NEWS & MORE

Dear Friends, It occurred to me that a stewardship campaign based on sharing the joy of hope might feel a bit incongruous when it coincides with election day, which can feel like a fractured time of heightened negativity. It’s hard to feel joyous and hopeful, isn’t it? And now we’re being asked to share it? You betcha! I invite us to the incongruity of our counter-cultural faith in God and God’s people. Now is the time we need to shake off the hopelessness the world’s et

October 25, 2026, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, Year A Texts: Joel 2:23-27, Acts 2:17-21 Sermon: Catch the Vision, Dream the Dream! Hymns: #301 Let Us Build a House #686 God of Our Life #305 Come Sing, O Church in Joy! Watch the full service here.

October 18, 2026, 21st Sunday after Pentecost, Year A Texts: Isaiah 40:28-31; Romans 15:4-13 Sermon: Share the Joy of Hope Hymns: #816 If Thou but Trust in God to Guide Thee #43 On Eagle’s Wings #765 May the God of Hope Go with Us Watch the full service here.

October 11, 2026, 20th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A Texts: Exodus 32:1-14, Matthew 22:1-14 Sermon: Dress for Success Hymns: #320 The Church of Christ in Every Age, vss. 1-3 #169 Dear Lord, and Father of Mankind #353 My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less Watch the full service here.

October 4, 2026, 19th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A World Communion Sunday Texts: Luke 4:16-21, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Sermon: Pamela Zimba, Executive Director of Lilac House, will deliver the message. Hymns: #749 Come! Live in the Light! #769 For Everyone Born vss. 1,2,4,5 #772 Live into Hope Watch the full service here.

Dear Friends, "The Spirit of God is upon us, for we have been anointed to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of God’s favor." (Luke 4:18, quoting Isaiah) This Sunday, October 4, is World Communion Sunday—a celebration that reminds us that, all across the planet, people of faith who may look, think, worship, or live differently from us will share the bread of Ch

September 27, 2026, 18th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A Texts: Exodus 17:1-7, Matthew 21:23-32 Sermon: Running in Circles Hymns: #15 All Creatures of Our God and King, vss. 1-4 #741 Guide My Feet #542 God Be with You Till We Meet Again Watch the full service here.

September 20, 2026, 17th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A Texts: Exodus 16:2-15, Matthew 20:1-16 Sermon: Job Openings Hymns: #395 Blessed Jesus, at Your Word #719 Come, Labor On #717 For the Life That You Have Given Watch the full service here.

September 13, 2026, Homecoming Sunday; 16th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A Children’s Message: Martin Texts: Romans 14:1-12, Matthew 18:21-35 Sermon: Stop Torturing Yourself Hymns: #396 Brethren, We Have Met to Worship, vss. 1,2,4 #445 God, How Can We Forgive #435 There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy Watch the full service here.

September 6, 2026, 15th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A – Holy Communion Texts: Ezekiel 33:10-11, Romans 13:8-14 Sermon: Comes the Dawn Hymns: #665 As Morning Dawns #497 Bread of Life from Heaven vss. 1,2,5 #669 Let’s Sing unto the Lord Watch the full service here.

Dear Friends, Thomas Wolfe was a great novelist whose novel You Can’t Go Home Again still resonates, because the passage of time and life’s inevitable changes does make it impossible to capture the idyllic memories we have of our past. A different perspective comes from Robert Frost’s poem, “The Death of the Hired Man,” which coined the phrase, “‘Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in… Something you somehow haven’t to deserve.” Rather l

August 30, 2026, 14th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A Texts: Exodus 3:1-15, Matthew 16:21-28 Sermon: Burning but Not Burned Up Hymns: #405 Praise God for this Holy Ground #100 My Soul Cries Out with a Joyful Shout #539 We Will Go Out with Joy Watch the full service here.

August 23, 2026, 13th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A Texts: Romans 12:9-21, Matthew 16:13-20 Sermon: Naming God Hymns: #5 God the Sculptor of the Mountains #303 God the Spirit, Guide and Guardian #9 The Play of the Godhead Watch the full service here.

August 16, 2026, 12th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A Texts: Isaiah 56:1-8, Matthew 15:21-28 Sermon: Going to the Dogs Hymns: #317 In Christ There Is No East or West #343 Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life vss. 1,2,3 #754 Help Us Accept Each Other vss. 1,2,4 Watch the full service here.

August 9, 2026, 11th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A Texts: Psalms 107:23-31, Matthew 14:22-33 Sermon: Getting the Power Back Hymns: #159 O Sing a Song of Bethlehem vss. 1,2,3 #184 Calm to the Waves #8 Eternal Father, Strong to Save vss. 2,3,4 Watch the full service here.

Texts: Isaiah 64:1-8, Matthew 14:13-21 Sermon: You Do It Hymns: #722 Lord, Speak to Me That I May Speak #498 Loaves Were Broken, Words Were Spoken #296 Go in Grace and Make Disciples Watch the full service here.

Dear Friends, I hope you’re enjoying the summer heat as much as I am. Right now I’m typing away next to the soft breeze of a fan, smelling the wet foliage out my windows after a summer rain and listening to the quiet heart-beat of Katonah. I hope wherever you are, whether it’s ringing your heart out in Scotland, playing with children in Cape Cod, or planning a nap on your own living room couch, that you’re finding some respite from the not-so-nice heat of life’s daily chall

July 26, 2026, 9th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A Texts: 1 Kings 3:3-14, Matthew 13:31-35 Sermon: A Little Mustard on That? Hymns: #666 O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright #716 God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending #450 Be Thou My Vision Watch the full service here.

July 19, 2026, 8th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A Texts: Genesis 28:10-22, John 1:43-51 Sermon: Hold the Ladder Steady! Hymns: #664 Morning Has Broken (Insert) We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder #839 Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine! Watch the full service here.