By PAT JAMES Delivered during the Offering on Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021 at Haydenville Congregational Church. We are facing another transition as we plan our farewell to Pastor Don, and I suspect there were at least as many responses to the news as there are members. My responses included dismay, fear, sadness, grief. I worried that our shrinking participation might take us…

By Annie Turner    There have been many articles about what folks learned during the pandemic, but I want to add my small perspective, in hopes that it may resonate with you. Because it is not quite over. We still have some time to go before we re-enter our lives. And I am hoping we never go back to what some call…

I recently saw a post including the wonderful blessing by the poet, artist,  and Methodist minister, Jan Richardson called, “Beloved Is Where We Begin.,” from her beautiful and inspiring book, Circle of Grace. I shall post it further in this blog piece. But it got me thinking about how often we think we are not the beloved, not loved by God, mostly tolerated as long…

We have just celebrated the birth of Jesus, but it is important to remember who the baby would grow up to be, and the radical nature of his inclusiveness and embrace of all people. It was inclusiveness that shocked some of his early followers, but his message is as relevant today as it was then. Here is a link to an essay…