Dear Plymouth,

We are heartbroken. Not because the election turned out a certain way – democracy is democracy. We are heartbroken because we fear what may come.

This past Sunday, we asked the following question: What would make today good? Amid the grief and anxiety, we still ask, what would make today good? 

We know that some will be in despair, some will wear their fighting gloves, while others will avoid and hide, and some will find themselves stunned and in shock. At Plymouth, we have room for all of these responses. We will hold space for all these responses and allow the wells of grief to simply be. 

Our vision for the community is one where all might flourish and be safe. The threat of mass deportations, the threat against women’s reproductive rights, and the threat against LGBTQ+ siblings make a whole part of our community vulnerable. People on the margins fear for their well-being and safety in new and intensified ways.  

A good day looks like steering clear of the news and social media. We invite you to be present with each other. Have good, long conversations with your Plymouth people. Attend to your hearts and souls. Let today be a day of caring for yourself and your neighbor, friend, and colleague. We are not alone, Plymouth: God’s love is with us, God’s presence is real, God’s work is strategic. 

In 1957, the United Church of Christ was created in the merger of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, the General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches, and the Afro-Christian Convention. The UCC has been among the “first” on many justice issues [see here]. We will open our doors. We will extend radical hospitality and lean into a mission of mutual aid and care for all. We will center relationships with all of our siblings across barriers and bridges. At every decision, we will ask, “How does this meet our mission and vision as a progressive Christian community in Fort Collins?”

God is with us in the midst of all of this. Our call is to love — to love our neighbors and pray for those who persecute us. We will model this Love for the whole world. We will rise.

In Peace and Grace, 
Marta [she/her, x113] ,
Brooklyn [she/her, x118], and
Delaney [they/them, x119] *

*For post-election (or other) pastoral care, contact one of us by calling the church at (970) 482-9212 and entering the extension of the person you want to reach, which will forward to our cell numbers. You do not need to listen to the outgoing message first.

Instructions on Living in a Broken World

lean into community
seek out love
applaud the good you see
keep paying attention
talk to your neighbors
dance to the music and embrace art
look for love and small joys
take breaks and relish in nourishing your body
donate what you can
linger at the dinner table with friends
check in with your people
let yourself grieve
love one another as deeply as you can
the storm is upon us and we must hold on
don’t give up, we’re here together.

- still we rise

In 2020, Indian novelist Arundhati Roy penned her viral essay “The Pandemic is a Portal.” Describing the dual threats of COVID-19 and religious and caste-based prejudices to her home country, Roy urges:

“Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred… Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.”

This election season, I have often thought of Roy’s “portal” metaphor. Every presidential election is consequential, but it feels that we have reached an especially dangerous precipice. We have reached a gateway. A doorway we must go through. A portal in which the destination remains unknown. Today we anxiously await the results of this election, many of us fearful of the possibility of increased political violence.

In moments as unsettling as this, many of us yearn for a return to “normalcy.” We seek a sense of stability, civility, and sanity. We want to know that the ground beneath our feet is solid. Many of us feel that if we can vanquish the worst political actors, we will have been successful and we can all move forward.

And many of us also recognize that a return to normalcy is not only out of our reach, but that this strategy would fail to respond to the underlying problems we face–the interlocking crises of poverty, racism, war, and extractive capitalism. Regardless of this election’s outcome, transgender people are still under attack (though one side is significantly better than the other), racism is still killing Black and Indigenous people, and people of color, and the decades-long struggle for Palestinian liberation is still ongoing.

So what are we to do as people of faith in a moment such as this?

We must seek justice and embody peace. No matter the results, as people of faith we must commit ourselves to the ongoing work of achieving peace through justice.

We must pray. Many of you have “prayed with your feet” these past weeks, hitting the pavement to doorknock or making calls to voters. Spoken words of prayer are not enough, especially when political solutions exist, but our raw and honest prayers remain critically important in a moment such as this.

