Pastor Annette's Blog
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"OF ALL THE THINGS GOD HAS SHOWN ME, I CAN SPEAK BUT A LITTLE WORD NOT MORE THAN A HONEYBEE CAN CARRY AWAY ON ITS FOOT FROM AN OVERFLOWING JAR."
~ MECHTHILD OF MAGDEBURG, 13TH CENTURY MYSTIC |
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Beloved: I was in Birmingham last week to attend the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly. I got excited about the good work in progress that CBF is doing in so many places. Here are some examples:
No doubt, my favorite parts of the meetings are seeing people I know and meeting people I don’t. I met up with Southern Seminary folks I’ve known 30+ years, a few of whom look weirdly older than I feel. The best is when I run into students from my IU campus ministry days, now in their own ministry placements, and my heart nearly bursts with pride. My least favorite part of the assembly was the hurt and grief murmuring audibly just below the joyful laughter: hurt and grief for want of reconciliation regarding the inclusion of our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters. We’ve tried so hard to cooperate, we ended up claiming unity where no true consensus was ever reached. Is not unity the highest purpose of the gospel? LGBTQ+ friends and allies, myself included, feel expected quietly to submit to this feigned unity or be considered uncooperative, a term that casts doubt upon our commitment to ministry and missions. Perhaps this bind is less real than I imagine, but I sense its pull all the same. I even wonder if CBF friends with dissimilar convictions can also feel its presence. Such conditions strike me as akin to those which prompted Reverend King’s 1963 Letter From a Birmingham Jail, his response to an editorial by white clergymen arguing that civil rights ought be gained slowly and quietly through the court system instead of in the streets. Just how quiet, patient, and submissive are we going to be while those in power are constrained by fear of the inevitable future in which our children see what we cannot, just as we saw what our own parents could not? The unconditional and full inclusion of our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters in the life and leadership of our churches is just as obvious as the inclusion of women and people of color was once upon a time. We are Baptists! And the beauty of being Baptist is, we aren’t required to wait on our leadership to get brave. We can be brave right now. Another reason I’m glad to have cast my lot with you all, UBC Bloomington, Indiana. You have no idea how you shine every time I tell other Baptists how generously inclusive you are.  The hashtag #ITSYOURCHURCHTOO popped into my head last night. Jodi (the millennial) explained to us (the old people) how hashtags are supposed to look and then Laura Beth made it pretty. I love it so much and want to smear it on everything that has our church name on it, so folks who think church may not love them might find their way to us – and even if they don’t, we tell the truth as best we know it: the church belongs to everyone, no exceptions. I’ve gone on much too long, so thanks for your sweet patience. You are all so dear to me.
~peace & prayers, pastor annette #itsyourchurchtoo♥
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 Beloved:
We still do Vacation Bible School and we still call it vacation Bible school. It’s way out of style for cool churches, but I just can’t let it go. Crafts and games and Bible stories. Snacks and songs and so many hugs. Every inch of our building will be sticky. We’ll run out of band-aids, trash bags and toilet paper. For weeks after, we’ll find forgotten shoes and leftover crafts and be too exhausted to haul away the recycling. And I’d need a whole other heart to love it any more. I love how hard this little congregation works to put this on for twenty-odd kids. I love how our directors now whip a theme together like a baker makes a pie. I love our new partnership with Red Door Church and all it brings to this occasion. I love how loved all these little ones don’t even know they are. They are just having so much fun. I love watching kids grow up one week a year for years and years and years. Our VBS teen helpers now were once our preschool class. I love how low-budget our program is – how our big investment is the time and energy kindness requires. The VBS offering this year goes to the Monroe County Community Kitchen Summer Lunch Program, which provides free sack lunch every day of summer for kids who qualify for free lunch at school. It’s pretty cool, and UBC’er Vicki Pierce is the CK Executive Director. If you aren’t involved in VBS and want to give to the offering, just send checks to church with CK VBS Offering in the memo. We will also collect a VBS offering in service this coming Sunday, June 16th. Finally, if you are in town, please come eat with us on Friday night at 6 PM – Friday Pizza Fellowship for VBS families, workers, UBC congregation and guests, pretty much anyone who wants to come. We’re just eating together and relaxing after a sweet week. Hope to see you!
Speaking of seeds, the chickens are confined to the coop now, save the last hour of daylight when my sprinklers are on. They’ve taken to digging up every seed I plant and tossing the un-tasty ones all around the garden. I’ve gathered and replanted beans three times! They really hate the sprinklers, and seem unable to figure out how it rains in just one spot of the yard. So much entertainment, most of which is free.
I’ll have to birdwatch in the morning for the rest of the week because VBS work starts tomorrow! Plans are pretty well in hand but we can always use more workers. Please come to church Wednesday and/or Thursday between 12 and 5 pm, wearing your favorite work clothes. We’ll move and make and paint as Rob and Erika instruct. VBS proper begins on Monday and here’s the link to sign kids up https://vbspro.events/p/events/vbsatubc or share with friends you want to invite. It is one of the best things we do. The aching beauty of these days bears witness to the gentle beauty God would have us carry and convey to one another. I pray you recognize the invitation as you go today. Also, some craft items we need for VBS you might have around your house; drop off at church any time this week:
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I write a Tuesday morning devotional to members and friends of UBC. It is also posted here.
Enjoy! Pastor Annette Copyright
Everything on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons license, which gives you permission to copy freely, provided that you attribute the work to me, that you use the work for non-commercial purposes, and that you do not produce derivative works. Archives
March 2025
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