Just as we had settled into a routine of meeting together on-line, summer arrived and with it plans and pressures to re-open. As more and more spaces and businesses open, we are discovering that this is not a return to the way things were. We are living in a time right now of uncertainty and upheaval. Old ways of thinking and behaving are being challenged. It seems that we must constantly analyze risks as we make day to day decisions – is it safe to get my hair cut, can we invite friends...
Virtual Worship
2020 Summer Worship Services
The Worship Committee is pleased to announce the schedule of lay-led worship services for 2020. Members of our community will be leading us in Sunday morning worship from July 12 through August 26. We truly hope you’ll join us wherever you are for some or all of these insightful, creative, and celebratory services!
Summer virtual services begin at 10:30 a.m.
Flower Communion Sunday – June 21, 2020
What an exquisite bouquet of people you are! I am touched and moved, even today, even in this time of physical distancing – or perhaps especially because of it – by this ritual and by Rev. Capek’s original message to his people…the simple message that each person is as beautiful and wonderful as a flower in bloom. Each one of us possesses an inherent worth, an inherent goodness, and an inherent beauty that neither time nor our distance from one another can diminish. That was Rev. Capek’s...
Musically Speaking, June 2020
This month’s Musically Speaking is contributed by Guy Urban.
Charlyn is officially the FPW Music Director, and I am officially the accompanist, although it’s probably pretty obvious that we work together on almost every aspect of music at FPW.
Moving Forward When You Cannot See
Last week I spoke of my experience, as a sailor, of having been becalmed…that experience of having the wind, upon which I relied entirely, stop blowing…of having found myself stuck, unable to move, forced to sit still, forced to wait. I quoted Richard Bode from his book, First You Have to Row a Little Boat, who said, “It is perhaps an all-too-human frailty to suppose that a favorable wind will blow forever,” and that perhaps learning to be still, learning to be patient, is “an imperative of...
“Your Life is Precious”
I don’t know who needs to hear this this week, but your life is precious…more precious than any stock holdings…more precious than anyone’s retirement account…more precious than the economy itself. You are fearfully and wonderfully made according to the Psalms. That is what the Christian faith of my childhood taught me. Today there’s an old pseudo-religion masquerading as “Christianity” which tells us that the almighty dollar is more important than life itself. But that is a lie. Of course,...
Online Worship and Community Check-Ins
Sunday, March 29 at 10:30am
This Sunday we will once again be worshiping together online using Zoom
In the Interim – June 2020
As I write, peaceful protests in defense of black lives continue to grow in cities and towns in all 50 states. I think this is good news. And I pray for those who continue to put their bodies on the line for justice. Violence committed against protesters by police, egregious and unnecessary, is being recorded and reported. I think this is good news. And I pray for the victims of that violence. I pray that those who perpetrate it will be held accountable for it. And I pray that their hardened...
“Becalmed” – Homily for 17 May 2020
I had the extreme good fortune of growing up with a father who loved to sail, and who instilled in me a love of sailing. As a child, I spent many weeks over the course of many summers, cruising the Chesapeake Bay, exploring its inlets and coves, sleeping in the cockpit under the stars. It was beautiful and lovely…except when it wasn’t. There were plenty of mosquitos at dusk and dawn, and many hours spent sitting still under a hot sun waiting for the wind to blow. For many years, I did not...
Mother’s Day Homily – May 10, 2020
I want to start by wishing a happy Mothers’ Day to you, who are mothers. For those mothers who are home with your children right now, and for those who long to be with their mothers, or their children, but cannot be, this time of pandemic presents new challenges. And I want you to know that I see you, and that you are in my heart. I also want to acknowledge the complexity of Mothers’ Day for some of us, even without a global pandemic. For there is a unique complexity that accompanies our...