’m sure you do too!   

 

Most December events seem joyful with concerts, plays, parties, and such, yet I encourage you to read the Parish Nurse Health article about the Holiday Blues. It is a real thing. Debbie herself experienced unexpected loss, when her husband of 48 years passed in November. We celebrated his life (standing room only) on December 1st with people of all ages, diversity, and from all walks of life there: young, mature, rich, poor, Freemasons, the Military, counselors, clients, family, church, and many Group friends. Jack Caffrey lived out his agape love, meeting the needs of anyone who needed God’s divine power and faith. He helped people imagine a promising and healthier way to live--a reason to become and stay clean and sober, reassurance that someone cared about them, and his calls and Zoom meetings were motivation for some to get out of bed each day (as per many stories!). That LOVE is a relevant Advent interpretation for our world in need today.    

 

A bad news/good news note: UBC Personnel Committee was informed that Charles Potter will retire on December 31, 2023. Charles stepped into this role when Betty Hicks could no longer play. We are very fortunate, and say “job, well done!” After much research and discussion, we will take a 6-month PAUSE (except for Easter). That will allow us to contact peers, to experiment with worship, and build “on-ramps” for families to expand music offerings and the church. We ask you to be in prayer and to consider serving on a temporary Worship Vision Team. See me. I will report to Council each month, reassessing as we go.

 

It is clear to me, our leadership, and to several Mission Center leaders that there is a new vitality emerging here. It may have taken a pandemic to open up to the Holy Spirit’s power, but it seems as if God is “on the move! New connections are made daily and people are engaging with and beyond church in new ways to serve others. This is what we were dreaming and listening for, what we’ve been praying for since I began in 2019, and it’s why we’ve been experimenting in 2023. This is exciting news to proclaim! Look up Ephesians 3:20-21 (I ran out of room!) Blessings!

Blog postings:

Kairos (καιρός) is Greek for “opportune time,” where God may break in to our circumstances, and we then can reflect on the purpose of His in-breaking. I think of it as the Holy Spirit nudging me toward an “AHA!” moment. “Kairos Moments” will be the title of this regular article, so that observations, reflections, questions and theology can be examined for action.

 

These articles will be displayed for 4 months. If you are interested in previous articles, please contact our office. The first 3 pages of the newsletter are on our home page. The members' prayer list is not included due to confidentiality. Call the office if you have an update or a concern. 

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