Weekly News | 6.13.25

Dear Church,

What a delight to be with one another at our Pentecost Potluck! There was a notable richness to our feasting, both in the service and in our meal together. May the joy of making space for the Spirit and one another continue with us into the heat of the summer!

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, and will be our final Sunday of 2 services until August 17th. 

When we speak of the Trinity we communicate our understanding of the witness of Scripture in the way it speaks of “the LORD our God is one”, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is more than a beautiful and finely-tuned statement that aims to weave knowledge and mystery, more than a concept. A concept is something you might intellectually understand, from which you step back, assess, and consider. The Trinity is not merely something we attempt to understand, but is One with whom we engage. The good news of the Trinity is not that we have a rigorous and fascinating theory. The good news is we are invited to participate in the community of the Godhead.

Our culture tends to prioritize concepts, and not just when it comes to the Trinity. The late author and theologian Kenneth Bailey calls to attention that when we read the parables of Jesus, we tend to focus on sussing out the concept:

“The casing is all that remains after a shell is fired. Its only purpose is to drive the shell in the direction of the target. It is easy to think of a parable in the same way and understand it as a good way to ‘launch’ an idea. Once the idea is ‘on its way’ the parable can be discarded. But this is not so. If the parable is a house in which the listener/reader is invited to take up residence, then that person is urged by the parable to look on the world through the windows of that residence. Such is the reality of the parables created by Jesus of Nazareth.”

Beginning next Sunday (6/22) at our single 10AM service, we will be preaching through parables in Luke. In doing so, the hope is not to treat them as an antiquated pit stop on the road to an interesting idea, but to inhabit that residence, to look out the window and see our world. 

Through the parables this summer, we will share a metaphorical AirBnB. What will we see out the window? How might the view - replete with quotidian objects, people, and concerns - shape the way we engage everyday reality?

Eager to see with you,

Sarah+