The Spirit of Church
This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost. Growing up in Toronto, in a family with Austrian immigrant parents, Pentecost meant a mysterious time when people were suddenly able to speak in foreign tongues, and gorgeous fragrant peonies graced the dining room table. In the hills of Mono peonies will not be blooming by this Sunday, however, the promise of them is evident in the perfectly circular tight buds already forming on the stalks.
The team at SALT remind us that God chose the ancient Jewish pilgrim festival to send the Holy Spirit to the disciples, marking the birth of the Church. The church depicted in this week's passages is a "dynamic community of people following Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out God's mission of healing, liberation and joy for the sake of the world".
If the pandemic we are experiencing has taught us nothing else, we have learned that it is possible to continue being a church, despite the locked doors of our buildings. We can gather on line, we can bake pies and sell them to raise money for the needy, we can reach out with socially distanced visits, drop off flowers, make phone calls, and hold governments responsible for taking care of the vulnerable.
The two articles below are examples of people practicing "Church". In the first case a woman speaks up for the persecuted Uyghurs in China. The second article is reminiscent of the SALT podcast The Bible and Climate Change posted here a few weeks ago. It features a group of congregates who worked at keeping their church building alive, while focusing on environmentally responsible priorities.
The Dynamic Role of Church
The Activist
by Christopher White | May 5, 2021
The teacher Qelbinur Sidik witnessed atrocities committed against The Muslim Uyghurs as she was forced to teach Mandarin to them at a detention centre. Now that she has escaped China she is speaking out against what she has seen. A United Church minister is appealing to the church to do more to help these people.
The Custodian
by Lucy Cummings | November 17, 2020
The United Church Blog Embracing the Spirit, shares this story of a congregation who kept their church building alive with an affordable, environmental solution to their heating problem. As we explore the concept of church being a fluid space where we answer Jesus's call to love and help others, the value of our physical buildings proves vital. Our buildings are not only meat for worship, but for sharing a safe place of shelter, food, and meaningful activity with our communities.
The Adventurer
by SALT team | May 17, 2021
The notes to this week's lectionary inspire us thus, “Let’s go! The church is not a building, nor is it a particular membership or group of people. At its heart, the church is a mission, God’s mission — and the call, the challenge, the adventure continues"
Living Our Faith Day-to-Day
Taking Responsibility For Our Feelings
In this internationally acclaimed text, Marshall Rosenberg offers insightful stories, anecdotes, practical exercises, and role-plays that will dramatically change your approach to communication for the better. Discover how the language you use can strengthen your relationships, build trust, prevent conflicts, and heal your pain.
Revolutionary, yet simple, Nonviolent Communication offers you the most effective tools to reduce violence and create peace in your life—one interaction at a time.
“It is important that we take responsibility for our feelings, that we in no way imply that what others say or do can ever make us feel as we do.”