All Posts

Presented by Elizabeth Ihle 19 October 2008 Well, Halloween has just about rolled around again, and I've bought Hershey's miniature chocolates to give to my Trick or Treaters; that way I'll have something good to eat if I don't have many callers. It's an appropriate time to talk about witches, and I am going to focus on the Salem witch trials, which caught my interest about a year ago. I'd like to use what little about what I've learned to underscore the need for toleratio

by Elizabeth Ihle September 7, 2008 When I volunteered to do this service, I didn't realize what I was getting into. Yes, the end of our mortgages and coming together as a congregation are wonderful things, but what a responsibility to say something memorable and useful to the congregation, especially when we've invited former members and friends to join with us this morning!!! Welcome again to everyone! Let me say at the outset that what I say is entirely mine. I'll

Let America Be America Again Presented by Robin McNallie and Chris Edwards July 6, 2008 Readings: This reading is from the poem by Langston Hughes: Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free. (America never was America to me.) Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed-- Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be cru

Letting Go by Tom Endress June 23, 2008 This talk is the second in a series of a talk I gave on December 2 of last year. That talk dealt with an intense experience I went through in May of 1958. That incident might be called many things, a spiritual awakening, a little satori, an epiphany, grace, or just a strong dose of feeling good. Last May 18 was the 50th anniversary of that event. The original intention of this talk was to compare that moment with similar events in

Elizabeth L. Ihle 13 April 2008 Serendipity caused this sermon. Last fall my bird club book club was reading Annie Dillard's 1974 classic, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek , her Pulitzer prizing-winning account of her time living in a home near Hollins College and observing the natural world around her. Simultaneously, I was reading Henry David Thoreau's Walden in preparation for visiting Concord and Walden Pond. Ah ha, I thought, look at the parallels! There's a sermon here! And