We must walk through this portal together. After you cast your ballot, you are invited to join us for our Election Vigil, 4:00-6:00 p.m. here at Plymouth. There will be prayer, singing, and youth activities. Please help us make this space one of comfort and care by bringing a baked good, a prayer, or a poem to share. Part of the evening will be livestreamed, from 4:15 to 5 p.m. here.

If you can’t join us tonight, make a plan to check in with a friend or family member tonight. A phone call or a loving text can go a long way.

This election is a portal–and regardless of the outcome, we must choose to walk through it. Breaking with the past to imagine the world anew. This will require great courage, tremendous faith, and an unshakable commitment to living in solidarity with those society considers the “least of these.”

I’ll end with these words of prayer from Sunday’s service.

Gracious God, today, we pray for the future of our country. We pray that decency, integrity, and truth prevail. Ease our anxious thoughts. Protect our election officials and poll workers. Strengthen us so that we may lean into Hope, pursue Justice, and embody Peace, no matter the outcome.

And all God’s people said, AMEN!

Delaney Piper
Ministry Coordinator (Designated Term)

Dear Plymouth,

We have a lot of exciting things happening and essential updates. We pray you stay safe and cool as we battle the heat and wildfires. 

Raise the Roof Campaign for Our Home and Theirs!

This past Sunday at worship, we showed a video highlighting our exciting capital fundraising event, Raise the Roof. (Click this link if you have not seen the mini video!)

Our fantastic new roof was paid for using our capital reserves. We are grateful that this fund could cover the cost when needed, but we would be remiss if we did not do the fundraising necessary to reimburse that fund for future emergencies. Furthermore, recognizing that everything we are is a gift from God – and being grateful and generous with those gifts – as we pay for our roof, we will also raise funds to provide a roof for our neighbors in need. 

Plymouth lay leadership, with staff input, identified Rainbow Villages (a project of Foothills Unitarian Church) as the beneficiary of our fundraising tithe. Our youth group connected with Rainbow Villages earlier this year, through the Youth For Change event. In the wake of the tsunami of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and hate sweeping our nation, we want to join Foothills and our broader community in creating sanctuary and support for transgender and nonbinary people and their families seeking a haven away from states with anti-trans laws. 

We are excited to Raise the Roof for Plymouth and Rainbow Villages! Please contribute to this one-time event from August 19 to 23. To learn more or get a head start, visit the Raise the Roof page. 

Fitness Review Update
Leadership Council is still awaiting the outcome of the fitness review involving our senior minister, Rev. Hal Chorpenning. This review is being conducted by the Committee on Ministry from the Central Pacific Conference of the UCC. The committee is comprised of UCC ministers who have experience and have also undergone specific training. These ministers are committed to ethics and justice while being purposeful and strategic. The well-being of the local church is their priority. They have conducted interviews with various people since mid-May and continued through June and July. We know this is a complicated and multilayered situation, and we also understand that the committee is exploring circumstances that go back for years. Some may not see why we are in this situation, and others may feel wronged. Both of these experiences can be true. For general questions about the Fitness Review process, check out this article from the Rocky Mountain Conference.  

While we have yet to determine when the process will be complete, we understand it may be at the end of the summer. At the same time, we have been in regular contact with our Transitional Conference Minister, Rev. Erin Gilmore. We will promptly communicate the outcome of the fitness review when we learn it. We ask for your continued prayers, especially for Hal and for those who raised the concerns that initiated this process. Meanwhile, Plymouth's staff and volunteer leadership are and will continue to sustain our vibrant ministries.

Interim Ministry Transition Team
In the early spring, the Leadership Council established a subcommittee to plan for the next steps in the life of our congregation following Hal’s retirement. George Theodore, Sara Myers, Terri Schulz, and Lynne Soraci are examining the recommended models for an interim period. This team feels it would be best not to move quickly but to spend significant time envisioning the church we want to become. The team has been tasked with identifying an interim model that will best fit Plymouth’s situation, and they will send their recommendation to the entire Leadership Council for discussion and approval. One theme that has emerged from their discussion is the importance of a spirit of collaboration. We are excited to see how this theme threads throughout the lay leadership, our staff team, and the congregation as we discover together the next season of Plymouth. 

