The Church Lived and Experienced

Lectionary Reading............................Daily Reading

After packing more school kits, praying the Pallet Prayer, and inventorying mailed in bed kits and various miscellaneous items, the day ended with a healthy salad dinner and much reflection on the trip. Truly, my own sense is that the Jerusalem Cross "gardening" we have done (doing acts of devotion and compassion) has resulted in the deepening of relationships - amongst Christian friends and with God - the quality of which I have not experienced in a long time. God's Spirit was felt amongst us, speaking to us through Scripture as we learned to listen through lectio divina, softening "hearts of stone" as we thought of the one child the kit we were packing would empower, and opening hearts to appreciate each others uniqueness as each of us strives toward God and fullness of living. This trip has been a blessing! My sense of church has seldom been greater and it has been a real gift to have been part of this trip.

Tomorrow I say goodbye to the Episcopal Church Center of Utah as I head to Dallas to perform a Saturday wedding. What an incredible facility (see photo of parking lot entrance). More importantly I say goodbye to some friends in Christ, whom I appreciate as never before, and who will finish out this "gardening" project that Christ has called each of us on.

I can't help but wonder what mission trip and interior journey God might call members of Community United Methodist Church on next year!

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Community United Methodist Sacred Space (prayers and journal entries can be offered here)

Learn more about the Way of Christ (methods of prayer and take a spiritual types test)

Walking the Labyrinth - A Different Form of Prayer

Lectionary Reading............................Daily Reading

There have been discoveries and rediscoveries on this mission trip to Utah. The Episcopal Church Center where we have been staying has a labyrinth (see photo) in its' grounds and for some this has been an opportunity to experience a new form of prayer, for others a time to rediscover it.

In the photo Jane Wray and Susan Wells walk the labyrinth, journeying inward into the heart of God where inspired insight often leads to change, then journeying back out into the world, there to live life as one better able to walk with God - loved, set free, called. -- by Roger

The labyrinth is a very special and individual experience, different for each of us. My experience walking the labyrinth has been rich and sacred...an invitation to be present with my Lord. It's a time to be in special dialog, a time of deep silence, and a time to listen for the whisper of God's Words and Love.The journey inward invites me to "let go" and simply "be" as the outer path offers a blessing and sense of renewal. -- by Sue Wells

Our days here have been filled, with many new shared experiences for the eight of us -- Roger and the seven of us women. As we spend our days assembling bags filled with school supplies for kids in far off places, we are truly becoming a very unique "small group," a concept Roger talks about frequently. Today, while at work stuffing bags, we decided this small group needed a special name. It was an easy call: "The Preacher and the Bag Ladies!"

Today our team of eight from CUMC, along with 15 from Memphis, Tenn., filled seven pallets with school supply kits. Each pallet holds 28 boxes, each box holds 12 kits. Combined with yesterday's effort, we have added 11 pallets of school kits to the shelves of the UMCOR West depot! These kits replace a portion of the 15,000 school kits shipped from the Depot this week to the children of Gaza. -- by Jane Wray

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Community United Methodist Sacred Space (prayers and journal entries can be offered here)

Learn more about the Way of Christ (methods of prayer and take a spiritual types test)

Burn't Offerings

Lectionary Reading............................Daily Reading

First it was pizza, a late night evening meal. Lori, cooking it in the lounge surrounded by a hungry team, almost set off the fire alarms. Only opening all the doors and windows prevented an unwanted visit by the screaming sirens of the fire engines.

Once there is always grace, twice....? It happened this morning during breakfast... Lori's encore performance. The photo says it all.

It wasn't one of the four Jerusalem Cross "gardening" acts - devotion, worship, compassion or justice - but it sure "fertilized" the trip with a healthy dose of laughter. Who says mission isn't fun?

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Community United Methodist Sacred Space (prayers and journal entries can be offered here)

Learn more about the Way of Christ (methods of prayer and take a spiritual types test)

Mission to Salt Lake City #2

Lectionary Reading........................Daily Reading

Jerusalem Cross "gardening" commenced today in earnest. We began the day with two of the Jerusalem Cross gardening acts: the practice of lectio divina (divine reading), an act of devotion, drawing nearer to God as we learned to listen rather than talk our praying, and the act of compassion, packing school kits for distribution to children of the impoverished West Bank in Palestine.
Assembly lines were formed and at the end of the day 1400 kits had been boxed and pallet-ed. Very movingly, as 28 boxes on a pallet had been saran wrapped, the helpers gathered around, laid hands on the boxes and prayed the Pallet Prayer:

Most Gracious and Loving God, we come together to do your work: One item at a time, One kit at a time, One box at a time, One pallet at a time, to serve One person at a time, who is, One from the multitude of your children in need across this world. Amen.

