Thousands of items made their way to Lord of Life this week for our annual rummage sale. If you stroll around, you will notice the carloads of toys, furniture, sports equipment, tools, jewelry, and a myriad of other items dropped off in hopes of finding a new place to call home. There were even a few heirlooms that made their way to the sale. (Pssst… Don’t miss the sale this Saturday, 8 am – 1 pm. There is literally something for everybody.)

One such item, not often associated as a treasured keepsake, was a hardcover version of the classic “Goodnight Moon.” Pictured here, you’ll notice that it was more than well loved. You can tell that it had been read and carried around so many times over the years that the binding was barely holding the whole package together. Pages were torn, mangled, or missing all together. This was a well-known and well-loved story.

We have a shelf of family Bibles in our home. Included in this array, there is one from the Foellner family in Germany and one from the Michelson family in Norway. We don’t read them for devotions, because, not only are they in German and Norwegian, but the fancy fonts and ancient versions of these foreign languages are far beyond the modern languages we could study and read.

The Norwegian Bible is an especially elegant old edition with several pages of family history including birth, wedding, and death dates hand calligraphied in the front pages by my ancestors. The leather cover is battered and the binding is barely holding together from years of usage. It is fascinating to imagine all the hands that held and reflected on the people and stories in this well-loved and holy book.

When you see the new addition on our campus from the Tylersville entrance, you might immediately notice the towering glass which splits the soaring rock walls on the north side of the building. Architect Art Hupp, speaking about the design, said that he wanted it to look like an open book that had the binding split open. Not only is the hope that our space—the book—will be so well loved and used that it bursts open in a new way, but also the reality that the Spirit of God is continually tearing into our world in mighty and powerful ways!

We are a faith community open to neighbors and the world. We are not an idle heirloom gathering dust on a shelf somewhere, but a vibrant place and a people who are continually being called into action for God’s purposes. In addition, we are a people who stand open to the way that the Spirit of God calls us into both time tested and new ways of worship, learning, serving, sharing, and caring.

As I mentioned in a previous reflection, our new space is literally pointing to the risen Jesus Christ as well as away from our existing building and out into the community. This isn’t by accident, but is an architectural choice to visually remind us that our mission—God’s mission—doesn’t reside on our property, but propels us upward and outward. 

You may remember that Sir Winston Churchill said, “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” So it is with the angles of this expansion which fan out in open fashion. Open hearts. Open minds. Open Spirit.

I am excited for how this new space will shape and transform us and our community. God is building something beautiful and transformational at Lord of Life. It is a joy to be part of this season as God opens us up with stories of forgiveness and reconciliation, liberation and salvation, hope and joy.

I love to tell the Story,

Pastor Lowell

My brother-in-law had thriving elephant ear plants in Louisville that he needed to divide as they were taking over his yard. He offered cuttings of the tubers (like a bulb but in tube form) to his family in Cincinnati. Several said yes and the plant journey began. They were dug up but waited in Louisville for several days, withering in the hot sun, unrooted in traveling, they were delivered to several places in Cincinnati before a few ended up at our house.

We had a busy few days after they arrived, so they sat browning and curling before we were able to plant them. With good watering and fertilizing, and the humid heat of the summer, they took root and began to grow here too. Our neighbors noticed and asked if we would mind sharing a cutting. My husband explained that they also need care in the winter, either nestled in piles of leaves or dug up and brought inside but we would be happy to share.

This past Sunday, families showed up to plant roots of faith on Rally Day. We were intentional in tending to our life with Jesus. Our ability to root, or our choice of where to root, helps us grow and thrive. As we know, life can be so incredibly busy, and it can be easy to leave our faith withering or waiting for another day. But when we nurture it, we can pass that joy and peace on to others too. It’s never too late. Living out our faith doesn’t have to happen in our physical building, it can be anywhere. However, being grounded in a community that can enrich and support your family can be the sunlight that is crucial for thriving.

