Where Are You From?

Where are you from?

I was born among the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, the land of stoic German Lutheran immigrants, not too far from the town of Hershey which to this day on warm summer afternoons has its streets filled with the delicious scent of chocolate. I was held in the gnarled hands of my grandfather, Sterling Lentz, a World War II veteran turned barber, and my earliest memories are of my grandmother, Emma, as she would peel apples for me in her hospice bed in one swirling twist of apple skin that fascinated and delighted my young imagination. I was baptized on Reformation Sunday, my baptism connecting me to the community of saints of our shared Lutheran heritage that began with a German monk saying "Here I stand" on behalf of the poor and marginalized, a heritage we all share and continue to proclaim.

I am heir to another heritage, too, that of the LGBTQIA+ community whose history is found along the margins of society, even though love, loss, desire, and longing form the common currency of all human experience.

My name is Pace, a name I chose for myself, which is a nod to yet another heritage–my mother's Italian lineage. Pace in Italian means peace, and my name is as much a promise as it is a commitment. In English pace reminds me to continue moving, to grow and change, to keep the pace as I follow the divine's movement in my own life. 

Where are you from?

What commonalities bind us, and differences shape us?

What connects you to the past while propelling you into the present?

-Pace Warfield-May

Connect & Be Known

Earth, Wind and Fire sing the question for this season.

Do you remember, September? 

Although we are not quite ready to bid the long summer days away, September is coming, and we are excited to begin a new program year at Mount Olivet.  And although Covid still lingers, we can be back together, and we are reminded that being together is a gift.  It also makes us wonder: why do we go to church…what difference does it make?  We all have different answers to this question but at the center is hope that God still loves this world and each of us enough to be present in the here and now and somehow uses what we have to offer to make a difference.  And none of this happens alone.  We need to be there for one another. God gathers community.

The mission of Mount Olivet is to find our place in God’s unfolding story and we are always finding our place, again and again. And so, this fall, we find our place after we have been apart from one another.  We promise in baptism to know and celebrate each other’s call in the world and so we start there, connecting names with faces and listening to stories. Whether you are new to Mount Olivet or have been here a long time, you have gifts to offer and a place to connect and be known.

 Worship this fall will be centered in scripture from the Old and New Testaments that circle around simple human questions—Where are you from? What hurts? What do you need? How do you give? Where do we go from here? 

God has something to say to us and we trust the Spirit will gather us as community, connecting us to God and one another and the places where we are called to respond and receive.

 So welcome back. Your presence makes a difference.

Outdoor Worship Stories

My family became members of MO in the fall and when I learned about the outdoor worship services in the spring I was very excited. At the time we did not have kids yet but did have our dog, Marshall. We started attending the outdoor services all together as a family, and I really feel like it brought me closer to God.  I love hearing the birds chirp, I love seeing the children dance and play, I love feeling the grass and dirt on my feet, I love smelling the sweet summer air, I love feeling the sun's heat on my face, I love feeling the raindrops on my skin, I love that Marshall can come and lie right next to me, and I love feeling the wind against my back. There is something about experiencing this world that God created while dwelling in his word. It absolutely brings me closer to God and enhances the experience of church. As my immediate family has grown and my extended family has visited, I always try to bring them to our outdoor services. My two girls dance to the wonderful music and enjoy blessing our dog Marshall after communion.  My extended family seems to be just as consumed by God and his amazing creations after the outdoor service as well. We have been fortunate enough to baptize one of our girls outdoors too, and this will be a service I always keep close to my heart.  Plain and simple; nature brings peace and tranquility to my soul, just like God's word. 

- Toni Swanson

My family and I are Wednesday night attendees during the school year, as our kids have been involved in programming for the last decade. Each summer, we love to transition to Sunday worship outside. Being out in the back nature grove at Mount Olivet has an amazing, peaceful and welcoming vibe. It’s a way to see worship as a part of community gathering, rejuvenation for our hearts and minds, and allows us each to pause and reconsider why we choose to be members and friends of Mount Olivet in community together. From my perspective, we not only enjoy this time together, outdoor worship seems to be in even more open space, welcoming all, whether it’s those already comfortable in a church setting or not, those familiar with MO or not yet, those who feel they fit in or who are wrestling with uncertainty. I believe this space fits with our mission of being community. Personally, I also find outdoor worship a balm for my both my physical body and my soul. We live within a couple of miles, and I love to walk through French park, through the wooded paths on my way to church on Sunday mornings. It’s a great way to find balance and rejuvenation, and always leaves me feeling grateful for life.

