July 7, 2024 Sermon

“Reflections: Where Love Takes Us” Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager Sermon: “Centering Down and Looking Up” Text: Exodus 20:8-11 On my summer reading pile this season was an historical novel called, West with Giraffes. It is an epic read by author...

June 30, 2024 Sermon

“Reflections: Where Love Takes Us” Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager with Guest speakers; Kate Summerlin and Raegan Graziano Sermon: “Reflections: Where Love Takes Us” Text: Acts 2:1-12 I like to think of Pentecost described in our scripture this morning...

June 23rd, 2024 Sermon

“Healing Power” Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager Sermon: “Healing Power” Text: Mark 5: 25-34  Every month for nearly 4 years I’ve had the pleasure of teaching a Bible study class at Essex Meadows. A group of 8-10 of us gather together to read the...

June 2nd, 2024 Sermon

“Notes on Hospitality and Faith” Steve Jungkeit and Kica Matos Texts: Leviticus 19: 33-34; Matthew 2: 13-15 (Steve Jungkeit) What does it mean, I wonder, that an immigrant stands at the center of our religious life?  What does it mean to pray in the name...

May 26th, 2024 Sermon

“A Memorial Day Reflection” Rev. Carleen GerberEcclesiasticus 4:11-16,  John 15:7-14 excerpts from “When Lilacs last in the dooryard bloomed” (Whitman)  A Memorial Day Reflection“We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain” (from the...

May 19th, 2024 Sermon

“A Delirium of Birds and Other Miracles” Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick-NagerMatthew 14:14-21 Are there any birders here this morning? Raise your hand if you’re a bird watcher. The poet, Theodore Rothke, must have been one, too. Just listen to this spring poem:A...

May 12, 2024 Sermon

“We Are All Beggars” Rev. Steve Jungkeit Texts: Genesis 32: 22-31 May 12, 2024              Here’s something that happened to someone I know fairly well, a minister in a small New England town.  It was a Monday night in winter, and, as is his custom, he...

May 5, 2024 Sermon

The Un-Covering of Religion Rev. Steve JungkeitTexts: II Kings 22: 3-13; Luke 4: 18  In an interview several years ago about a collection of American standards that he had recorded, Bob Dylan suggested that what he was doing wasn’t “covering” the songs, but rather...

April 28, 2024 Sermon

The Sacramentality of Everyday Life Steve JungkeitTexts: Isaiah 55: 1-2; John 2: 1-11             One of the most astute and beautiful pieces of theology I have encountered over the last year or two is a profane and hectic television show about food and family, with a...

April 21, 2024 Sermon

On Walking in Their Footsteps along a Mighty Stream Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick-NagerAmos 5:24  Good morning! We’ll be sharing our Civil Rights journey with you this morning part. There’s something powerful and challenging about having to put into words what you’ve seen...

April 14, 2024 Sermon

This Is My Story, This is My Song: Why Hymns Matter Steve Jungkeit Texts: Psalm 59: 16-17; Acts 16: 19-30; Colossians 3: 16-17             “This is my story, this is my song.”  That’s the refrain of a famous hymn, “Blessed Assurance,” written by Fanny Crosby in the...

April 7, 2024 Sermon

The Church of Timshel: Celebrating the Ministry of Rev. David W. Good Steve Jungkeit (and David Good)Texts: Ruth 1: 1-16; Daniel 3: 19-27             A week ago I stood in this pulpit with a reminder of the good news of Easter: What Dies Doesn’t Stay Dead was the...

March 31, 2024 Sermon

“What Died Didn’t Stay Dead” Steve JungkeitTexts: John 20: 1, 11-18; John 21: 15-19Easter Sunday             By way of preamble, I’ll open with words that were spoken sometime after midnight on Maundy Thursday, heard by the thirty or so who remained to the end of...

March 24, 2024 Sermon

“Palm Sunday Sermon: A Parade of Gospel Stories” Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick NagerMark 11:1-11 Yesterday, I drove to the New London Hospitality Center in pelting rain to pick up our guest speaker, Catherine. Church member, Dana Dixon, connected us. We’d spoken...

March 17, 2024 Sermon

“Like a Bandit Getting Over His Lawless Ways:” Or, Why Dante’s Purgatorio Matters Great literature is a hand extended from the past.  When we grasp that hand, it can be a guide and a source of solace, as we confront the challenges of the present. That is, in large...