How exciting that we were spilling into every space available this past Sunday. We were packed in classrooms with our parents, learned about praying, received new Bibles, discussed future opportunities, and started to form relationships and renew past friendships. Most of all, we acknowledged that we are children of God period, no exceptions. We are welcomed just as we are and when life takes us away from this community, we are welcomed back always. Our teachers and helpers were open to planting roots, nurturing their faith, and sharing it with others. It was a Sunday filled with possibilities.

Looking back on our lives, most of us had a person who showed us how their faith in Jesus impacted their lives. They were intentional in sharing, serving, and loving. Who was it for you? They helped establish those roots that have enabled us to come back time and time again even in our brokenness.

As we move forward into this new season, where or how will you plant roots in growing your faith or your families? What in your life needs a little sunshine, fertilizing, or sharing? If you feel that life is like that withering plant, too busy or unsettled to even think about planting roots, we pray that knowing you are a loved child of God is enough for now. Like our elephant ears who are always leaning towards the sun for extra nourishment, we pray that you can lean into God’s sustaining and rooted promises of enduring love and hope.

Rooted in God’s love with you,

Angie Seiller, Director of Faith Formation

I went to the Piano Guys concert last night at the Taft Theater downtown. It is a beautiful space, and considering its age, they do a nice job making the room accessible for people with disabilities. There are nooks carved out of the permanent seating where people in wheelchairs can find a place, there aren’t any stairs between the doors and the main floor to break up the path, and there are ushers to help guide folks who need assistance through these paths to their seats. This is a great example of how hospitality, accessibility and diversity come together.

I go to concerts at Music Hall pretty often, too. Recent renovations have made that space accessible, as well. More importantly, the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras have made an effort to program music by a diverse range of artists, breaking away from the Euro-centric sets we’re used to and choosing selections by African American composers and composers from around the world. Just as importantly, they invite guest musicians who will speak to all the varied interests in Cincinnati’s metro area. It is part of their mission to share music without barriers.

These are really important steps to diversity and hospitality, but I would say that both accessibility for disabilities and demographic diversity are fairly obvious things. What do they mean for us up here in Butler County, though? Lord of Life is already built without any steps or difficult thresholds. That is low-hanging fruit. We live in a county that is 82% white, so we can’t expect that we will attract a racially diverse congregation. Could we do some more things to be more accessible? Yes. Are there other ways we can continue to think of racial diversity outside of our lives here in West Chester? For sure.

There is a broader way to think of diversity and hospitality, too, though. And once we start thinking that way, it opens up the path to make things accessible to everyone. In our reading from the book of Romans this week, Paul talks about the diversity of how people worship God. Some people fast in God’s name and some people feast in God’s name. To continue in that line of thought, some people might kneel while other people stand. Some people sing while others choose to pray quietly. Some people worship God through an entirely different faith, and that is good, too.

Even among those of us who worship here at Lord of Life, we all bring different gifts, and we are all at different places on our faith journey. We invite people of all ages and skill levels to participate fully in each part of our worship and all of our other activities, too. Believe it or not, that isn’t true in all churches.

This week, we’ll unveil four new art panels in the sanctuary. They focus on the theme of “rising” and volunteers from eight years old to many decades older worked on them throughout the past week. You’ll see hands uplifting, a sun ascending, colors emanating, and a city shining - all rising so they can be part of lifting up the world.

I can think of so many more ways to broaden my view of diversity: I can think of people with mental illness with compassion; I can consider that people of other socio-economic classes may have difficult circumstances and not poor choices; I can be patient with someone with a  personality I find difficult.

How can you broaden your view of diversity? What do you think that means for Lord of Life and your day to day life?

