Dear Plymouth Friends,
 
I’m writing to you at 5:30 on Tuesday morning, and I’ll soon be getting ready to drive down to the UC Health Cancer Center for my last radiation treatment! YAY! I’m just a little excited to be finished with this chapter of my cancer journey (though I’ll keep reading the “hormone-therapy chapter” through November). But there is a part of me that is also a little sad, because I’ll no longer be cared for by a phenomenal team of folks at the Cancer Center — people who remember my name each day, greet me with a smile, ask about my sons or my weekend or how the fishing was. (What a different world it would be if we all did that for others!)

For the last two months, I have spent a half hour, five days a week, with these lovely people whose primary goal was to irradiate the cancerous cells in my body, but whose more visible aim was to see me as a whole human being and to treat me lovingly. I hope that I and the members of Plymouth’s staff can do that for you! And I so appreciate the cards and prayers you all have sent!

There have been moments when the fatigue and hot flashes and thoughts of my own mortality were pretty overwhelming…and there is a lot going on at Plymouth, too! One of my learnings in this part of my cancer journey is that there is a way to cut through the miasma of fear and side effects. It’s not terribly complicated, and I know some of you are well-acquainted with it already.

One morning as I walked out of the Cancer Center after an acupuncture treatment (which really helps with fatigue!) I was overwhelmed with a feeling that I had been blessed: held up by an acupuncture therapist with a great sense of humor and a broad smile and a positive attitude that won’t quit; held up by a radiation therapist who shared Chris’s WWOOFing experience in Japan with her parents; held up by an oncology counselor who really understood me and all I’m going through.

So, here is the “secret sauce” that I will try to carry with me from this part of my cancer journey: Gratitude is the key to being joyful, even in the midst of a crisis. If we are able to stop and notice the love around us, the glory of God’s creation, the miracle of being alive, we are likely to experience not superficial happiness, but deep joy.

Some of us walk around focusing on what we don’t have or what isn’t perfect. (Eeyore is a wonderful character in “Winnie the Pooh,” but a really poor model for life!) Others of us see the blessings of our lives every day. It’s up to us how we perceive the world.

So, what is today going to bring for you? Blessings or woes? Even in the thick of it, you can turn to see the face of God in what you experience…and give thanks!

Gratefully,

As you may know, my younger son, Chris,* has started his gap year WWOOFing (working on organic farms) in Japan. He is having an amazing cross-cultural experience, and interestingly is staying on a farm for another week with a Christian family with whom he is attending church. At 18, Chris is getting to have his first independent conversations about religion not only with his hosts, but with his fellow workers, who include a Muslim student from Malaysia. In a message this morning, Chris wrote that he was having longer, interesting talks with his hosts, who identified as evangelical Christians who “do not support abortion and I think not gay marriage and people.”

I am thankful that Chris was raised at Plymouth in an environment where he was encouraged by the whole community to think through his faith and to ask questions not only of other people, but of himself. I’m grateful that he counts as friends LGBTQ folks in our congregation: people who have loved him and nurtured his faith. I appreciate that we have raised Chris in a congregation where he has learned the value of intergenerational community, where he has learned that he is not the center of the universe. And I’m grateful for his experiences in Sunday school, youth group, confirmation, and at camp at La Foret, and on mission trips. Thank you all for helping to shape Chris and who he is becoming! Truly, it does take a village, and you have given Chris and our family a tremendous gift!
 
This coming Sunday is Friends & Family Sunday, when you are encouraged to invite a friend or family member to worship: someone who needs the gift of Plymouth. I know that many of us are uncomfortable speaking with friends and colleagues about our faith — even some of us who have advanced degrees in theology — but it’s time to work to get over it, because the stakes are too high. This community, our nation, and God’s world need progressive congregations like Plymouth, and they will die without your participation.

I can hear you asking now, “Why in God’s name would I invite someone to Plymouth?” So, here are some answers:

