Pastor message

The most recent message from our pastors. Archive of older pastor messages.

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New ORUCC: Note From Pastor Julia

by Julia Burkey

July 8, 2022

A Note From

Pastor Julia

July 8, 2022

Dear friends of ORUCC,

Summertime is in full swing at ORUCC as we delve into the veggie garden with the kids, as we explore the rich theme of spirituality and the arts, as we take time to play, rest & renew.

Have you taken time to enjoy the beauty of the earth? Many of our ORUCC folks enjoyed Moon Beach together recently with the loons and the lake.

Have you watched the sun dance on a gorgeous Wisconsin lake? We have so many beautiful lakes in this state!

Have you been able to contact your representatives and protest the abortion ban and gun laws?! Add these to the list of things we wish we didn’t have to do this summer. I hope in the midst of all the heaviness of the world, you have some time for sabbath and relaxation. God invites us into sabbath rest and enjoyment of creation and one another. God wants us to be whole in this fractured world. God dreams for collective liberation. Have faith that any rest and renewal you can grab are part of God’s dream for you.

A Good Goodbye

This summer our big task at ORUCC is having an abundant and gentle and good goodbye with Pastor Tammy. Tammy is at the heart of ORUCC. We support her fully in following her call to her own rhythms of rest and restoring from the satisfying work of parish ministry and moving more deeply into her call of family systems work at Lombard Mennonite Peace Center. This summer we will celebrate Pastor Tammy’s wonderful ministry. We will say goodbye to Pastor Tammy on her last weekend with us August 6 at 5pm and August 7 with a 10am Sunday service.

Staff and lay leaders are working faithfully to make sure we have the parts in place to flow on without Tammy in the coming year. We will be sure to carry her wisdom and design forward while leaving space for newness to emerge. Tammy has been an incredible leader in this transition, showing us ways of abundance and gentleness. Thank you so much, Tammy, for all you are and have been to us at ORUCC. We treasure you.

July 17 Outdoor Worship Service: Welcoming Julie Mazer into an additional new role!

Julie Mazer is an ORUCC hero, as she will take on the role of Education Coordinator on top of being the children’s music director. She will work 10 additional hours a week to make sure Sunday School and Sunday morning programming for children and youth thrive this fall. We are so happy to welcome Julie Mazer into this role, beginning this week! Join us as we bless her on July 17, during our 10am outdoor worship service, where she will lead us in music. For our at-home crowd, the service will be recorded and uploaded later in the afternoon for you to view.

Spirituality & The Arts

I heard a story recently that I am eager to share with you, and I plan to share it this Sunday during our church worship service. It is a story about a young person working through trauma with art. We live in an age of so much global and local trauma. Art has a way of reaching recesses of the soul. Artists have a way of making beauty in the face of trauma. Art and artists can teach us something wise about this moment. ORUCC has a history of valuing the arts.

Painting in church this Sunday July 10

We are not only going to talk about the arts: we are going to DO art! This Sunday you will be invited to paint during church. Don’t be scared- no perfectionism invited! We have one blank canvas in the worship hall, waiting for our collective creative expressions of hope. There is no wrong way to approach this. You do not have to be good at painting to participate. We encourage a “beginners mind,” even if you have some art experience. If you are worshipping at home this Sunday grab something to sketch with. Our question will be: what does your hope for the world look like? If your hope had a color, what color would it be? How might you make the first few brush stroke of expressing your hope? What does our hope in this moment look like, together?

We might have an easier time painting our despair, rage or sadness at this particular political moment. It is good to express those sentiments in healthy ways too. It might be challenging for us to express hope right now. Yet God has placed deep wells of love and compassion within our hearts, where hope springs eternal. God has placed eternity within our souls and dreams for our collective liberation as a planet and humanity. Out of this place of deep love for the world you will be invited to express: what does your hope look like?

We pray that the arts and spirituality focus has already been nourishing for the weary soul, and engaging for the hopeful soul. We will continue to wonder together, what can we learn from artists? How can we ordinary people who are maybe not professional artists be invited into creativity and play and new expression?

We had such a beautiful end-of-the-year celebration for our seniors and for our teachers and youth leaders and for Pastor Tammy at the beginning of June. My heart is still brimming over from the overflowing love for one another in this community. This is the spirit of we intend to invoke when we say transitions can be guided by abundance.

Summertime blessings!

In Christ,

Julia