And together with a mission team of United Methodists from the Memphis Conference we prayed and were deeply touched at what UMCOR is doing through the generosity and time of countless volunteers.

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Community United Methodist Sacred Space (prayers and journal entries can be offered here)

Learn more about the Way of Christ (methods of prayer and take a spiritual types test)

Mission to Salt Lake City #1

Lectionary Reading..........................Daily Reading

Laity Sunday today, saw a group of eight members commissioned for our trip to the UMCOR Depot in Salt Lake City, Utah. Jerusalem Cross "gardening" was about to be put in to practice - acts of devotion (beginning each day with lectio divina, a form of listening prayer) followed by acts of compassion (assembling emergency packs for emergency relief purposes).

A two car convoy took us to Sea-Tac airport and in no time we were winging our way to Salt Lake City. A two hour flight saw us land safely and soon we were safely ensconced in the Episcopal Church Center of Utah located down town, not very far from the Mormon Temple. We had arrived, Roger sleeping in the Episcopal bishop's guest suite.

We are in the process of cooking pizza for a late night supper and blogging our first entry. Tomorrow we will breakfast at 7 a.m. and then at 7:30 a.m. begin our first session of lectio divina, or divine reading (check it out here), as we intentionally explore this approach to prayer as an act of devotion. Then it will be off to continue a week of intentionality as we serve in acts of compassion at the UMCOR Depot, seeking to live out this Methodist Rule of the Christian way.

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Community United Methodist Sacred Space (prayers and journal entries can be offered here)

Learn more about the Way of Christ (methods of prayer and take a spiritual types test)

Nothing if Not on our Hearts

Lectionary Reading...............................Daily Reading

Having the Jerusalem Cross laid out as a garden on church grounds, inlaid into the floor of our sanctuary, and on a kingdomtide banner on one side of the altar, means nothing if it is not imprinted upon our hearts. For the Jerusalem Cross is intended to remind us of our Methodist Rule of Discipleship, or Rule of Life. According to Marjorie Thompson “A rule of life is a pattern of spiritual disciplines that provides structure and direction for growth in holiness...It fosters gifts of the Spirit in personal life and human community, helping to form us into the persons God intends us to be.”

Which is why we at CUMC are trying to live by the General Rule of Discipleship, long neglected by the people called Methodist: "To witness to Jesus Christ in the world and to follow His teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit."

Living by this General Rule of Discipleship requires discipline - something that is good to do with others, a weekly commitment to being discipled by both the Word and friends in Christ, and, in turn, to helping disciple others. And small groups are where this happens. We have three Lectionary Groups meeting at the moment. But what other small groups are waiting to form? As we hire a youth director, what shape should a youth small group take?
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Community United Methodist Sacred Space (prayers and journal entries can be offered here)

Learn more about the Way of Christ (methods of prayer and take a spiritual types test)

Harvest Time in Our Valley

Weekly Readings...............................Daily Reading

As Leavenworth celebrated autumn leaves and the changing of the seasons, we Christians did that too, only so much more!

The occasion for our church celebration was the harvest. One of our members, Lori Boscow, was particularly spectacular in hers, harvesting not only vegetables and fruit and eggs, but vibrant color, daily encounters with feathered partners in food production, and, perhaps, regular moments of awe at the miracle of life unfolding at her fingertips ...behind which moves a Creator, manifest in human history as Savior, who is rooting for each one of us.

The large photo of her salad greens is amazing. She could single-handedly have fed the town, never mind every member of the church. Click on the thumbnail photos for the rest of the picture - a real celebration of the abundance of creation that can exist right in our own backyards.

As Leavenworth celebrated autumn leaves and the changing of the seasons, we Christians did that too, only so much more! At church on Sunday we gathered for the "more!" Not only did we celebrate the harvest and the good creation providing it. We sang how "all good things around us are sent from heaven above, so thank the Lord, O thank the Lord, for all is love." And somehow as we see the harvest of "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self control" emerging in peoples lives because of the joy of Christian discipline, the hymn articulates so much more than just the wonderful harvest we get from our gardens and the orchards of our valley.