1. Many families in Fort Collins need an amazing faith-formation program for their kids. Don’t they deserve what Chris had?
2. We need to be a visible, vocal presence for progressive faith in Fort Collins. Of 43 people demonstrating for sane gun laws at Sen. Cory Gardner’s office in August, half were from Plymouth!
3. People have no idea that a church can offer a safe welcome to LGBTQ folks…not a church where we will simply be tolerated or tokened, but truly welcomed!
4. Many Christians, particularly of the evangelical or Roman Catholic variety, are ready to give up on the church and God…because they don’t know a church like Plymouth exists.
5. Each of us has received the gift of Plymouth — relationship to God, community, love, making a difference in the world, giving and receiving care during crises, the list goes on — we cannot horde our gifts or hide our lamp under a bushel.
6. We all want to make a positive impact in the world, and Plymouth is one of the most effective ways of creating change in our community.
7. We are deeply rooted in the Christian faith and tradition, but we have the flexibility to listen to the still-speaking God and to adapt. Our tradition is 2,000 years old; our thinking is not.
8. In our culture, it is hard to find a place to ask meaningful questions about the deepest parts of life: why we are here, who we are called to be in the world, what God is drawing us toward. Plymouth encourages that!
9. There are amazing people in our community who know something is missing in their lives. What if it’s something as important as a relationship with God? You can help.
10. You know that you want one of those nifty Plymouth pint glasses…you and your guest next Sunday will receive one!

 
So, invite a neighbor, a colleague, a family member to experience the gift of Plymouth. You can do it! I’ll see you (and your guests!) at all three services on Sunday!
Peace,

* Chris approved my sharing this…I know better than to use family stories without permission!

Last night, the Leadership Council made an important decision about the way forward. As you may know the national landscape of mainline Protestantism is changing, as is the nature of theological education. UCC seminaries are struggling mightily to stay afloat. Our oldest freestanding seminary, Andover-Newton, closed its doors in Newton Centre, Mass., and is folding into Yale Divinity School. Bangor Seminary in Maine granted its last degrees in 2013. United Seminary in Minnesota sold its campus last year to move into a downsized location in the Twin Cities. Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley is trying to lease out some of its empty buildings. To say the least, it’s a difficult time for seminaries and divinity schools.

And those turbulent waters spread into the supply of clergy emerging with Master of Divinity degrees – the expected baseline for most ordained ministers in the UCC. After advertising our interim associate position nationally, we only had two applicants. So, the Search Committee beat the bushes and inquired with other ministers we know, and we have another possible candidate as a result.

The changing ministerial search process in the UCC also includes not only “settled” and “interim” ministers, but “designated-term” ministers as well. This third type of ministry is still elected by the congregation, but for a fixed term. At the end of a designated term, typically two years, the congregation would elect a settled pastor search committee and consider the “designated-term” pastor first, if that is her/his desire, before doing an open search.

The advantage of this for Plymouth is that it would allow us to complete our upcoming Strategic Planning process, including recommendations on staffing, during the two-year term when the designated pastor is serving.

Plymouth’s Leadership Council voted to opt for this path forward and invites you to a Congregational Conversation to learn more this coming Sunday, August 18, following the 10:00 service in the Forum Room.

We are excited about the prospects of finding excellent pastoral talent for Plymouth, even in the midst of changing times in mainline churches.

Grace and peace,

For those of you who missed it Sunday, at our special Congregational Meeting we elected five members of Plymouth to serve on the interim associate minister Search Committee. Thanks to Sara Myers, Harmony Tucker, Curtis Wray, and Denise Morrison for serving along with me, ex officio!

This search process has been underway with national advertising through the UCC and the Rocky Mountain Conference, and we already have some names collected by Erin Gilmore, our associate conference minister. In fact, by the time you read this on Tuesday, the search committee will have had its first meeting. When we have a candidate to present to the congregation, you’ll receive notice of another special Congregational Meeting.

While this stage of transition moves rapidly, so that we can ensure coverage as soon as possible after Jake’s departure on August 1, the Leadership Council and Personnel Committee will take a step back and consider the overall staffing configuration at Plymouth and ensure that our current associate minister job description is in line with what Plymouth needs in the coming years. Then we will form a new Search Committee for the settled associate minister (along with another special Congregational Meeting), and when they have found a candidate, we’ll have a “candidating weekend” when the congregation can meet the candidate, and that weekend will include…wait for it… another special Congregational Meeting!

One of the things I addressed yesterday at our meeting was a great question Fred Frantz asked me a week ago: Why is it that ministers have to sever relationships when they accept a new call? Clergy in the UCC are responsible for setting and maintaining good professional boundaries, and part of the ordained minister’s code says “I will not, upon my termination and departure from a ministry position, interfere with nor intrude upon the ministry of my successor.” How each minister deals with setting that boundary is up to her or him. When Sharon Benton left, she kept very tight professional boundaries, which for Sharon involved “unfriending” Plymouth members on social media…not to be hurtful or cold, but to set a professional boundary. Jake is interpreting that somewhat differently and said in his letter to the congregation that he would not “unfriend” people, but that he would not perform sacraments, rites, or counseling for Plymouth members or talk about our congregation. That, too, is setting a professional boundary, one that allows his successor the space to move into relationship with our members, and it allows Jake to move into relationship with his congregation in Connecticut. On Jake’s last Sunday, July 28, we will engage in a formal rite of releasing Jake from the vows he took when he was installed as our associate minister, and Jake will “release this local church from turning to [him] and depending on [him].”

