Have you ever heard Argentinian-born sportscaster Andres Cantor call a soccer match and when one team scores, he lets out a minutes-long cry of G-O-O-O-O-A-A-A-L? It is a fantastically memorable sound. And we did something memorable last night… At the first meeting of our new Leadership Council, we passed a set of goals for Plymouth in 2019. (By the way, it’s an amazing group of Plymouth folks who form this year’s Council!)

I shared these goals in our staff meeting this morning and met with a strong positive response from my staff colleagues, as well. Different ministry teams, boards, staff, and the Leadership Council itself will be tackling these goals during 2019. So, with no further ado…

Plymouth Goals for 2019

• Improve worship attendance (309 in 2018; aim for 320 in 2019). This is a goal for ALL of us who form Plymouth: if you’re in town, come to church! When you aren’t here, we miss you…and you miss out on the gift of Plymouth!
• Increase pledging and fulfillment of pledges. The Stewardship Board will be working this year to reach folks with the ways your giving to Plymouth helps change lives. 
• Improve visitor welcome experience. What is it like to walk into Plymouth on a Sunday? Are you greeted in worship and coffee hour? Welcomed at the Visitor Information Desk? Engaged in conversation if you are using a blue mug?
• Evaluate and update Building Use fee structure & fees for weddings and funerals. We need to ensure that we are covering costs for things like utilities, deferred maintenance, and custodial care and building.
• Drive leadership development and nominating process. We are in the process of recasting the Nominating Committee as a Leadership Development Committee that will work year-round to help develop new leaders and identify the right person for the right ministry.
• Glean and use results from Adaptive Challenge Task Force on Age-Related Engagement. A new task force is looking for ways to engage folks in their 20s and 30s more fully.
• Integrate new Business Manager into Council/Treasurer/Budget & Finance processes. As we look toward filling this new half-time position, we’ll need to work to help him or her mesh well with Plymouth.
• Evaluate current strategic plan and identify key areas needed to complete the plan. Take steps toward next process. We still have some work to do with the 2015 Strategic Plan, and we’re due for a new process soon!
• Getting members to sign on to F1Go and use it. If you haven’t used our new F1Go database, you have a treat in store: a great smartphone app and an internet-based site make getting information really easy…wherever you are!
• Identify congregational theme for 2019 (“Go Deeper”) and drive it. 

We haven’t had a congregational theme for several years, and you may have heard me use “Go Deeper” at the Congregational Meeting in January. All of us can Go Deeper in our faith, whether that means engaging in a volunteer ministry at Plymouth, digging deeper into your spiritual journey, attending the Art Weekend (March 8-10) to kick off Lent, stretching yourself to increase your generosity, or ...

I look forward to working with YOU to help engage these goals as we delve into an exciting year at Plymouth when together we will Go Deeper!

Shalom!

This time of year can be tough: Some of us get seasonal affective disorder as the days become shorter and shorter. * Some churches have a “Blue Christmas” service for folks who have experienced loss in the past year or so. To be sure, the holiday season can be difficult for those of us who have lived through the death of a family member or dear friend. But, rather than “going all Elvis on you,” we at Plymouth have a tradition of the Longest Night Service, which acknowledges the complex feelings of the season. Darkness can be overwhelming, and when it is, being together in a community of kindred souls in the company of God can be reassuring that the light is coming.

We all need a reminder that, as the prologue to John’s Gospel tells us, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” It is a holy thing to acknowledge that we, some of us, feel adrift at this time of year. My hope for our Longest Night Service is that it provides a spiritual mooring for those who attend.

This year we will hear our newest choral group, the Plymouth Chamber Choir, as well as handbells, harp, and flute, and we will use a litany from the Iona Community in Scotland. Jake and Jane Anne will preside at communion, and (for those who wish) I will offer individual prayers for healing and wholeness.

It is a dark time of year, but our faith in God can help us see through the darkness into the light. The light is surely coming! Please join us this Sunday, December 16, at 6:00 p.m. as we join together as witnesses both to the darkness and to the light.
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Deep peace,

As I was driving home from church after our Leadership Council meeting last night, I saw Christmas lights illuminating homes in my neighborhood…wait…it’s not Thanksgiving yet…I haven’t heard holiday Muzak yet…wasn’t it just summer???