Gratitude and Good Wishes to Phil
Finally, Plymouth’s church administrator, Phil Braudaway-Bauman, informed the Leadership Council that he will leave at the end of August. Phil expressed that he will be moving on, as "the church has entered a new season" and he wishes Plymouth well. Leadership Council members and staff are identifying options to ensure a smooth transition of his financial and administrative duties. We’re grateful to Phil for his years of dedication to Plymouth; his expertise and attention to detail have been great assets to our congregation.

Again, Plymouth is well-equipped with staff and dedicated lay leadership. Please reach out if you have any questions or comments. 

Peace,
The Moderators, Adam, Terri, and Heather

Plymouth’s Leadership Council:
Adam Redavid, Moderator * Terri Schulz, Vice Moderator * Heather Siegel, Past Moderator * Megan Campain, Clerk * George Theodore, Treasurer * Assistant Treasurer, Elaine Kim * Mackenzie Wiggs-Campos, At Large * Sara Myers, At Large * Don Bundy, At Large * Lynne Soraci, At Large

I believe many of you will have by now experienced the beautiful Casa Del Sol prayer of Jesus in our services. It is a sung paraphrase of The Lord's Prayer written by John Philip Newell. An ordained minister of the Church of Scotland, former Warden of Iona Abbey, Companion Theologian at the American Spirituality Center of Casa Del Sol at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico, and noted scholar of Celtic spirituality, his works and wisdom have become infused into Plymouth's worship life. 

It was a pleasure to lead his "Prayer of Jesus" (as we have come to call it) in Mr. Newell's presence upon his visit to Plymouth several years ago. I have gladly shared this prayer and musical setting with several colleagues and people throughout the world. It is good to know others can experience this meaningful paraphrase of perhaps the most ecumenical of all prayers in Matthew 6.9-13. And many more can experience the poetic text in Mr. Newell's publication The Ground of All Being: The Prayer of Jesus in Color, a small tome presenting each line of the nature-oriented prayer with a scene from the deserts of New Mexico.

This contemporary paraphrase of Jesus' ancient words is quite special to me. It speaks to universal truths that one can relate to regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof. Inclusive to the core – as Love is.

Below you will find the original version as conceived by Mr. Newell (a few slight changes were made in our sung version to more elegantly accommodate the melody). I find these words to be especially poignant today as we wade through strange landscapes as a people far and wide  — and close to home.  

Mark

Ground of all being,
Mother of life, Father of the universe,
Your name is sacred, beyond speaking.

May we know your presence,
may your longings be our longings in heart and in action.
May there be food for the human family today
and for the whole earth community.

Forgive us the falseness of what we have done
as we forgive those who are untrue to us.

Do not forsake us in our time of conflict
but lead us into new beginnings.

For the light of life, the vitality of life,
and the glory of life are yours now and forever.

Amen.

If you missed worship this past Sunday and need a little something to move your heart and soul this week, check out the psalms that our church members wrote: Elaine Kim, Megan Campain, Bob Jeffrey, Carlos Sosa, and Rev. Marta. View here.

Check out our guest preachers/wisdom sharers for this June. We are all about celebrating and beloved community.

• This Sunday, June 9, church member Bill Thompson will preach, joined by worship leaders Rev. Marta, Brooklyn McBride, and church member Rev. Laura Nelson.
• Sunday, June 16, Queen (of New Eyes Village) will be joined by worship leaders Rev. Roger Butts and Brooklyn McBride as we celebrate Juneteenth. [Rev. Marta is out of town]
• Sunday, June 23, Rev. Nicole Garcia will be joined by worship leaders Rev. Marta and Brooklyn McBride as we celebrate Pride!
• Sunday, June 30, Rev. Dr. David Petersen will be joined by worship leaders Rev. Marta and Brooklyn McBride.