Transitions are seldom easy…but they can be done with grace, and I trust that this will be the case for us this summer. Yesterday, one of our members commented to me, “You know, we loved Sharon, and I was really upset when she left…but then we got Jake. And Jieun was amazing, and I was really sad when she left…but then we got Mark.” I have no idea who will succeed Jake, but I do know that Plymouth will offer a warm and supportive welcome.

Thanks for being a congregation that communicates well, open, and warmly with your staff!
 
Summertime blessings,

P.S. At a recent staff meeting, I shared one of my spiritual practices: writing out a poem or prayer and adding some (unschooled) watercolor around the edges, and several staff encouraged me to share these with the congregation, so here is poem by William Stafford called “The Way It Is,” which may be helpful in this time of transition.

I thought a lot about Going Deeper, our Plymouth annual theme, as I met with colleagues and delegates at the Rocky Mountain Conference Annual Meeting (now called Annual Celebration) in Grand Junction last Thursday through Saturday. And I thought about the Conference’s idea that all of our churches, which span Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah are radically connected. “Radical” comes from the Latin radix, which means root, so radical connection means that our roots are intertwined. And we’re even more than connected…like a clone of aspen trees, we share the same DNA. We are all part of the church universal, the UCC, and the Rocky Mountain Conference.

Our congregations include a rural church with a handful of members and is lay-led because they cannot afford to pay a part-time pastor, a Samoan immigrant church, and a Japanese-American Church … all in Utah, a church in Wyoming with 100 members that still manages to send more than 10 percent of its annual operating expenses for Our Church’s Wider Mission – which is how we support the mission and ministry of the Rocky Mountain Conference and the UCC both domestically and abroad. It is tough work to do ministry in these churches!

One of the things that thrilled me most (beside hearing our keynote speaker, John Dominic Crossan) was our two amazing conference clergy: Sue Artt, our conference minister, and Erin Gilmore, our associate conference minister (who grew up here at Plymouth and is Sally and Terry Gilmore’s daughter). Sue and Erin provide phenomenal conference leadership! They are gifted and grace-filled clergy leaders, and we are blessed to have them! They are not afraid to think outside the box, to try new things, and to step back and ask what God is doing in the midst of our churches. And if that wasn’t enough, our wonderful conference and retreat center in the Black Forest, La Foret, is not only out of debt, but has new energy and new programs thanks in large part to Larry McCulloch (one of our members at Plymouth), who serves as executive director.

Being the church in the 21st century is a challenge, but you are making a palpable difference in making it possible! Because of your generosity, Plymouth’s giving to Our Church’s Wider Mission is number one in the Rocky Mountain Conference! You are enabling conference staff excellence and leadership and making it available to smaller churches who don’t have the same resources we do at Plymouth. Through OCWM Basic Support and the four special offerings of the UCC and other denominational support, last year we gave over $115,000! Way to go, Plymouth!

You may never meet a Samoan UCC family living in Utah or see the work Sue and Erin do in revitalizing small churches or see the transformed lives of campers at La Foret, but rest assured: your giving is changing lives. Thank you for your generosity and for your commitment to the vision of the progressive church in our region and in God’s world.

We are all part of the same cluster of trees, and we are interdependent not only on each other, but on the grace of God to keep us growing.

Gratefully,

​P.S. Thanks to our lay delegates: Vicki & Wendy Thompson and Nic Redavid! And thanks to the 30 Plymouth folks who demonstrated against gun violence in Old Town Square Sunday afternoon!

If you’d like to learn more about John Philip or Celtic Christianity, try one of our two Celtic Christian Spirituality Groups when they reconvene in the fall, at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesdays or 9:00 a.m. on Tuesdays. And you can find his books here on Amazon.
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Springtime Blessings!

Being part of a congregation makes each of us aware of the transitions of life: births, baptisms, confirmations, graduations, marriages, retirements, and deaths. Being an intentional part of a community of faith exposes us to the exigencies of what it means to be alive. Just by being engaged during Prayers of the People in worship, we tend to hear about and pray for more people experiencing illness or loss than many of our neighbors do.

