Congregational Stewardship

Mike Bryant Turquoise fired wash basin and bowl

Ways We Deal With Time

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | January 31, 2022
Read More

The Mystery of Time

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | January 25, 2022

“Time on my hands” may come to mind when we have a prolonged illness, are in virus isolation, or struggle with stuttered social re-openings. Those days can take on the gray smear of sameness. What a contrast it is from the old energetic days, when there didn’t seem to be enough time to get everything…

Read More

The Pattern Prayer

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | January 17, 2022

“I’ll pray for you,” people often say. But what do they mean by that? What is prayer, anyway? Prayer is a common term, but any room even of like-minded folks picture it in scores of different ways. Little children may imagine saying sentences out loud to an Old Man in the sky; older adults may…

Read More

Lent: Spring Cleaning for the Soul

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | January 11, 2022

People in this country’s Snow Belt## know the importance of spring cleaning when they can throw open their windows and invite fresh air in after the enclosed months imposed by winter cold. These days, with extreme weather changes and COVID concerns, many more of us can identify, after feeling locked in our stuffy homes. The…

Read More

Epiphany: Seeing the Light

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | January 5, 2022

Have you ever had an “aha” moment when an issue suddenly becomes clear? All the details fall in line and the pattern finally makes sense. It’s hard to explain but a common experience. Sometimes people call it an “epiphany:” a Greek word that means “manifestation,” the appearance of a divine being, or a sudden intuitive…

Read More

Covenant Sunday in Christmas

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | January 1, 2022

Happy New Year! Covenant Sunday comes at the very end of the Christmas season, on the Sunday closest to January first. Back in 1755, John Wesley, English founder of the Methodist movement, held his first Covenant Service of worship. Ever since then, Methodists have been encouraged to begin each new year with a portion of…

Read More

The Twelve Days of Christmas

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | December 21, 2021

In recent decades across much of the world, the phrase “the twelve days of Christmas” refers to the twelve days before Christmas – as in shopping days to buy presents before Santa’s Big Day. But from ancient times, that proverbial phrase has referred to the days after Christmas Day, together making up the worship season…

Read More

All Saints Day in Pentecost

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | December 13, 2021

One special day in the season of Pentecost is All Saints Day. Most Christians around the world celebrate it near the end of Pentecost on November 1 or 2.** So who are the “saints,” anyway? While some denominations have an official process of recognizing them, many Christians around the globe see saints as everyday people:…

Read More

Advent: A Blue Christmas

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | December 6, 2021

It seems odd that the New Year for Christians starts in the winter, not in the spring. Springtime would be a natural season for new beginnings when nature is filled to bursting with buds and blossoms of new life. For example, a branch from the Jacaranda tree would be an outstanding symbol of transformation to…

Read More

More About Those Easter Eggs

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | November 29, 2021

When you color eggs with your kiddos this year, you are making a long-time historical connection. In ancient times, both Egyptians and Persians dyed eggs to give to friends, much like many Muslims today give colored eggs to their Christian neighbors. In the Middle Ages, people who had kept themselves from eating eggs during the…

Read More