Marta

Last Sunday
It may have been a three-day weekend, but Plymouth showed up to worship together on May 26th.

Pentecost Sunday
On May 19th, the children's chorus "Kids Will Sing!" was part of our Pentecost service and at Fellowship Hour we had our first "Fellowship That Transforms" gathering. (More will follow at intervals over the summer.) A pray ground at the front of the sanctuary provided space for kids to worship in their own way.

Sunday Celebrations
In May there were two special coffee hour celebrations: on May 12th we celebrated Joyce Sjogren's 98th birthday and on May 26th, Tricia and Jim Medlock's 50th wedding anniversary.

Confirmation
On April 28, six youth were confirmed. The Kids Will Sing! group participated in the service.

It’s been almost a month now since Leadership Council made the difficult decision to place our senior minister, Hal Chorpenning, on paid administrative leave pending the result of a fitness review initiated by the Rocky Mountain Conference’s Committee on Ministry. In that time, our staff has stepped up to a challenging situation with grace and diligence. Mark continues to be our point person for music; Phil is overseeing administrative and financial needs; and Marta is taking the lead on worship and pastoral care. I’m grateful to our entire staff, and to the many Plymouth members who have stepped up, or who will step up in the coming weeks. The love we have for our congregation and each other has been apparent every day. 
 
Rev. Erin Gilmore with the Rocky Mountain Conference has informed us that the fitness review is underway, and that interviews have begun. At this point we still do not know how long the fitness review will take, or how many interviews the committee is likely to conduct. This period of waiting is difficult and potentially frustrating. I will continue to share any updates we receive with the congregation. As always, please feel free to reach out to members of Leadership Council with any questions or concerns. 
 
In this season of waiting, there are also lots of exciting things going on! As in previous years, summer worship (with one service at 10:00 a.m.) is underway, and Marta, Mark, and Brooklyn are hard at work on a wonderful range of services. Fellowship groups are meeting, including Fellowship of the Grape on 5/24 and Plymouth Social Club on 5/25. And the long-awaited roof repairs are complete! We continue to be a vibrant community filled with people doing good work together. However you contribute to the life of our congregation, thank you for continuing to be Plymouth during this season!

Adam Redavid,
Plymouth Moderator

P.S. There are a few questions that have come up often:

Why is this review occurring right as Hal was about to retire anyway? 
The Conference received the complaints before Hal announced his retirement. It is important to note that pastors don’t retire from the United Church of Christ; they always have to retain their standing. This process would be happening regardless if he was at Plymouth. 

Why didn’t these members of the congregation try to handle this internally? 
The Conference works to ensure that all internal efforts have been exhausted before moving forward. 

How can we support the staff?
Know that the changes we are making to be more efficient are very helpful and things are running smoothly. Oh, and chocolate is always welcome. :)

I’m confused, what is happening?
You may not have received our first letter on April 24th; that letter went out to covenanted members of Plymouth only. The short answer is that Rev. Hal Chorpenning is on administrative leave for a fitness review with the Rocky Mountain Conference, United Church of Christ. 

Last week, I wrote this reflection as part of a visionary care assignment for my Justice & Spiritual Care course at Iliff. The prompt was to imagine my commitments and how to bring them into alignment within my care context. I wanted to share these reflections with you, and I invite you to share your own commitments with me. Much love. - Brooklyn

I am a commitment to wholeness and integrity. I am a commitment to radical, courageous, unconditional love for all people. I am a commitment to truth-telling, liberation, and flourishing. I am loved apart from my importance. I am important because I am loved. I am exactly where God wants me. I will be fully present here until God moves me. To be a peacemaker, I will show up as an empowering cheerleader and empathetic advocate.

