Holy Vessels (continued from Home page)
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Word got out among the hospital staff that there was a minister not afraid to go into AIDS patient’s rooms and who did not judge the patient as sinful, but rather welcomed them as ones loved by God. Leslie said that she got lots of calls to pray with people. Some were from patients who had been released from the hospital. Some calls were from other nurses and hospital staff.
Some of those she had prayed for recovered well enough to come to Leslie’s Methodist church. Some who had died, had other family and friends, who came, too. Leslie’s church grew, becoming known as a church that accepted everyone as a child of God, but Leslie’s church was housed in another church’s facility. The parent church grew uncomfortable with Leslie’s theology and willingness to welcome AIDS patients. They asked her and her congregation to leave.
When I first met them, they had a building of their own. The church congregation had voted to leave the Methodist denomination and to become UCC. In their new building, there was a whole wall of brightly
colored handprints that flowed from the sanctuary, down the hallway. Painting your hand and placing it on the wall was part of joining the church.
Many who placed their hands on the walls later succumbed to their illness and died. But they had had a church congregation surrounding them, loving them, and praying for God’s love for them.
By the time I first attended, the church’s radical welcome had attracted a large variety of people, straight and gay, healthy and ill. I loved much about this church. But one of the things I loved best was how they had taken the religious language and symbols and really studied them and made them their own.
Inside the sanctuary (a simple, large, square room) they had a round table. The table sat in the middle of the room with rows of folding chairs encircling it. The farthest row of chairs consisted of recliners and rockers for those unable to stand or sit for long periods.
Every week they served communion. They always used a loaf of real bread. Most strikingly, their pottery chalice (cup) had obviously been broken and glued back together. During the communion Leslie said each week, “We are broken vessels made whole.” The congregation truly understood that communion is about knowing that we are broken, but that when we come together in love and acceptance, God’s power can make us whole.
This Lent, we at NCC will remember that each of us is a “clay jar”, who holds the light of Christ. We will
focus on prayer and on how we can be made whole.
“From this perspective, the journey to Easter is about learning and preparing to ‘live the Easter life’—living as if death has no hold on us. We see that cherishing all God’s children helps make life joyful and full-hearted. As we begin to view each person as a Holy Vessel, we come to desire not only that wholeness but also that lack of fear—for each other and for all creation.” - MacFee, worshipdesignstudio.com
Some of those she had prayed for recovered well enough to come to Leslie’s Methodist church. Some who had died, had other family and friends, who came, too. Leslie’s church grew, becoming known as a church that accepted everyone as a child of God, but Leslie’s church was housed in another church’s facility. The parent church grew uncomfortable with Leslie’s theology and willingness to welcome AIDS patients. They asked her and her congregation to leave.
When I first met them, they had a building of their own. The church congregation had voted to leave the Methodist denomination and to become UCC. In their new building, there was a whole wall of brightly
colored handprints that flowed from the sanctuary, down the hallway. Painting your hand and placing it on the wall was part of joining the church.
Many who placed their hands on the walls later succumbed to their illness and died. But they had had a church congregation surrounding them, loving them, and praying for God’s love for them.
By the time I first attended, the church’s radical welcome had attracted a large variety of people, straight and gay, healthy and ill. I loved much about this church. But one of the things I loved best was how they had taken the religious language and symbols and really studied them and made them their own.
Inside the sanctuary (a simple, large, square room) they had a round table. The table sat in the middle of the room with rows of folding chairs encircling it. The farthest row of chairs consisted of recliners and rockers for those unable to stand or sit for long periods.
Every week they served communion. They always used a loaf of real bread. Most strikingly, their pottery chalice (cup) had obviously been broken and glued back together. During the communion Leslie said each week, “We are broken vessels made whole.” The congregation truly understood that communion is about knowing that we are broken, but that when we come together in love and acceptance, God’s power can make us whole.
This Lent, we at NCC will remember that each of us is a “clay jar”, who holds the light of Christ. We will
focus on prayer and on how we can be made whole.
“From this perspective, the journey to Easter is about learning and preparing to ‘live the Easter life’—living as if death has no hold on us. We see that cherishing all God’s children helps make life joyful and full-hearted. As we begin to view each person as a Holy Vessel, we come to desire not only that wholeness but also that lack of fear—for each other and for all creation.” - MacFee, worshipdesignstudio.com