Yours in Christ,

John

Did you know that one of the top five world religions actually began with cannibals? These early followers also engaged in incest, promiscuity, and necromancy. Because of these crimes, the government outlawed their “love feasts,” driving them to meet in catacombs, the perfect backdrop for their death-obsessed worship. Who would choose a religion with a reputation like that? How could anyone devote themselves to following a religion that started that way? What does that even say about them as humans? We probably shouldn’t let our kids be around those weirdos. Except you are right this moment innocently reading the words of their propaganda! You might even consider yourself one… You know, one of those Christians! THE HORROR!!!

If you have studied early Christian history, you might be aware of these misconceptions the Romans used against the Christians to justify persecuting them. Christians also stayed away from community events because the events often centered on the worship of other gods, making it difficult for non-Christians to get to know them and learn the truth about their beliefs and practices. Of course, the Romans believed the Christians were cannibals when they talked about eating flesh and drinking blood, people didn’t hang around them long enough to understand the deeper meaning. Test yourself and see if you would saddle up for a conversation with someone you think is a cannibal. Personally, I might take a step away or more probably a few steps. I prefer to keep my skin intact and safe from bite marks.

This might be hyperbole but I am hoping it reveals to you the danger of prejudice and misinformation. False information and misconceptions breed misunderstanding and fear. Naturally, we avoid the things we fear, using division to protect us from that which scares us. Division creates otherness which in turn leads to hate. Social and political tension is mounting in our country, leading to divisions in families and between friends. It can make us question with whom we can trust our whole selves. We might internally ask, “Are you like me? Can I trust you with who I am? Am I safe to be vulnerable with you?”

We can become so focused on the otherness, but God calls us to confront these fears. We dispel these fears and honor our neighbors through learning about their faith, their community, their lives. This illuminates our minds to other ways of being and calls us to discover our commonalities. By embracing those things we hold in common, we learn to love our neighbor as Christ called us to do. Each step we take in love towards our fellow humans deepens our faith and brings us closer to God.

This year, we are looking to visit other faith traditions with the goal of eradicating the “otherness” we might feel through knowledge and experience. We begin this Saturday, September 9th by visiting the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati. We will come together at Lord of Life at 11:30 am with bagged lunches in hand to talk and learn. Then we will carpool to the center for their program from 1 – 3 pm. Please reach out to Pastor Laura if you are able to attend either part of the day or for more information. This event will hopefully mark the start of an excellent year in discovering and restoring our communal ties.

We invite you to join us. To ask questions. To be vulnerable. To make a friend. To erase the walls. To mend the divides. To vanquish fear with love. To come close and see the face of God in your neighbor.

With peace,

Laura and the Honoring Our Neighbor’s Faith Committee

Our youngest son plays percussion with the Lakota East High School Marching Band. I was standing in the end zone at a recent football game, helping move marching band gear after the pregame set of the National Anthem and fight song, when the opposing team entered the field. Just moments prior, the stadium had been filled with cheers of celebration and good vibes for our football team on their home opener of the season, but when the opponents entered the field, there was a massive crescendo of “Boooooooo!” It was deafening. The disdain was overwhelming and made me sad. These kids, from another town with different colored uniforms, are still kids –the same as our high school athletes.

Humans are passionate creatures. We rally with enthusiasm for our teams, causes, beliefs, and the people we love, while also vehemently pushing back against opponents and enemies real or imagined. All too often, we expend more energy focusing on who or what we are against, than who or what we are for.

I’m weary of all the hating and animosity. I’m tired of how we are constantly trying to dominate others. So much around us says that winning is all that matters. We’re told that we have to be the best and crush the competition. Friday night lights are a mirror of our culture and communities – cheering with joy and affirmation for some and spewing hate for the other. We don’t have to play along.

The Apostle Paul challenges us with a different way of thinking when he writes, “do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12).” We don’t have to join the throngs of “Boooooooo!” for anyone who isn’t on “our team.” We don’t have to conform. 