Small is all – how we are at the small scale is how we are at the large scale. If we want the turmoil in the world to stop, we need to address the turmoil in our small circles. Our church is one of the greatest and most important spaces where we can practice the world as it should be. If we allow dysfunction and other destructive practices in our church, then we cannot expect those problems to change at the large scale. Instead, when we see people speak truth to power, we should respond with empathy and love. That same empathy and love should be extended to all people in pain, and I know there are people in pain across the whole spectrum of the issue we are entrenched in right now.

To care for our community, I will lean into mutual aid, where we “work to build a new world, where people create safety through community building and support each other to stop harmful behavior through connection rather than through caging.” Instead of “caging” ourselves and each other, we need to be connecting with each other. We need to be having these complex conversations in the context of our relationships rather than putting our ideas of people into different boxes of right and wrong.

Recently, a ministry coach and dear friend of mine taught me about the idea of backpacks and baskets. Her eight-year-old daughter says that God wants us to store in our backpacks things that we always need. Her friends tell her stories that they want her to put in her backpack, but her backpack cannot get too heavy. So at the end of the day, she puts it in a basket. She can carry the basket when she needs to, and she is still holding their story, but she is not carrying it in her backpack. Maybe some of the pain of our congregation needs to go in baskets, not in our backpacks.

Now is the time to get abundantly clear about our values and our hopes, as this time requires “the combination of adaptation with intention, wherein the orientation and movement towards life, towards longing, is made graceful in the act of adaptation. This is the process of changing while staying in touch with our deeper purpose and longing.” I wonder what it would look like to ask our congregation: what are we committed to? I wonder if we would find ourselves in alignment.

"May our wonder outmatch our wounds," prays Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Black Feminist love evangelist. I want to lead from my wonder, not my wounds. May our wonder outmatch our wounds, and may we recognize that there are deep wounds that need to be healed.

- Brooklyn

Works Cited

• How To Survive the End of the World podcast, December 11, 2023. (1:26:09). The language of “I am a commitment to” is inspired by Adaku Utah from minute 28 on. Andrea J. Ritchie. Practicing New Worlds: Abolition & Emergent Strategies. AK Press, 2023, p. 76.
• Dean Spade. Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next). Verso: 2020, p. 46.
• Mariame Kaba, “So You’re Thinking About Becoming an Abolitionist?” in We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transformative Justice (Haymarket Books, 2021): p. 5
• “Foreword” by Alexis Pauline Gumbs in Practicing New Worlds: Abolition & Emergent Strategies. AK Press, 2023, p. 7

Remember the Sabbath day and treat it as holy. - Exodus 20:8

A troop of monkeys gathered in the trees above our heads as we wandered the jungle sidewalks this morning. We were looking for a yoga studio where we could practice at 11 a.m. 

I said, “Hello, friends!” [to the monkeys] and thanked them for joining the community of saints this morning—all the critters that live among the varieties of palm trees, sweet-smelling flowers, and veiled in a heavy dew. I was so delighted to see these monkeys. They made the ride from Liberia, Costa Rica, to Nosara in a fifteen-passenger van on “developing” roads, worth every nauseous moment the day before. 

Last fall, I began planning this continuing education week a few months after I finished an academic program at Ilff. My postgraduate work spanned from 2010 to 2023, give or take a few years of break. I wanted a different type of education. 

I signed up for a yoga and meditation retreat in Costa Rica, not knowing anyone but knowing that my sacred body and mind needed this work to ground my ministry with the sacred bodies and souls of all of you. 

In the Fall of 2023, I learned that Plymouth’s personnel committee reviews a continuing education proposal from pastors before approving the time away. This is a great way to ensure accountability and a connection to the work. 

I decided to call the proposal Rest is Resistance. 

