Kent

We arrived in Jordan last night and today went with the Orthodox Initiative, a ministry of the Middle East Council of Churches, to a refugee camp of about 300 persons, just a kilometer or two from the Syrian border. Supported by One Great Hour of Sharing giving, the OI is trying to help people here… Read more.

Who’s on first? Who is the fastest? Who does dad like best? All of the energy and worry we place into getting noticed and gaining prestige is called into question by the gospel passage from Luke read during Sunday’s worship service. In Luke 14, Jesus says to those gathered to stop trying to sit at… Read more.

When asked to decide an inheritance case in the Luke reading this week, Jesus refuses with the admonition to “be on guard against all kinds of greed.” Rev. Kent reminded us that greed for money was only one of the divisive forces. Greed for control and power that drives patriarchy and racial privilege is another…. Read more.

At Sunday Worship, Rev. Kent read an open letter he wrote to Chief Gregory of the Berea Police. He invited all who wished to join him in thanks for the ways our police force has led the state to reduce the chance that any one here would suffer harm in their dealings with the department…. Read more.

The parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke is a reminder that Jesus was all about overturning a world of division. The news this week has been fraught with unjustified killings: two more black men at the hands of police officers, and 5 police officers at the hands of a man driven mad by his… Read more.

In this week’s gospel reading from Luke 9:51-62, Jesus “sets his face to Jerusalem,” and takes his followers there from the north on route through hostile Samaria. Along the way, some try to join him and are dissuaded, others offer to come but have other obligations first. Jesus wastes no words telling them which things… Read more.

This week we celebrated the declaration of our countries independence from Great Britain 240 years ago. In worship we shared this prayer, adapted very slightly from one by Nathan Attwood, pastor of Millbrook First United Methodist Church, Millbrook, AL, and offered by worship leader, Carla Gilbert. Holy God: in this week in which we celebrate… Read more.

War is a terrible human failing: it represents the absence of better minds, better hearts at the highest levels wreaking death on the defenseless and poorest people on all sides. The desire to serve and protect life, liberty and happiness for all, however, is a noble one. When conflict is thrust upon us, or chosen… Read more.