- Karla Buerkle

I enjoy the outdoor service because it is so wonderful to worship in the midst of God's creation. Being outside, I am grateful for my basic needs, fresh air, sun for nutrition, plants for oxygen. Thank you Lord.

- Marlene Stimpson

Examen Prayer

God cares about every detail of your life. We are never something God loses track of and can't find. But often, we lose track of God and can't find God's activity in our life. The Examen is a way to pay attention to the activity of God in the course of a day-of noticing and remembering where God showed up in everyday life. The Examen typically asks three questions:

• For what moment(s) am I most grateful? For what moment(s) am I least grateful?

• What were the most life-giving parts of my day? What were the most draining parts of my day?

• When did I have a deep sense of connection with God, others, or myself? When did I feel disconnected with God, others, or myself?

Close your eyes and think back over the last 24 hours. Prayerfully pick the opposite high/low moments for you. Talk t God about what it was like for you in those moments. Why do these moments stand out amid the rest of your day? How was God present to you in each moment? How did you respond to God's presence?

For children, try these two questions, "What is something that made you smile/happy today? What is something that made you, er) sad/mad today?" At the dinner table or at bedtime, families can practice the Examen like playing a game of "I spy God... "

Amy McGrew, Author

Check out the video version of the Examen that Pastor Beth narrated earlier this year, HERE.

Prayer Labyrinth

A labyrinth is another way to pray with your body by moving (either walking in open space like the labyrinth next to the community garden at Mount Olivet or tracing your fingers along a groove in a handheld labyrinth). Labyrinths have been around for thousands of years, in various faith traditions all around the world. This prayer practice offers the freedom to move our bodies while focusing our minds on God. Children could do this as a mindful or imaginative way to go on a journey with Jesus.

A labyrinth contains a single path to the center and then back out again, so you cannot get lost. It has many turns but, unlike mazes, there are no dead ends. All those turns represent how our journeying towards God can seem closer or father at any given moment, but regardless of how it feels, the direction leads us toward God. While there are no specific “rules” , the following guidelines can be useful as you prayerfully move through the path:

1. MOVING INWARDS (release): Talk to God about a problem, decision, doubt, curiosity, decision, strong emotion, or concern.

2. PAUSING AT CENTER (rest): Reflect on what it looks like for the Spirit to be at the center of your life, or be still and aware of the Spirit’s constant presence.

3. MOVING OUTWARDS (receive): Listen and wonder about what God is inviting you to integrate into daily life. What thoughts come to mind about how Jesus might feel or respond to your problem, decision, question, curiosity, and/or concern.

Consider closing your eyes as you use a finger labyrinth and guide above. Allow your fingers to trace the path from the outside in and back out as you pray.

Amy McGrew, Author

Body Prayer

Many of us live present to only our minds, so this practice drops us into our bodies to connect with God. Being present to body posture can be a way of praying without words for all ages. Consider what position your body is in when you pray—still, walking, sitting legs uncrossed, clenched fists, or open hands. How is that posture a prayer in and of itself?

“Julian of Norwich invites us to be in our bodies, embrace our physicality as a way to ground ourselves, and find oneness with the divine and with all living things. As you pray this prayer, it can help you connect your heart, mind and body and to more fully experience God's love for every part of you. The prayer has four simple postures with corresponding intentions.” ⁵

I. AWAIT (hands at waist, cupped up to receive): Await God's presence, not as you expect, hope, or imagine, but however it may come to you.

2. ALLOW (reach up, hands open): Allow a sense of God's presence (or not) to come and be what it is, without meeting your expectations.

3. ACCEPT (hands at heart, cupped towards body): Accept as a gift whatever comes or does not come. Accept that you do not know everything, that you are not in charge. Accept the boundless presence of God, whether or not you are aware.

4. ATTEND (hands outstretched, ready to be responsive): In this open stance, attend to the action(s) God invites you to take. Attend to whatever it is to be God's love in the world.

⁵I www.cascadialivingwisdom.com/body-prayer-julian-of-norwich

• Amy McGrew