Soon after I decided on this excursion, Rev. Thandiwe Dale-Ferguson, the pastor of First Congregational in Loveland, said she would like to join me.  A few days later, her long-time friend Nikki [whom I met during that time period] also wanted to join us! A few months later, I met Allison at the yoga studio in Fort Collins, where she became my traveling companion. Her friend Meg joined us from Delaware. I practiced yoga at Yoga Pod in Fort Collins approximately four times a week and got to know the beautiful instructor, Joy, who is facilitating this retreat in Costa Rica. 

All of a sudden, it’s monkey business! And I feel like I am hanging in a monkey tree with a barrel of monkeys in the middle of a Costa Rica jungle. Perhaps this is a tiny miracle if you believe in those. I thought I was going alone, but I now have new friends. I knew what my body needed, I knew what my soul needed, and God knew what I needed.  

Here is what Thandiwe and I worked on together as our continuing education proposal: 

Rest and sabbath are foundational concepts in scripture. Our creation story includes a full day of rest -- and it’s God resting. If God needs rest, so do we! Jesus regularly retreats and rests. Gospel stories tell us of wilderness and mountain excursions; water turned into wine, and naps in boats. If I have learned nothing this past year, it is that rest and sabbath are necessary and life-sustaining spiritual practices. The practices of rest and sabbath stand in sharp contrast to our culture’s focus on productivity and doing, doing, doing.

Occasionally, our “self-care” practices are escapes rather than rest -- watching television, scrolling through our social media feeds, or going on a shopping spree (just to name a few that I enjoy). Do these activities really rest our bodies, minds, and souls? I can’t speak for you, but for me, they don’t.

If we are to take scripture seriously, rest is most often characterized by activities that engage our body, mind, and spirit:

• Sleeping;
• Time in the wilderness;
• Sharing food with friends and strangers;
• Walking, eating, sitting together;
• Conversation.

More than just a beautiful place to escape, this is an opportunity to rediscover and renew my energy: mind, body, and spirit. It is an opportunity to explore the idea of rest as resistance -- not just as theory but as embodied practice. It is also an opportunity for me to invite our congregation to this mindset. Given my first year at Plymouth and what we know about ministry, this will be an opportunity that I can take to stave off burnout and ensure I am spiritually well as we continue our shared ministry.

And, of course, this kind of “rest as resistance” learning must involve more than just a yoga retreat. I listed some books in the original proposal. But I was recently given some new books that feel more relevant to the church and me. My retreat reading will include:

• Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey 
• As Long As You Need: Permission to Grieve by J.S. Park 
• Wholeness After Betrayal, by Robin Hanneal-Urban 

In my original proposal, I suggested regularly journaling. Instead, I plan to write several blog posts about this time to share with all of you this week. Your connection to me and this work is important. 

Tricia Hersey writes about rest as a form of protest against production. She writes about her lived experience as a melanated person. She says, “Rest supports our grieving by allowing space, and with space, we can begin healing from the trauma of grind culture [or healing from the trauma of anything]. Grieving is a sacred act and one of the ways we can begin to reconnect with our bodies as we craft a rest practice.”

What is your “rest practice” going to be this week? How do we transform grief into power? 

​Lay and rest in these questions. 
~ Marta

It feels like it’s been more than just five days since Leadership Council announced the difficult decision recommended by the Rocky Mountain Conference of the UCC to place our senior minister, Hal Chorpenning, on paid administrative leave. In that time we’ve had the first of what will be many challenging but necessary discussions together. Thank you to those who attended one of the two congregational conversations, and to those who reached out in person or via email to share your perspectives, ask questions, or just offer support.

Amidst these important conversations, I also want to highlight that our work of mission and ministry continues! Plymouth’s staff is hard at work, and volunteers are organizing exciting programs every day. There are too many wonderful projects happening to name them all, so here are a few from this week: We had a beautiful and moving Confirmation Sunday service. The climate action ministry team is continuing their spring series “Resurrection in a Time of Climate Change.” And, perhaps most visibly, roof repairs are ongoing and should be wrapping up later this week (weather permitting).