Without stressing you out, Christmas is coming; and Plymouth does something wonderful to help your gift-giving each year by hosting the Alternative Giving Fair. In fact, it’s happening this Sunday after the 9:00 and 11:00 services.

There are a lot of things that I love about the Alternative Giving Fair:

• I appreciate not having to step foot in a crowded mall (or give Amazon another order) to shop.
• I adore some of the things I’ve found. (My sisters have gushed about pashmina scarves I’ve bought for them…always a good idea to make your big sisters ooh and aah.)
• I am able to find meaningful gifts for our staff members (to accompany Jane Anne’s cinnamon bread), usually from one of the missions of our local church.
• I am warmed by the idea that my purchase is doing something really positive and not just aiding our national economy.
• I love the community formed when I see so many of our folks wandering from table to table, finding gifts that support our missions and also organizations making a difference in the world.
• I appreciate receiving gifts from the Alternative Giving Fair, too, because I don’t need much material stuff (books notwithstanding).
• I love seeing Al Sanders, Phil Hoefer, and Bruce Lieurance wearing Santa hats at the check-out desk.

Doing some of your Christmas shopping helps three people: you (because you are getting your shopping done easily), the people the organization you are supporting serves, and the recipient of your gift, whose heart will surely be warmed.

I’ve loved the Fair as a purchaser and admirer, and this year Jane Anne and I are turning the tables to support the Iona Community and its capital appeal to make Iona Abbey accessible and environmentally sustainable…tough with a 13th c. building. We’ve made sets of prayer beads (that come with a cycle of Celtic prayers we’ve compiled) that we’ll be selling, with all proceeds going to the Iona Capital Appeal.

I encourage you to come on Sunday morning and join us in this annual festive and meaningful experience!

Merry Christmas…even though it’s not even Thanksgiving or Advent!

“If the only prayer you ever say is ‘Thank you!’ it will be enough.” ­
– Meister Eckhart, 13th c

This congregation never ceases to amaze me.

• Last week I saw a CSU University Distinguished Professor (a member of Plymouth) cleaning the bathrooms at church while our sextons are on vacation.
• This morning I read an online post of gratitude from one of our members who is nearing the end of life.
• Yesterday I learned that there are about a million cookies being baked for Geri Stutheit’s memorial service on Friday.
• Last week our Trustees Chair negotiated a contract on our behalf that will bring in $15,000 in the next year for 17 parking spaces rented during the week.
• We have a “trinity of treasurers:” three people who give more than 20 hours each week keeping Plymouth’s books.
• This week I saw a big team of deacons (and former deacons!) who took the initiative to use a creative litany for World Communion Sunday, bought different types of breads…joyfully led by the chair of the deacons who volunteered at all three services.
• Today, I’ll see a wonderfully warm and welcoming Plymouth member volunteering at our front desk to answer phones, help out, and provide hugs to staff, members, and friends.
• And at last night’s Leadership Council meeting, I saw ten people (who work assiduously to set the course for our congregation) have a really creative discussion about how we can say thanks to the enormous range of people who volunteer at Plymouth.
• This is love in action! And that’s just the beginning! There are literally hundreds of other ways –- big and small -– that our members’ generosity of time shapes lives every day…and I wish I could thank each one!
  
  

As I was musing about all the gifts given at Plymouth, it occurred to that even a small group of us could never make all of this loving ministry happen alone, and every member of this congregation is the recipient of others’ love, time, and ministry. That is what gives me pause…to be in awe…to say “Thanks be to God…and thank you!”

This coming Sunday, we are taking a page out of NPR’s book and putting our stewardship campaign into overdrive: taking just two weeks to raise the $900,000 that will help make mission and ministry possible at Plymouth in 2019. It culminates on October 28 with Baroque and Burritos…stay tuned!
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The sermon on Sunday is on one of my favorite texts when Jesus asks us to “Behold the lilies of the field…how they grow!” Have you ever marveled at the beauty of nature? How could you live in Colorado and miss that?! How can we fail to miss that wonder and awe? How can we fail to say “thanks!” to God for the glories of creation? We did nothing to deserve the beauty of the lily, to deserve a relationship with God, to be the generation that lives in such material and spiritual abundance. And so we respond…by saying “Thanks!”
 