Imagine what would happen if we harnessed all this negative energy in a different and better way. How might it transform our families, communities, congregations, and world if we channeled our rage and spite and hatred into encouragement, joy, and hope? Think about what a difference our Christian witness could make – would make – if we weren’t obsessed with all the things that we’re against?

Songwriter Scott Stivers writes: There’s more to loving good than hating evil. 

There’s more to doing right than avoiding what is wrong.
More to being steadfast than just standing still.
More to having faith than being strong.

It’s so easy to unite ourselves against a common foe.
We try to keep the peace by making war.
And we see with crystal clarity what we must fight against
We’ve lost sight of what we’re fighting for.

I want to be – and I want our church community to be – focused on the things that we’re for, rather than spending our lives on what we’re against. I want to live fueled by what God is “for” and how the Spirit of God is at work affirming and building up, creating and redeeming. 

I want to leverage my passion to cheer for others and celebrate what they have to offer. I want to work for freedom and help set the captives free. I want to move through each day inviting, welcoming, and including.

I want to spend my life empowering and encouraging others. I pray that my heart and mind will continue to grow as I listen to and learn from those beyond my experiences, neighborhood, and “team.”

Galatians 5:22-23 summarizes it well, saying, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” The same sentiment is nestled in the Lord of Life mission statement, too. Living, sharing, and celebrating are powerful words filled with positive, collaborative momentum. Let this mission drive our actions.

Cheering for you,

Pastor Lowell

I was excited to feel how easily the wheels glided as I pulled one of our new carts of Fellowship Hall chairs down the hall to provide additional seats in the Sanctuary. With three baptisms this past Sunday, we knew our attendance would be boosted by extended members of two families. Our number ended up exceeding our previous baptism by 30 people - well beyond the number of family members present. There is a momentum here that goes well beyond this Sunday.

As I looked out over the full room, I found several faces I didn’t recognize or only recognized vaguely. Maybe they were visiting for the first time, or maybe they had only come a few times and I hadn’t gotten to know their faces yet. Maybe they’ve been with us online for a long time and this is the first time they’ve been in our building. Sometimes Pastor Lowell gets to know people who have found us through social media and I don’t meet them until they are in the building for the first time.

Besides making sure they all had comfy chairs (I’m really glad no one has to sit on the folding metal ones anymore), as the music director one of the only other things I can do from my place at the piano is make the music as spiritually fulfilling as possible. I felt good about all of our music selections, and at the end of the Baptism liturgy, we sang “Light of the World” as Lowell introduced our new brother and sisters to the congregation. As Cara wrote in a previous blog, it is a song that reminds us that we’re called to “shine where we are” as we go out into the world each week. Since I knew some of our guests were from the Roman Catholic tradition, as our communion assistants helped welcome everyone to the table for Eucharist, I chose two songs I knew any Catholic would recognize, One Bread, One Body, and Come to the Water, with an additional refrain of “I will run to you.”

As I look into 170 faces on a joyful Sunday morning, I know I’m looking into the face of Jesus. They are here shining their light not just from where they are physically, but also from wherever they are on their spiritual or emotional journey. I want to run to them in greeting, to meet them in their joy, in their grief, in their questioning.

As we live into our call to shine our light in the world, we all have different ways we can run to meet people on the path. We do it when we greet people at church, help them find a seat, pass the peace, bring the scripture and prayers to life by reading them aloud, assist with communion, lead or participate in a Bible study or small group, volunteer during one of our outreach opportunities, or provide a quiet presence that someone else finds to be a safe space.

This weekend at least nine new families will participate in our Discover LOL class to learn a little bit more about the light they’ve seen us shine in the world. In the coming weeks, we’ll have photos and bios of the people who have decided to call Lord of Life their church home, and I hope you’ll run to them in welcome. Soon, our new building will begin to shine a new light in the community, and I expect we’ll see more new faces who are drawn to us either out of curiosity or in need of their own place to call home. I hope you’ll run to meet them, too.

Running to meet you,

John Johns, Music DIrector