October 23, 2024
A Note from Pastor April
Dear Friends,
A few weeks ago, I shared one of our core United Methodist frameworks, the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.
This framework provides a helpful tool for how we understand and come to know God
- Revealed in Scripture
- Illumined by Tradition
- Vivified in Personal Experience
- Confirmed by Reason
I like this second image because it also helps us to see how they interact, and particularly how we read and understand scripture.
Scripture provides a place to start from and to stand. It is the primary way the story of God in our tradition has been passed down.
AND
We have received that Scripture through our tradition
It provides a structure and a container by which we can regularly experience that story — through rhythms of weekly worship, sacraments, and annual days of remembrance like Easter, Advent, and Christmas.
Each of these traditions has added its own spin on the story, seeing it through a particular lens to help us understand it and integrate it. This includes the Bible being translated from the Hebrew and Greek into English. Each translation offers a particular perspective on how best to interpret the story.
AND
We interpret that through the door of our own experiences
As a female clergywoman, I am going to read the scripture we read a month ago about women being silent in church with a great deal of skepticism. That’s okay. I bring my own vocational call to the story that interacts with how we read it and understand it. You will do the same when your story interacts with the story you encounter in the Bible.
AND
We are never asked to check our reason at the door
Our work as faithful Christians is to read these words that have been passed on to us as a gift, while actively engaging our ability to critically reflect, consider what makes sense to us in 2024, and to try and understand it as a whole.
That’s exactly what I see happening in our new Sacred Earth Group that started meeting on Wednesday nights. As they consider the call of scripture to be good stewards of this creation, they are asking important questions about how we as the church can engage more fully in this work together. I expect you’ll see some of those start to pop up, including composting from our Wednesday night meals.
If you are interested in joining them, their next meeting is tonight, October 23, 6:30-7:30pm in the Sanctuary building, in the parlor (room 206, main level, accessible). We’ll publish their meeting schedule on our website as they select upcoming dates, so if tonight doesn’t work, check back online here. I invite you to come at 5:30pm for our weekly Wednesday Community Supper as well, serving a free hot meal! (Voluntary donations always welcome.)
Special guest in worship
This week in worship, I’m so excited to welcome Dr. Kate Common from the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, a practical theologian and biblical scholar who will be offering us further tools for how we can effectively and meaningfully engage scripture in 2024.
I met Dr. Common a few years ago as we were just starting our series on The Great Story.
Like her, I was troubled by the many passages in the Old Testament that seemed to celebrate horrific acts of violence and death in the name of God. Using the tools of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, my reason, experience, and tradition told me that these passages did not line up with the love of God in Jesus that is at the heart of our story. I was encouraged to hear that she was writing a book about this very issue.
That book, Undoing Conquest, was released this February, and not a moment too soon!
With war in the Middle East raging on and the rise of Christian nationalism, Undoing Conquest explores biblical violence, particularly in the Book of Joshua, unearthing ways the conquest story has deep roots in today’s conflicts — and shows how new archaeological discoveries can help faith communities deal with violence past and present.
We will be exploring much of Kate’s book in our series next year, but for now she will help lay some solid biblical foundations that can help us build on our work over these three years of The Great Story.
You won’t want to miss Sunday’s sermon! Hope to see you at one of our three unique services, in person or online.
Blessings!
April
The Rev. April Blaine
Lead Pastor
