“Heaven must be a Kentucky kind of place.” The quote has multiple origin stories. It’s usually credited to Daniel Boone, and one story is that he said those words as he passed through the Cumberland gap, entering the Kentucky side of Appalachia. Supposedly, he took in the beauty of Kentucky and saw the land as paradise. In my bias, I believe it.

In my youth, two times I participated in “Y-Corps: Service to the Commonwealth,” in which a bunch of high schoolers from all corners of Kentucky got on a bus and traveled through the bluegrass state to serve our Kentucky home and be swept away by its culture, traditions, and history. On our way to Bell County, KY, bordering Tennessee and Virginia, one of our “captains,” who was from eastern Kentucky stood up and gave an impassioned speech about his love for Appalachia. He spoke of his contempt for how the region has been left behind, and how others, particularly fellow Kentuckians, look down upon the area. One of many takeaways was that we are not saviors; we are fortunate guests.

I knew what he said to be true, as I now roll my eyes when I hear someone say, “I’m not from Kentucky; I’m from Louisville”- a common trope. When people see Appalachia, they see poverty and stereotypes. There is a lack of empathy for left-behind coal mining communities. And there is forgottenness - as our media and our own eyes fixated on Flint Michigan, coal ash was poisoning drinking water in the mountains of Kentucky.

What people do not see is the might of economic populism that comes from generations of coal miners, transcends political identity, and is currently alive in the Trillbilly Workers’ Party. People ignore the natural beauty of the Red River Gorge and Cumberland Falls. Traditions and customs found in stories are still living well (as I mentioned in a previous blog, Justin got homemade moonshine for Christmas).

I’ll also borrow from what my captain pointed out in his speech, as he spoke of his love for the people that make up the region, “In Appalachia, there is no rich and poor. We live next door to each other regardless of our income,” or something to that effect. And I cannot forget to mention the cultural hub of Appalachian arts that is Berea, KY, nor the Kentucky right of passage that is eating Miguel’s pizza at Red River Gorge and popping off Ale8 tops with your hand and the edge of a picnic table. And since my dad works for the Colonel, I’ll put in a plug and say that the original KFC is in Appalachia.

On July 11, seventeen youth and adults from Lord of Life will head to Leslie County, KY for a week of making homes “warmer, safer, and drier” with Appalachia Service Project (ASP). As we serve, and as you join us through photos and stories, we must remember that eastern Kentucky is not simply a charity case. It is a feast to be had, and a home to cherish. When we come to Appalachia as a means to live, share, and celebrate with all people God’s love in Jesus Christ, it ain't one-sided. Feel blessed to take in Appalachia. Treasure that the mountains and the people are living, sharing, and celebrating with you. Christ is not the reaching out of your hand but is present in grasped hands. As we drive into the heart of Appalachia, feel lucky. It is a blessing.

“Heaven must be a Kentucky kind of place,”

Pastor Alec Brock, Seminary Intern (he, him, his)

When I arrived at the church on Monday, our altar and baptismal font were sitting on the front porch. This is not usually where they reside. Most of the time, they are at the front of our worship space, serving as central features in our lives of faith as we gather to be renewed in the waters of baptism and nourished in God’s holy meal. As part of our sanctuary renewal, they too are getting a little bit of a makeover.

A little bit of history. In many Christian worship spaces, the altar has long been a giant stone or wooden box, mimicking a place of slaughter and sacrifice. This comes from ancient traditions where animals were sacrificed to maintain or restore a right relationship with God or a god. This sacrificial language and practice is visible through many cultures throughout the ages. (Read Leviticus chapters 1-7 to get an overview of Israel’s system of offerings and sacrifices.)

In the last eighty years, as part of liturgical renewal in the church, the altar has increasingly looked more like a table. This mimics the language and example of Jesus gathering around tables time and time again to break bread and share drink, making room for both the faithful and the faithless. Over and over, Jesus invited people from all walks of life to come, eat, and be filled. One biblical scholar even comments that in the gospel according to Luke, Jesus is always eating! He is either on his way to a meal, eating a meal, or leaving a meal. Gathering around a table is central to the ministry of Jesus.

Back to our altar… As part of our sanctuary renewal, we are adding a top to our communion table that extends beyond the basic boxy framework of our altar, as a visible sign that there’s room at this table for all. Our communion words point us in this direction:

We give you thanks that all are invited to this table,
regardless of their background, to receive your healing.
Those whom society deems unworthy,
those without daily bread, those exploited,
and those on the very edge of our society.

Jesus is the host. We are guests at his table. There is always enough for all.

A similar moment of hospitality is happening with the Lord of Life baptismal font. If you are a young child or a person in a wheelchair, you’ve never been able to see into our font and view these waters of promise and rebirth. As part of this sanctuary renewal, we are reducing the height of our font, so that the splashing waters are visible and accessible to all. It might not seem like much, but this is yet another visible sign of God’s presence among us in our physical space.

