Ankeny UCC

A Welcoming Church Family Exploring Progressive Christian Theology

  • Home
    • Meet the Clergy and Staff
    • Contact us
    • News
  • Christian Education
    • Sunday School Registration
  • I wonder….
    • The Great Emergence (Easter 2022)
    • Ankeny UCC Google Calendar
    • Mere Christianity (Spring 2022)
    • EmmanuALE!
    • Speaking Christian (Spring 2018)
    • Life Together (January-February 2017)
    • Between the World and Me (Oct 2015)
  • Serving
  • Sermons
  • Prep Preschool
  • Log in
A Welcoming Church Family Exploring Progressive Christian Theology

fear

More Fear and Violence

July 8, 2016 by Pastor Nathan

As we rose this morning to news of at least ten people shot and five killed in a mass shooting in Dallas aimed at the police, we had no words but those of the psalmist. “For divine wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye, divine favor for a lifetime. Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning.” And sometimes it feels like wrath lasts forever, and joy is but the twinkling of an eye, as we find too much comfort in Psalm 137. It is sorrow that our both/and world means mourning upon mourning upon mourning people who have been killed. When can we shed our collective imagination in the redemptive power of violence, and not love?
We continue to hold especially in prayer those who are scared; whether scared of the state or because they are the human face of the state, our police officers and their families.

Posted in: Thoughts for the community Tagged: fear, psalm 137, psalm 30, systems, Violence

Systems of Fear and Violence

July 7, 2016 by Pastor Nathan

As we read through the scriptures describing Christ’s passion during Easter Week every year, the question that we struggle with the most is “who is complicit in his death?” For centuries, the answer we shamefully came up with was “the Jews,” and there was violence against Jews. Now, we are more likely to answer, “the Roman Empire,” “the leaders in Jerusalem,” and, if we are looking at the mobs that appear, “We are.” Those with the nails and the spears were just different actors in the same system. Is it any different today, as we hear more stories about black people killed by the state and our own systems of fear?
(if you wonder about your own implicit biases, try some tests from Project Implicit at Harvard: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html )
This is a reason we talk about systemic racism here in Ankeny UCC. It’s a hard thing to talk about, because it’s not an easy thing to solve–we want it to be true that if we are good people and don’t consciously act differently toward people of different races and backgrounds, we have done what we must to fight racism. But if we look at the system, and see the ways that the decisions we make as society differ based on who we are dealing with, we see that it goes beyond good intentions. When Jesus preached about the Good Samaritan helping an injured person after those closer to him failed to do so, he was challenging the assumptions about people different than ourselves. Do we rush to find fault with a person who was shot, finding the reason they deserved it? That is the suspicion about the Samaritan Jesus was fighting.
This is scary stuff. But RIP Philando Castille. RIP Alton Sterling. We pray for all the people who are scared, especially those who fear the state and those who carry the burden of life or death with them every day.

Posted in: Thoughts for the community Tagged: black lives matter, fear, racism, systemic racism

Confession

October 13, 2015 by Pastor Nathan

This American Life Videos 4 U: Tattoos from This American Life on Vimeo.

Greetings!

I was thinking a lot about our practice of confession this week, as you might have guessed from the sermon. I shared a link in last week’s email to a powerful public confession from my friend the Rev. Tiffany Thomas, and the video above (which is a bit different) came up in my feed from the SALT Project’s on Facebook.

Why have I been thinking about confession? I think church is best when it is about telling the truth, avoiding convenient fictions, and confronting the lives that we live. It is best when we are vulnerable, open to both pain and deep reconciliation. And I’ve been thinking about confession, because that’s where we are most vulnerable, and where we are most able to confront the truths about ourselves and the world we are living in. It’s hard to lift up our deepest sorrows and greatest joys, and leave ourselves open to the attacks and snark of others. It’s scary. But Jesus came to free us from our fears. And confession is when we get to put them out in front of us, look at them, and take the power of shame away, so we can get on with the job of building God’s kingdom.

Blessings,
Nathan

Posted in: Worship Tagged: celebration, confession, fear, shame, this american life

Service Times

K-5 Christian Ed: 9:15 am
6-9 Christian Ed: 12:00 pm
In-person and Online Worship: 10:30 am

Online Offering Plate
Instant Church Directory

Sermon topics

AMOS Challenge change Christmas church community Conflict creation David Death Fear Forgiveness God Holy Spirit Hope Immigration Isaiah Jesus John John the Baptist joy Justice LGBTQ listening Love Matthew Mercy Moses Narrative oppression Paul Peace power racism Reconciliation refugees Resurrection Sovereign Realm of God Stewardship Stories Suffering Transformation Violence Welcome women


Ankeny UCC
602 SE Delaware Avenue
Ankeny, IA 50023

515-964-4647

Copyright © 2023 Ankeny UCC.

Church WordPress Theme by themehall.com