The "more" of God truly is something to celebrate. And celebrate we did with a meal, jumping castle, apple pressing and plenty of thanksgiving.
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Community United Methodist Sacred Space (prayers and journal entries can be offered here)

Learn more about the Way of Christ (methods of prayer and take a spiritual types test)

Radiance of Son and Sunflower

Weekly Readings.............................................Daily Reading

Autumn Leaf Festival comes to our town (Leavenworth, WA) the weekend of September 26. Plenty of visitors will attend the annual parade on Saturday and enjoy the fall colors of our beautiful valley. A buzz of visiting bands, parade floats and animals will fill the streets of our town. It is always a joyous occasion for the town and an opportunity for the people of God to give thanks for another harvest year.

Which is what we do! We will gather on the Sunday for our annual Autumn Leaf Harvest Sunday. Thanks will be given to God the Creator for the gift of a good earth which gives us all we need to live healthy lives.

In preparation I have been on a "pilgrimage" to members' gardens this year. And I have witnessed how many green thumbs there are amongst us. Dawn Darling's garden featured some of the tallest and largest sunflowers I have ever seen. There is nothing quite so celebratory and bright as the radiance of a sunflower on a sunny day. Which reminds me of the transformation worked in us by Christ Jesus as we grow in Him, something Jerusalem Cross Gardening of soul is all about. Through a disciplined turning to grace, we can become that "light on a hill," no longer "hidden under a bushel," that points to a festival and purposeful life because it is grounded and rooted in Him who is the Light of the world.

Come join us this year at the sixth annual Autumn Leaf Harvest Sunday. Bring produce from your garden as your own thanksgiving offering to decorate the church.
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Community United Methodist Sacred Space (prayers and journal entries can be offered here)
Learn more about the Way of Christ (methods of prayer and take a spiritual types test)

Easy yet difficult

Weekly Reading.........................Daily Readings

Of Soil: Autumn Leaf Harvest Sunday is quickly approaching. And what a Sunday this promises to be - a harvest meal on the lawn with apple pressing, jumping castle and the street blocked off to help us celebrate.

But leading up to Harvest Sunday, 26 Sept, I am visiting the food gardeners of our congregation and discovering an array of interesting and productive gardens. First stop was Kristy Daley's garden. Beans, carrots, a whole bed of strawberries and quite a bit more.

As we visited, Kristy shared with me how easily a garden can get away from us with our busy schedules, so that we don't harvest what is possible. How true that is! A garden is easy to plant once the beds are in place. But it takes disciplined daily tending to lovingly help the garden reach its' potential, something we gardeners know all too well.

Of Soul: How true that is for the "gardening" of our souls too. Just like a planted garden itself, regular watering, weeding, thinning, pruning and pest control in our lives is necessary for us to harvest the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control - and experience the fullness of faithful living.

The daily readings (a link at the top of this page) have proven so helpful to me as a beginning point for cultivating the "garden" of my soul. I call up the Jerusalem Cross Garden blog on my iTouch while still in bed each morning, link to the Daily Readings, and am always inspired. Above all, this habit has become a discipline that, connecting me with God, reminds me in all things to put God first, beginning with each new day. There is a surety about such a practice that is beginning to yield its' harvest. It helps me do the daily weeding, watering, pruning, thinning and regular fertilizing required to live a loving, Christian life.

Check back here regularly for photos of other members' gardens and while visiting, do some fertilizing. "Click" in to God.
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Community United Methodist Sacred Space (prayers and journal entries can be offered here)
Learn more about the Way of Christ (methods of prayer and take a spiritual types test)

Tasting the Fruits - Creamy Cucumber Side and Gifts of Grace

Weekly Readings..........................Daily Readings

...of soil: The cucumbers lay ready in the JCGarden - green, good sized, mouth watering. Now was the time! The waiting was over. It was the moment to pick. And more important than the picking, it was time to taste! Taste that which was good, that which was so worth laboring and waiting for. With the harvest comes its' enjoyment.

Plain cucumbers are never too tasty even though they are refreshing on hot summer days. But the Whole Foods Market website carried a recipe (click to read) that promised to transform an ordinary vegetable into a culinary celebration of the fruit of Gods good earth - Greek yogurt, lemon zest, rice vinegar, Vidalia onion. Perhaps we can use this side dish as a tasty complement to the salmon caught for Salmon Sunday on our Salmon Safari's this year?

...of Soul: Harvesting the fruits of a deeper walk with God, like tending a garden, doesn't come easily. In the richness of disciplined Christian fellowship, meeting weekly as the Lectionary Groups do, we begin to harvest the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control. These qualities do not come suddenly. But over time, looking back, we see how we truly are on the path towards sanctification and holy living...Christ Jesus being our guide. And this tastes good even as we anticipate finding ways of Christian service to better be about "Growing Gods' kingdom by making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."