Deep peace,

Fans of Stephen Sondheim will know the wrenchingly wonderful song, “Being Alive,” from Company, in which the protagonist sings about taking the risks of being in relationships, and in fact, of being alive. Often, he is unable to be vulnerable and goes through life playing it safe.

Let’s face it: life is a series of risks taken or avoided, and if we choose engage life fully, we will wind up being hurt, disappointed, and walking through life wounded. But if we are to have the kind of “abundant life” that Jesus speaks of in John’s gospel, we must be willing to take risks. It’s not always easy. Our faith -– our trust -– in God must be stronger than our fear.

I have been deeply inspired by the courage of one of our members who has been dealing with cancer for several years, and I have seen her repeatedly seize the day and refuse to be anything other than fully alive. Janet McCulloch now is living with extreme pain and was unable to be in church last Sunday to see the showing of her art in Plymouth’s gallery, but she did make a “special guest appearance” via an iPad (attached lovingly by her family to an IV drip pole on wheels) and was able to converse remotely with folks during coffee hour. And with Janet’s permission, I am sharing this piece of her story with you, because it is wondrous.

One of the other assurances of our faith is the idea of eternal life, which doesn’t mean our bodies will always be healthy and vital…they won’t. It does mean that we are not separated from the love of God.[1] It does mean that in life, in death, in life beyond death, we are not alone.[2] And eternal life doesn’t start when our bodies give out…it starts now…today!
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I encourage you to take a long, enjoyable look at Janet’s artwork in our gallery. It will help you to know what it means to be alive. And if you feel inclined, let Janet know what it means to you.
Seize the day! Seize abundant life!

With the regularity of any migratory species, students are just about to return to Fort Collins as the academic year begins! And the migratory pattern is slightly altered this year with the opening of The Stadium Apartments next door to Plymouth on Lake Street. We’ve been watching progress on the large, handsome building, and I walked by this afternoon to see students moving in!

The landscape of campus ministry has also changed with major shifts at the Geller Center, whose building on Howes Street is up for sale. I am not certain what the future holds for them, but they have shifted from campus ministry to a non-profit that helps students engage in dialogue on tough issues.
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As identified in Plymouth’s Strategic Plan, our consultant John Wimberly reported, “The greatest and most compelling opportunity for growth and impact is campus ministry with the Colorado State University community.” And we all want to have that positive impact!
Jake is staffing our campus ministry with help from the rest of staff and from Nic Redavid…AND it also involves YOU! (Yes, you!)
 
Here is how to get involved:

1. Bring your good garage sale items (think especially of what students need for their apartments) 12:00-6:00 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday or 7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. this Friday. And come by the sale on Saturday morning!
2. Join us at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 9, for the mother-of-all-potlucks: Taste of Plymouth! Put your best culinary foot forward! We’re inviting students in the neighborhood.
3. This is the crucial one: be a warm and welcoming presence when you see young adults (who may be students) in worship. Introduce yourself and tell them you’re glad they are here and ask if they are students and what they are studying. Tell them what you love about Plymouth!

 
And FYI, we have lovely Ram Fellowship bookmarks at the Deacons’ Desk in the sanctuary and the greeting stations in at our north and east entrances and the Welcome Desk in the Fellowship Hall. They have event dates and a prayer I wrote for students. Ask if the student you’re talking with would like one! And maybe a few Plymouth beer mats to go with them!

I’ve heard some members grumble a little that students won’t pledge (no, they probably won’t, but that’s not the point!), that we spend too much time concerned about them (not nearly so much as we spend with elders), and that they’ll only be here for a few years (what if they learn to love God while they are at Plymouth?!?)

This is a ministry that isn’t just for Jake and Nic to do…it’s a mission and a ministry for ALL of us…and it will be a blast!

Yours in faith and Ramfulness,

​Remember that hackneyed line that“Plymouth is the best-kept secret in Fort Collins?” That condition is just about to change!

The Leadership Council has launched a mini-campaign to replace our street signage on Prospect Road and Lake Street. Even though our trustees have cobbled together and repaired the 17-year-old sign on Prospect, it is falling apart (as you’ll see in the above 4-minute video*).

With the construction of the CSU football stadium, we have an opportunity to let more people know not just that Plymouth is here, but what makes us unique in our community and ways it might become part of their faith journey.