We are in a time of passage for three of our members: John Geter, Ruth Minter, and George Bryan, for whose lives we offer God thanks with the rites of the church, helping provide a ritual marker at the close of this life. Jake led John Geter’s memorial service on March 30, and I hope that you will join us for memorial services for Ruth Minter this Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and for George Bryan on Holy Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
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When Jane Anne and I arrived in Tokyo at the end of March, a few cherry blossoms were just beginning to emerge from the buds on early-blossoming trees. Viewing the cherry blossoms is a major celebration in Japan called hanami, which dates back centuries when the aristocracy would have viewing parties that included food and drink under the white-and-pink canopy of blossoms. While today thousands crowd into parks and picnic under the trees on blue plastic tarps, the spirit of hanami remains.

A woman we met in Tokyo explained the Japanese fascination with cherry blossoms. “The blossoms are with us for only a short time each spring,” she explained. “They burst into bloom and very quickly, they fade, and their petals fly like snow. The cherry blossoms for us are like looking at life: we are born, we live, and we die. It is all part of the process.”
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We had wonderful travels around Japan with my son, Cameron, and got to spend a few days with him and his wonderful girlfriend, Aki Regan, in Akita Prefecture, where they both teach English. We returned to Tokyo as we concluded our two weeks in Japan, and by then many of the trees were a profusion of pinkish blossoms, though some trees had begun to lose their floral array. As the wind came up, the blossoms swirled through the air like so many large snowflakes, and I felt a sense of melancholy rising up as the season was drawing to a close. I was standing in Yanaka Cemetery in Tokyo when I filmed the video clip below, so the end of life was already present in this place of beauty and remembrance.

Our own tradition, though without hanami, acknowledges the transitory nature of life. The first hymn in the New Century Hymnal, “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise,” contains these lines: “We blossom and flourish as leaves and as flowers, then wither and perish – but naught dims your powers.” The nature of life is indeed transitory. And our tradition also tells us that in the midst of every transition, the power of God and companionship of the Spirit are within and among us. “In life, in death, in life beyond death, we are not alone,” says the New Creed from the United Church of Canada.
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As we move into spring in Colorado, and as we walk through the pattern of Holy Week, going from the triumph of Palm Sunday to tragedy of Good Friday to the triumph of Easter, may we each remember that death is never God’s final word. Thanks be to God.

Shalom,

If you were at Plymouth last weekend, you saw some different-looking things in our sanctuary: a root-structure art installation along the rear wall and tree roots emerging from the base of the cross above the chancel. These and other pieces were produced by your fellow Plymouth members (even me!) during the Lenten arts retreat led by our visiting theologian/artist, the Rev. Linda Privatera. (Kudos to my colleague, Jane Anne, for orchestrating the whole weekend!)

All of this art was a theological reflection on our 2019 congregational theme: Go Deeper. All of us are rooted in the soil of Christian spirituality, but to get down into the richest nutrients and the aquifers of the Spirit, we need to go deeper in our faith. And Lent is a great time to do that!

Many of us in the Protestant traditions of the Christian household are less familiar with spiritual practices beyond daily Bible reading that will help us to go deeper in our sense of God’s presence in our lives. What’s more, we often don’t know where to turn. And even though I often hear from our members that they want deeper spiritual lives, we are seldom overrun by crowds when we offer spirituality workshops and retreats.

Want to try it out on your own? That’s certainly a place to start during Lent. One entry point is the UCC Lenten Devotional that our deacons are offering to you each Sunday…it’s available between services with a suggested donation of $5…but if you don’t have the five bucks, don’t sweat it!

Sometimes, I wonder if, as Anthony de Mello suggests, “People would rather have a definition than an experience.” However, definitions won’t help us go deeper in our faith. Another resource for you to read (and most people at Plymouth love to read!) is from UCC author and clergywoman Jane Vennard, who formerly taught at the Iliff School of Theology (and she was my spiritual director, too!). Fully Awake and Truly Alive: Spiritual Practices to Nurture Your Soul is a fantastic volume that will help you explore spiritual practices that will allow you to go deeper. Maybe you want to dip your toe into Centering Prayer at Plymouth (Mondays, noon – 1:30 or Tuesdays, 5:30 – 6:30)…it’s a great way to enter the quiet center! Or drop by our outdoor Labyrinth and walk anytime it’s not covered with snow!

Whatever your spiritual practice this Lent, I hope that it deepens your relationship with the Holy One, who is there to meet you, befriend you, and guide you.

Lenten blessings!

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,