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Sunday, November 20 at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. in the Sanctuary
“Starting Over” With Rev. Chris and the Sulaimani and Bakhshi families
Upcoming services
Thursday November 17: No Vespers due to Sound of Music
Thursday November 24: No Vespers due to Thanksgiving
Sunday November 27, 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. in the Sanctuary:“The Holidaze” with Intern Minister John O’Connor
Thursday December 1, 6:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary: Chanting Vespers with Ian and Camilla
Sunday December 4, 10 a.m. on the Town Green: “The Log In Our Eye” Outdoor Service with Rev. Chris
From Your Minister
Out of the blue one morning, my daughter Aliyah says to me, “Daddy, what can we do about climate change?”
It was early in the morning and so it was just on her mind.
She is seven and rattling around in her ambient thinking was the state of our planet and what she can do to help combat the effects of climate change.
It was in the midst of some of these warm November days we have been having. And we had just recently watched a few episodes of Izzy’s Koala World on Netflix (oh my, so therapeutic, a reality series of this family that rescues koalas in Australia, wonderful people, baby koalas, so relaxing, highly recommend) and in the episode, there is a drought, in which a number of baby koalas get separated from their mothers.
And so she rose with the first thing on her mind to see what we can do to help climate change.
And somewhat perfectly, in just a few days we had the next of our monthly gatherings outside the church for the 11th Hour act of witness. This is every 11th day of the month at 11:00, folks have gathered outside the church and for 11 minutes we ring the bell and hold signs reminding all who pass by and reminding ourselves of the state of the planet and the world.
The need in the world and the hunger in her heart were met by the church.
It was so simple and so good.
Dorothy Day said that the purpose of the church is to make it easier for people do good in the world, and I agree. So much of what we do is organize and mobilize, helping build the world we long to live in.
And so I got to tell her of the 11th Hour opportunity and she set to making her own sign to hold, which is in the image above. You can’t see the gold letters above, but it reads, “Winter is my favorite season…So fight climate change.”
And as we got ready, as her brothers prepared to ring the bell for 11 minutes straight (a bit of a feat as it turns out) Aliyah started signing an original song she was working on.
And the time came and we were there, Aliyah and her sign and her song, joined by members of FCB Green, stalwart and committed to this work, joined by a seven year old, also committed to this work.
And this is it.
This is how the world is changed.
Generations together, joined in common vision, celebrating and resisting, seeing clearly the challenges before us and casting a compelling vision for the world we are building.