With a lead gift of $25,000 from a member family at Plymouth, we are already halfway to funding the signs themselves. (An additional $10,000 will cover any landscaping needs and overruns.) As in most capital campaigns, our mini-campaign team is currently soliciting major gifts in the next few weeks, and the open campaign will follow, during which we encourage everyone to support this effort. 

Our mini-campaign team is headed by Nic Redavid with Irene Wherritt, Claudia DeMarco, and me serving as well. We invite you to take a look at the 4-minute video* enclosed with this email and see the sign design and hear from three leaders in our congregation. 

It will be exciting to see the changes our new signs will bring!

Peace,

*made by yours truly with iMovie…not ready for an Oscar!

With a name like “Plymouth,” it’s hard to get away from the idea not just of the Plymouth Pilgrims, but from the concept of pilgrimage in general. Our faith is perhaps best described as a journey…not a stable, set-in-stone condition, but one that evokes movement and transformation. Some pilgrimages, like those of Abraham and our New England spiritual forbears are one-way pilgrimages through which one arrives at a new destination. In a recent series of adult ed. forums, Plymouth folks recounted their (round-trip) pilgrimages to the Holy Land, on the Camino de Santiago de Compostella, and in Scotland. Even though their journeys brought our pilgrims back home, pilgrimage is meant to change the way one sees God, self, and other.

But what if one doesn’t have the time, money, physical ability, or inclination to travel on a pilgrimage? For 13th-century would-be pilgrims in France, the answer was to walk the circuits of the labyrinth in the cathedral at Chartres, emulating a pilgrimage to Rome or Jerusalem. Walking the labyrinth is a meditative tool rediscovered in the 1990s by the Rev. Lauren Artress, an Episcopal priest. According to the website of the organization she founded, “The labyrinth is a walking meditation, a path of prayer and an archetypal blueprint where psyche meets Spirit. It has only one path that leads from the outer edge in a circuitous way to the center. There are no tricks to it and no dead ends. Unlike a maze where you lose your way, the labyrinth is a spiritual tool that can help you find your way.”

I’ve used the labyrinth for prayer at volatile times in my life when I’ve needed to find the quiet center, at times when I am in discernment about a significant decision, and at times when I’ve just needed to seek God’s presence through a physical prayer form.

A ministry team at Plymouth, led by Jane Nicolet, has been working for just about a year with our Memorial Garden Ministry Team and our Trustees to design and create such a tool for Plymouth. The Trustees excavated the space, filled in recycled concrete base, and the layer of breeze visible on the surface. The ministry team had a group of 20 Plymouth volunteers, from teens to seniors, place bricks into place to form the circuits of the labyrinth. The Leadership Council authorized financial support from the Memorial Garden reserve fund, memorial gifts given in honor of our members, the sale of several cemetery plots Plymouth owned, and an unsolicited gift from one of our members. Landscaping and two benches will also be added this spring.

I invite you to join us as we dedicate the new labyrinth on Pentecost Sunday, May 20 at 12:15 (after the 11:00 service). Join us to thank our volunteers and to ask for God’s blessing.

So, why and how does one use the labyrinth? For years, members of our congregation have been asking for advice on how to pray. The labyrinth provides a beautiful tool for walking prayer. It doesn’t require years of discipline to encounter…just the will to engage with intention and attention. Even if you have a robust prayer life, I’d recommend trying a prayer walk using the labyrinth to mix it up a bit. It is available to you at any time during the week…unless a service is in progress in the sanctuary or memorial garden.

One of the members of the Labyrinth Ministry Team, Pat Slentz, will become a trained labyrinth facilitator this summer in a workshop with Lauren Artress at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.
Deep thanks to all who have participated in helping this dream become a reality here at Plymouth! I look forward to group walks, incorporating the labyrinth into our Sunday evening services, and to seeing you out walking in prayer!
 
Shalom!

Trustees Gary Olsen, Allen Norskog, Tom Dille, Barry Beatty, and Trustee Emeritus Tom Nesler do the initial grading and laying base materials.

Plymouth volunteers completed the layout in one Saturday…many hands made light work!

An aerial photo from a neighbor’s drone caught Plymouth volunteers laying brick into the labyrinth.
 
Here is a guide from Lauren Atress on veriditas.org (download a PDF version here):