Truly with the harvest - whether it be cucumbers or love, joy peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control - comes its enjoyment!

Multiple Colors from Green

Weekly Readings................................Daily Readings

Still in the long green season of Kingdomtide as we cycle through the liturgical year, the green of the Jerusalem Cross Garden reflects the liturgical "go" of this time.

Called to be in the world but not of the world Christ invites us first of all to respond to Him and through His love and grace to be changed and to commit to walking daily with Him through the everyday situations of life. Then as renewed people, forgiven and set free, on the journey towards Christian perfection, we are challenged to "go." "Go make of all disciples" or "Go into all the world" and in the "going" to find the color of Christian purpose and challenge. For it is in the going that the promise of the harvest - hearts warmed, lives changed, spirits refreshed, color returned - is realized.

We see it in the green garden. Orange/red nasturtiums, blue/gray cabbage, golden wheat, yellow marigolds. Truly Kingdomtide as a season is becoming a green light into a colorful life of mission and service and renewal.

Under Our Own Fig Tree

Sunday Readings............................. Daily Readings

Slowly, methodically, the Jerusalem Cross Garden is becoming a quiet space that speaks to matters of the heart and world.

An amphora fountain (soon to be connected) speaks of that water that will cause us never to thirst again. A memorial bench invites busy and distracted lives to linger awhile and be grounded by the cross. The lush garden points to the God of creation who bends all creation towards life. Food plants - grape vines, cabbages, wheat, carrots, squash, peppers, tomatoes, onions, herbs - speak of our God who provides all we need, perhaps calling us back to the basics in a world so practiced in excess. And in the shade of the pergola over the memorial bench, perhaps we can discover our "own fig tree" under which we can regularly sit to enjoy the fullness that comes from a life grounded in the Word and committed to Christian action.

Increase with God's Power

Sunday Readings...............Daily Readings

...you who plant with the word,
water with the Spirit,
and give your increase with your power
Prayer of the 12th Century Cisterian
Guerric of Igny

"...of Soil" - Planted by loving hands in the Creator's fertile soil, watered daily by our gardeners care, the garden grows. Wheat, already ripening on the stalk; grape vines, with spreading vines and swelling fruit; corn, rising to new heights as the giants of the garden they will become; and tomatoes, squash, peppers, lettuce, onions and more. Creative forces unleashed giving increase by the Creator's power.

"...of Soul" - Planted by that "in-the-beginning"-Word that "became flesh," and watered by God's Spirit, the divine image in our youth group blossomed as, sent to serve, they encountered hope and love and transformation in the residents of Hope Place in Seattle, people given increase by divine power. And that increase and that power, given from above, touched the hearts of our youth too! Jerusalem Cross gardening of soul happened as acts of compassion were engaged.

Sunday Readings - Readings for Sunday, August 8 and some good explanations (exegesis) can be found here. The Lectionary Groups will discuss the Hebrews text.

Jesus, the True Gardener

O Lord Jesus,
true gardener,
work in us what you want of us,
for without you we can do nothing.

For you are indeed the true gardener,
at once the maker and tiller
and keeper of your garden,
you who plant with the word,
water with the Spirit,
and give your increase with your power.

Prayer of the 12th Century Cisterian
Guerric of Igny

A new method for gardening of soil

Of Soil: The Blessing of Seeds and Gardens Sunday has come and gone over the weekend of Maifest here in Leavenworth. Seeds and seedlings were blessed... and the planting begun. Lettuce, spinach and cabbage seedlings were transplanted into the first bed that has been gridded out into square feet. So a new "method," the Square Foot Gardening method, is being explored, reducing our "gardening of soil" into bite-sized units so that the whole, step by step, methodically, might be more productive.

Of Soul: It's interesting to note the very real growth occurring in those participating in one of three weekly Lectionary Groups. Not only have participants chosen to live disciplined lives by engaging regularly in one of the acts represented by one of the small crosses in the Jerusalem cross - devotion - but in feeding weekly on God's Word and in Christian conversation exploring what God might be saying through that Word for that week, slowly, methodically, step by step, souls are being fed and lives shaped.

And the church as a consequence is stronger. Leadership is being exercised. And the Aldersgate Staff is leading us this year to Hope House and the Salt Lake City UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) Depot to serve.