From the Desk of Rev. Tom Momberg

 FEBRUARY 2020

 

Let us dare to live the dream God has for us.

Let us dare to become a beloved community.    

 

With these words, I ended my sermon on January 19th, the Sunday we remembered the birth of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and held Holy Trinity’s Annual Meeting.

 

On that Sunday, I challenged us to live into the dream I believe God has for us: to become, more and more, a beloved community. In his final days Dr. King held up that image, time and again, as the destination for our earthly pilgrimage.

 

As it turns out, the Episcopal Church, under the leadership of our Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Michael Curry, has used King’s phrase to re-name our church’s long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice. The new name is: Becoming Beloved Community.

 

Sisters and brothers in Christ, we Episcopal Christians are called to become the Beloved Community. This year, during the season of Lent, with the help of God and the resources of the Episcopal Church, we will study and learn together what it means for us, as a church, to become, more and more, a beloved community.

 

But first, in February, as we observe Black History Month, we will have some special opportunities to become more of a Beloved Community. Please look for information in the pages that follow about our Concert for the Neighborhood on Sunday afternoon, February 16th, and our annual Red Black Affair (Dinner) on Saturday evening, February 22nd.

 

I do hope you can join us for these events. Meanwhile, let us pray for all those who dream of and who need a beloved community like the one I believe God is calling us to become.

 

In the peace of Christ,

Tom+

 

 

Dream Me, God

 

 

It’s not you who should solve my problems, God,

but I yours, God of the asylum-seekers.

 

It’s not you who should feed the hungry,

but I who should protect your children

from the terror of the banks and armies.

 

It’s not you who should make room for the refugees,

but I who should receive you,

hardly hidden God of the desolate.

 

You dreamed me, God, practicing walking upright and

learning to kneel down

more beautiful than I am now,

happier than I dare to be,

freer than our country allows.

 

Don’t stop dreaming me, God.

I don’t want to stop remembering that I am your tree,

planted by the streams of living water.

 

 

 

~ Dorothee Söelle (1929 –2003)

Söelle was a German liberation theologian and writer.

       

MARCH 2020

Dear Friends in Christ:

         The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, February 26. But first, the day before, we will “get the fat out” on Shrove Tuesday. You’ll find information in this newsletter about the details of those two important days and all the other days of Lent.  

       I hope you can join us, in person or from a distance, on the journey we share with Jesus, during this year’s most holy season of preparation for the celebration of Easter.

In Christ, Tom+

Shrove Tuesday FEB 25

Perkins Restaurant at Eastgate at 6 pm                                                                                          

Ash Wednesday FEB 26                                                                                      Holy Eucharist and the Imposition of Ashes in the Church at 7 pm