The roof repairs feel like an apt metaphor for where we are in this moment as a congregation. Fixing a leaky roof isn’t glamorous. It isn’t the reason anyone chooses to be involved in a church. In fact, it’s disruptive and uncomfortable. But it’s necessary work that makes worship, mission, fellowship, and Christian formation possible in this space. As a congregation we are moving through a difficult period, one that is disruptive and uncomfortable. Nonetheless, a theme that has come up again and again over the past week is how much people love Plymouth. My hope for our congregation is that we can come together, approaching differences of opinion with empathy and curiosity, united by the love we all have for our church. That way this difficult period can set the stage for vital ministry and community in the years to come.

Adam

Adam Redavid, Moderator

"Resurrection in a Time of Climate Change"
The Climate Action Team spring series is in progress! Here are some images from events that have already taken place. There's still more to come, through 5/12. Visit plymouthucc.org/climate to learn more and register for the film on 5/4. First photo is Doug Fox at the Forum on 4/14. The collage on the right comes from our Plymouth Online Connection Facebook group, where you don't have to wait until the end of the month to see great photos and videos of what is going on at church!

Roof Repair
Scheduled to finish at the end of this week. The first photo is day one. The second photo is from yesterday (4/22): They’re tearing off the existing roofing system layers of the north half of the roof over the Fellowship Hall.

Memorial Services
Plymouth has had several memorial services already and another (Joyce DeVaney) happening this week. Remember, you can attend online (also later via recording) on our Memorial Service web page.

A guiding mantra in programming music for Easter Sunday this year was "expressions of Easter joy." As a worship planner, having a thematic approach to each service is nothing unusual. It's in fact the default method for creating the tapestry of words, music, and liturgical action required for a cohesive hour of community worship. But on such a prominent day of the church year as Easter Sunday where the natural expectation would be "shades of forte" throughout the morning, I found it enlightening to ponder the question, "What is Easter joy?" What is it that we are celebrating and how can that be viscerally expressed through music and worship? The Three Joys quickly came to mind.

Joy. The baseline variety. An appreciation that all is well and feeling happiness and excitement in that moment. The Spirit shows us that life can never truly die. The hymn writer John Crum succinctly stated this joy in verse four of the Easter hymn "Now the Green Blade Rises": "When our hearts are wintry, grieving or in pain, Christ's warm touch can call us back to life again...Love is come again like wheat that rises green."

Ecstatic Joy. The enthusiastic intense sort. More of a burst of energy and motion — action — as words cannot adequately express this sublime restless feeling. The Good News becomes a reckless kind of hope in the reality that Love can never die. And that truth is quite exhilarating. And profound.

A Quiet Joy. The contentment and assurance — a bold hope — that the Spirit's promise of unrelenting life in every moment, even in spite of hardship, is real. The worship services last Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter, were intended as a way to immerse ourselves into this quiet joy. Inspired by the contemplative Catholic feast day Divine Mercy Sunday on Easter 2, we entered a peaceful space where the significance of the Resurrection could be meditated upon through Taizé chants of the Paschal season, the soothing tones of a string quartet, and moments of prayerful reflection.

On Easter Sunday we experienced the expected "shades of forte" through triumphant trumpet calls and robust congregational singing of joyful Easter carols. The organ roared in its support and offered an explosive moment of ecstatic joy in a contemporary setting based on an ancient Gregorian Easter chant. The Plymouth Ringers shared a contemplative meditation on that quiet Easter morning long ago. The Chancel Choir sang a more personal and whimsical account of Jesus' return in the first person exclaiming "I'm back...Love brought me back!" presented in a gospel and musical theater influenced style.

The hope is that diverse expressions from across time, space, and varied cultures and traditions can enhance our understanding of greater truths, such as the life-giving power of the Resurrection, and connect us more deeply with the community of Life Seekers both past and present. May it be so this joyful Eastertide.

Paschal Blessings,
Mark