This week marks the end of our three-year capital campaign for Share the Light. Thank you for your generosity in making this sanctuary renewal and other projects possible, so we can radiate the light of Christ within our congregation and to the greater community. Please see the update in our July Lifeline for details and images of the latest progress.

Earlier this spring, I offered you an invitation to extend your generosity into a fourth year. Rising construction costs, COVID restrictions, job losses, along with other factors that we could have never anticipated, have slowed our construction process and also put us behind schedule on giving. Thank you to all who accepted the challenge to continue their pledge or give a one-time gift. If you haven’t joined the effort, it isn’t too late. We still have much work to do.

When you come to worship this Sunday or tune in online, the communion table and baptismal font won’t be here. But even in their absence, we will sing, pray, and eat, trusting that God shows up with an unconditional and everlasting love.

Sharing the Light,

Pastor Lowell

Originally published on https://blog.wearesparkhouse.org, May 20, 2021. ©2021 1517 Media.

One of the silver linings of the global pandemic is how it pushed pause on much of our programming for students. When COVID turned everything upside down and backward, it offered the unique opportunity to press reset on our ministry in the most wonderful ways. We could look ahead with purpose and answer root questions, like:

• What kind of adults do we want our students to be?
• How do we best set our students up for faithful lives?
• How can we strengthen our students’ relationships with God?

During a time in both history and the development stage of adolescence when independence reigns supreme, consider what might happen if we create a culture of healthy interdependence among students. What if, in a world that is full of broken relationships and poor examples of the function of family, we embrace our Biblical family tree and create a close-knit, accepting community that prompts students to a ministry with and for each other and the world?

Embrace the opportunity to intentionally root students in relationships: with God, with each other, with the world. Create an environment where students can learn and grow together.

Connect the dots.
An interdependent community is inherently about what holds it together. Focus on guiding students through what makes each of them unique, but also how we are linked as a Christian community. When we connect with God, we connect with each other. Connect the dots between what God calls us to do, the passions that drive and fulfill us, and how the world needs us to serve.

Value the ask.
An interdependent community needs each other. Encourage asking for help and asking questions. Question marks lead to deep dives, and often belly flops into more questions. As a leader, learn how to listen well and teach students this skill, especially without having all the answers. Find comfort in being silent together, establishing space for the wonder that comes with knowing God. Make it a goal for students’ first instincts to be to reach out when they feel low, out of balance, or alone.

Keep Jesus at the center.
An interdependent community chases a common goal, standing behind a recognized leader or set of values. Align all that you do together behind the love, promises, and principles of Jesus.

Take a long view and create an interdependent community that stands together to experience the awe and wonder of God’s work in and through it.

Tera Michelson

Tera is a silver-haired youth leader, serving the church since 1994. She loves Jesus and teens. She is a pastor’s spouse, mother of three, and writes at the world’s loudest house on a hilly street in Ohio.

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Right now, we are assembling leadership teams, teachers, mentors, and other caring adults for children and youth ministry. Is the Spirit of God nudging you to step up and serve? Please be in touch with Pastor Lowell (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Have you had a chance to Make Your Mark in our sanctuary yet? As part of our Share the Light sanctuary renewal project, we are inviting you to write your favorite Bible verse, message of support, or prayer on our bare sanctuary floor before the new carpet is installed. These kind words will ground us as God calls us to move into new opportunities to be His hands and feet and voice in the world.

I love to walk through the space every few days and see what has been added. The outpouring of faith and love is inspiring. Someone stenciled our mission statement across the front of the altar area. One child wrote, “I love this church.” Another wrote, “Yes I will be God’s servant.” Someone offered the prayer “Lord, help me help others in this place.”

I wrote on the sanctuary floor, close to the spot where I normally sit during worship, and included one of my favorite Bible verses, Micah 6:8: “Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.” Is that your favorite, too? No worries; there’s plenty of space for you to write it again. It’s a message that bears repeating. 

I also included the phrase “Show Up.” Show Up is the evocative title of a work shared by poet and educator Joe Davis during our recent journey with Next Faithful Move. You may remember from Pastor Lowell’s blog post a few weeks ago that a group of us have been educating ourselves about racial issues. Most recently, Joe Davis and Dave Scherer led us on a powerful journey through our own racial histories to gain insights and tools with Next Faithful Move. As a capstone to our time together, Joe shared his work “Show Up.” I strongly encourage you to experience it for yourself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXC4EKKD0ko).

The Micah passage provides me with active verbs that propel me to grow in my life of faith. Show Up exhorts me to bring my whole self to the process, asserting that only by bringing my genuine, complete self will I be able to contribute fully in my role in the body of Christ. As we continue to move through PRIDE month, we affirm the idea of whole self with regard to sexuality and gender expression. Yes! Lord of Life wants our LGBTQIA+ siblings in Christ to live, share, and celebrate with us just as they are. Show Up encourages us to move beyond all of the ways we limit our participation with the world and each other. We are all both wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) and broken (Romans 3:23). We all have tremendous gifts and talents, but it is often our experiences of brokenness that give us the empathy to reach out, comfort others, and solve problems. 

There’s still time to make your mark. Show up.

