Land, Place, & Faith: Worship in July
Our study of the Bible often focuses on the Who, What, and When of the story, but less often on the Where. But place is as much a character in the story as any person.
Place matters, both in the Bible and in our own lives. To be alienated from the place we live means feeling lost, forgetting our history, losing connection with the communities and wildlife that lived here before us. To be alienated from land has meant genocide of Native peoples, displacement of Black/Brown neighbors, and environmental degradation.
But to nurture our relationship with land means to be grounded, to be rooted. When we get to know the place in which we live, we get to know the earth, our neighbors, and ourselves. We honor the ancestors who lived in this place before we were born. We give thanks to God for the gift of being alive and being right here.
Worship in July focuses on themes of land and place, and how those relate to our Christian faith.
We’ll be following the stories of two places--the Sea of Galilee during Jesus’s ministry and Jerusalem at the beginning of David’s reign as king. We’ll be asking questions like:
Where does this story take place?
Why does place matter? What would be different about the story if it had taken place somewhere else?
How is God speaking to, with, and through the land?
What does this story have to do with the place in which I live?
With thanks to the Antiracism Ministry and especially those who worked on a Land Acknowledgement, included in worship each week this month. This acknowledgement will soon be displayed in the entrance to the sanctuary in our worship space.
July 4 | Interdependence Day
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Mark 6:1-13 | Sending of the Twelve to preach and heal
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10 | The reign of David
July 11 | Where’s the party at?
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Mark 6:14-29 | The death of John the Baptist
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 | David and the house of Israel dance before the Lord
July 18 | All over the place
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 | Christ healing the multitudes
2 Samuel 7:1-14a | The promise of the Lord to David
July 25 | The power over in a place
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
John 6:1-21 | Christ feeding the five thousand
2 Samuel 11:1-15 | Bathsheba and Uriah wronged by David