As a member of the New England Annual Conference I serve on the Local Church Transformation Team. This team, which falls under the broader category of Congregational Development, takes a big role in visioning, organizing and planning the annual New England Conference School of Congregational Development. The SCD, as we call it, brings together nationally know speakers and educators for the benefit of all area clergy and laity. This year's event takes place November 5-7 in Lexington, MA. The theme is "ACT 2:42 ~ Extending the Table." As Worship Team Coordinator, I will be working at and attending the event. Everyone is welcome! You can find more information about it at:

http://www.newenglandschool.org/

The theme of the event strikes me as particularly important, especially as we prepare to celebrate World Communion Sunday this week. As Christians we should always be seeking to extend our table. Out table is never full! There is always room for one more. So we may want to ask ourselves: Who's missing? Who's not represented at our table? How can we extend our welcome to those who may not have felt welcomed in the past?

Our community is full of people who have not yet heard the good news of Jesus Christ ~ or who have not heard it in a way that speaks to them. How can we extend our table, not only around the world, but also right here in South Burlington?

How courageous are you? The truth is, we may not want to find out! Situations that test our courage are often situations fraught with danger. This week's sermon will be focused on the Book of Esther. The Book of Esther is an often forgotten book of the Bible, yet is as thrilling as any suspense novel of our day. The lectionary selections do not truly do the story justice, so, if you are interested, I would encourage you to read the whole book. (It's pretty short!)

In it, Esther finds herself in the position of being able to help her community only at the expense of her own safety. To stand up for her people, she is required to disobey the laws and customs of her day. With the support of her uncle, and the whole community of faith, she steps out in a courageous act which results in salvation for the Jewish people.

What situations today call for us to be courageous? How can we improve the lives of those around us through our words and actions? What unjust situations are we led to confront despite the personal risk? How are we called to follow Esther's example?

On Monday afternoons from 3:30-5:30 you can now find me sipping coffee and snacking on cookies at the Barnes and Noble Cafe. I'm holding these "Open Hours" to spend some time in our local community and provide an opportunity for people to meet with me outside the office.

You are welcome to stop by and see me on Mondays to browse books, share conversation and enjoy a cup of coffee. No need to call ahead! If no one visits on a given day, I will simply take advantage of the free Wi Fi to do some work. My hope is that this time will provide me an opportunity to get to know you our the community of South Burlington better. Blessings!

This Sunday's Gospel lesson is Mark 9:30-37. In it we see the disciples arguing over who's the greatest, Jesus calling them on it, and the demonstration that welcoming the child is central to the faith.

We often sentimentalize Jesus love of children. Paintings of Jesus surrounded by children often decorate our Sunday School halls. How can we help it? It is a beautiful and comforting image.

But we tend to forget that in it, Jesus offers us a challenge. In Jesus day, childhood was not easy. Children were often the first to fall victim to illness, famine and war. While families loved their children, they were not considered productive members of society and, as a result, were seen as less than human. In bringing forward a small, vulnerable child Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is concerned with those who are the least in society. While the disciples were arguing about their status and power, the needs of the poor and vulnerable were being neglected.

Who are the 'least' in our society? Who are the most vulnerable? And, most importantly, do we welcome them? These are the questions that are occupying me this week as I prepare for Sunday's message. What are you thinking about? What questions does the passage raise in your life?

Yesterday we read together these words from Psalm 19:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Fitting words for a wonderful day of celebration! Our Sunday School year kicked off with great joy. Our sanctuary was full and the Sunday School rooms were alive with the sounds of young people learning and playing together. After worship and Sunday School, we joined together for a feast in Brand Hall. Everyone told me there would be new energy in the church once September arrived. They sure were right!

Our Scripture for Sunday is Mark 8:27-38. In it ~ after talk much about what everyone else is saying about Jesus ~ Peter names Jesus as the Messiah.

This got me wondering about the importance of names. How important was it that Peter named Jesus Messiah? What difference did identifying Jesus in that way make to those early followers? To us today? And what difference does it make that we name ourselves Christian? It seems to me that naming is a form of truth-telling. There is something in the act of 'saying it out-loud.'

If we follow the story, we see that Peter gets in trouble even after his bold pronouncement. He didn't quite understand what it meant for Jesus to be the Messiah. Yet he was willing to go out on a limb in faith. How often do we take a chance and speak the truth?

Recently I've been reading the book Missional Renaissance by Reggie McNeal. In it, the author challenges his readers to think about church differently. But what does it mean to think about church differently? Well, for one thing we can think differently about the way we measure success. Traditionally, a successful church was known to have increasing membership and increasing resources. McNeal suggests that the true measure of a church is the amount of blessings the church shares with the community and the world. McNeal writes:

The emphasis on the scope of this blessing highlights two things: the unlimited reach of the blessing and its unqualified nature. Followers of Jesus have inherited this blessing, meaning we are free to bless everyone and responsible for blessing everyone. This includes people like us and people not like us, people we like and people we don't like, people who share our values and people who don't. You get the point.

McNeal writes about being blessing agents and having a blessing strategy. How many people can we bless today? I'm not suggesting that we completely abandon the old model of success. I would love to see us grow in numbers and resources! And certainly it is easier to bless more people when we have more members and more money. But I do like McNeal's point that our energy should be going toward blessing rather than survival. A blessing can be a smile at the check-out counter, letting someone get ahead of us in traffic, or a small donation made to a worthy cause. It seems to me that when we bless, our blessings will be returned.

What do you think? Can you be a blessing agent? How many people can you bless today?

When we are learning to drive, we are reminded over and over to 'check your blind spot.' It's that spot where someone can sneak in without us even realizing. If we don't check our blind spot when changing lanes or backing up, we could get in a really bad accident!

This week's gospel passage is Mark 7:24-37. It includes two stories of Jesus healing those traditionally thought to be outside of the family of God. The first story is of a mother ~ a Gentile of Syrophenician origin ~ who approaches Jesus to ask for healing for her daughter. The second story is of a deaf man from Sidon, also a Gentile territory. Although these folks are from the 'wrong side of the lake' Jesus sees them and heals them.

As we go about our daily lives, who are those people we don't see? Who do we dismiss without even a second thought? Where are our blind spots? These stories of Jesus tell us that God shows no partiality. Do we?