Category: Personal & Spiritual Development
Love Can Save Us & Set Us Free
The playwright Tennessee Williams wrote that love saves us, and we must in turn, save it: “The world is violent… More >
In Formation
“In formation.” What a wonderfully complicated phrase! You might read it and think of the military or football. Maybe you’re… More >
What’s Your Comfort with Mystery?
I love mysteries: both the “What happens when we die?” type, and the “Murder She Wrote” type. Like many in… More >
What Mystery Is Calling to You?
One of the elders in the church I grew up in said that her first encounter with mystery as a… More >
Silent Retreat 2024, Register Now
Join us for an opportunity to be silent and a chance to retreat. What’s there to do at a silent… More >
Find a Generous Path at First Church
For a time, I volunteered at the Freeport Area Church Cooperative (FACC), a homeless shelter and food pantry in the… More >
Giving Attention: Purest Form of Generosity
During Journey to Membership, one of the exercises we do in pairs is to tell someone about a time when… More >
Give Generously, Receive Abundance
In our First Church Journey to Membership classes, we ask our new members to tell a story of a time… More >
Come Hear (and Tell!) Sabbatical Stories
On Sunday October 8 at 1:00 p.m., join us in Max Otto Hall for Sabbatical Stories! Rev. Jennifer will share… More >
Our Progressive Faith Heritage
I remember the day I told my grandmother I was not a Christian. Her response was, “Oh yes, you are!”… More >
Our Rich Heritage of Good Listening
Fourteen years ago, when I entered First Church, I inherited a rich culture of deep listening. One of the first… More >
Heritage Is Complicated
Heritage is full and complicated: we all have ancestors that have passed us beauty and pain, because all of our… More >
Farewell from Lynne & a Word from Rev. Jennifer
Dear First Church, I am writing this shortly after Ingathering Sunday heartbroken. The theme was Welcome and in the last… More >
Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu, Morter Lecture
We are excited and honored to welcome Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu, daughter of Desmond Tutu and Episcopal priest, as our… More >
What Are Theme Circles?
Theme Circles are monthly small groups that deepen and support the spiritual journeys of participants in community with each other… More >
An Exciting September Ahead
My dear First Church, it is a delight to be joining you again after a beautiful, restorative sabbatical. I visited… More >