Showing up for you,

Cara

I am not the most musically knowledgeable person. If you ask me what type of music I like I will shamefully say that I like what is on the radio. I don’t deep dive into genres and uncover the rising artists. However, there is one artist that I will go to bat for and passionately defend as I am a genuine fan - Katy Perry.

If you take a deep dive into Katy Perry’s music you’ll notice that she makes a lot of Bible references. Before Katy Perry was a pop star, she was Katheryn Hudson - a teenage gospel singer raised by two Pentecostal pastors. When her early career as a gospel singer was not a success, she brought herself into secular music and rebranded herself as Katy Perry - taking on her mother’s maiden name.

Though she is a secular artist, she wears her faith upbringing on her sleeve, literally, as she has “Jesus” tattooed on her wrist. But also, it is in her music. In her song Wide Awake she sings of being born again. In Who am I Living For? Perry plays with Christian themes of being chosen, called, sacrifice, Heaven, Hell, and name drops Esther, while repeatedly asking, “Who am I living for?” In By the Grace of God, she sings about finding strength during divorce, thanks to God’s grace, “By the grace of God- there was no other way- I picked myself back up- I knew I had to stay-.” In Rise she quotes Jesus in Matthew 8:26, “O ye of so little faith, don’t doubt it, don’t doubt it,” and in the same song, she uses death and resurrection imagery, singing, “When you think the final nail is in, think again. Don't be surprised, I will still rise.”

Katy Perry is not unique though. Although she incorporates Christianity into her music more so than the average artist, the media industry loves to play with Christian imagery - largely because it is what we know as a heavily Christian society. Ask almost anyone, “who is Jesus?” and you will get an answer. And because of Christianity’s universalism, Biblical imagery and concepts tug at people’s hearts and minds. Coupling that with why many of us listen to music, we come to know that people, religious and irreligious, universally find inspiration and discernment through thinly veiled religious ideas.

Music grabs us and helps us discern our reality. When we are sad we listen to the blues. When we need some motivational energy at the gym we play upbeat music. When our heads are stuck in cloud nine we play Ed Sheeran or Michael Bublé. When songs break records and generate millions in revenue, people communally discern their reality through shared music, even if they simply listen alone on their way to work.

The line between secular and religious is thin, as we are religious people in a secular world, and secular people in a religious world. When Praying, a secular song by Kesha peaked at #7 on the Billboard chart, the world was pulled into Kesha’s words “I hope you’re somewhere prayin, I hope your soul is changin’, I hope you find your peace, fallin’ on your knees, prayin.”

What songs have helped you discern the world? In the high and low moments of life, what artists were able to tug on your heartstrings? Has secular music brought you into a deeper relationship with God?

Your sibling in Christ,

Pastor Alec Brock, Seminary Intern (he/him/his)

“We see you. We hear you. You matter.”

Throughout April and May, fifteen of us took a deeper dive into racial discussions. A larger group of us had already been watching films and documentaries, reading books, and gathering twice a month for discussions over the last year, but as we moved toward May 25, the one year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, we yearned for more.

“Our Next Faithful Move” was a perfect fit. Our hosts, Joe Davis and David Scherer, invited us into their story as residents of Minneapolis and lovingly challenged us to wrestle with our own histories and explore the tensions of our time, even as they equipped us with a variety of skills for moving forward.

After each person shared a personal story, our group paused and responded in unison, “We see you. We hear you. You matter.” Before we launched into our own thoughts, opinions, or counter arguments, we gave honor to each speaker’s vulnerability and their reflection. Knowing each others’ stories deepens our understanding of each other, allowing us to connect in meaningful ways and challenges us to grow. It is a privilege to know people in this way.

“We see you. We hear you. You matter.”

Far too often, when someone else is speaking, I spend my mental energy formulating my next verbal move. Rather than seeing and hearing them, I’m busy crafting my own agenda. This simple mantra is a reminder to honor the person before me and to take in what they are saying as we share space together.

Jesus was a master at making space for people. He saw the frustrated Zacchaeus in the tree (Luke 19:1-10) and the isolated Samaritan woman at the well in the heat of the day (John 4), then made time for them. He listened to the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30) and the anxious thief on the cross (Luke 23:39-43). Over and over throughout the gospel accounts, Jesus declared in word and deed, “I see you. I hear you. You matter.”

During this Pride Month, you may wonder why people are posting rainbow flags, marching in Pride parades, and sharing words like ally, full-inclusion, and LGBTQIA+. These are all ways of saying “We see you. We hear you. You matter.” We stand up and speak out as signs of support and encouragement. For too long, these children of God – our family members, friends, co-workers, and strangers – have been relegated to live out of sight and in silence.

Even more, this is part of our Christian witness. The Spirit of God fills us with love and grace, giving us the capacity to know each others’ stories and find our collective selves in God’s story. Each time we worship, eat, protest, vote, listen, pray, and celebrate no-matter-what love, we proclaim to the world, “God sees you. God hears you. You matter.”

I love to tell the Story,

Pastor Lowell