My First Column

My first column for the newsletter at High Plains Church.

Thank you! Thank you for calling me to be your minister. Thank you for your hospitality during my candidating week. Thank you for all of the good work you've done with Rev. Wanda Daniels during your interim period.

The future awaits us. It has worked out that during this chapter of your life as a congregation and during this chapter of my life (and my family's life), we've come together to see what kind of ministry we can create in partnership, in joy, and in hope and faith and love. I am thrilled to get on with the work of this ministry.

I am especially thrilled to work with Lori, Gia and Joy, a staff that you are rightly very proud of. I am thrilled that sometime this year, you as an organization will ordain Nathan into the Unitarian Universalist ministry.

If you want to check in on how things are coming along with my transition, you can read my blog at http://hpcuu.blogspot.com/. My schedule of services for the next few months can be found there. And possibilities for adult education offerings. And this quote about hope:

"Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good." -- Vaclav Havel

In gratitude,

Rev. Roger

Possible Services--Fall 2009

This is a draft. Note that December is open and that many of the months have dates that may be switched around, depending on what the worship team wants to do and when... But this is a start. December is open for two reasons: i want to hear from you the Religious Education staff about Christmas pagaent and i will know more about themes that will be especially relevant.

The dates can easily be switched around.

August 2: Blessed are the peacemakers

A sermon about three favorite peacemakers…Dorothy Day; Theodore Parker; and Thomas Merton. After a five minute introduction to each, we sing a song.

August 9: The Emperor of the US with Scott Richard

Scott introduced me to some character who just sort of decided that he’d be the emperor of the US. So I thought we could do a reflection together: if you could be any kind of superhero or …, what would you be??? A reflection on identity and desire and self-awareness and self-acceptance. Light-hearted but with a message that might endure.

August 16:

SERMON TITLE: Marginalia

Based on a poem by Billy Collins, those little moments that come out of nowhere and lead to epiphanies, new awareness, new ways of being in the world.

August 23: Ramadan.

August 30: What are you investing in? Music with Linda Densmore.

September 6:Rev. Roger Butts What is an economy for, anyway?

September 13: Water Service with Nancy Prince and the RE children: Celebrating Rainsforests.

September 20: The Tangled Bank. The tangled bank is an image that Darwin uses in his Origins of Species. This is a service on nature and contemplation and so on.

September 27: What Baby Suggs Taught

Here is the origin for me of the image of the walking stick. I use the story from Beloved by Toni Morrison of Baby Suggs preaching out in the clearing.

October 4: A service on Raising Children without punishments or rewards.

October 11: A Happy Atheist Walks Into a Church...

October 18: The Power of Forgiveness (Yom Kippur)

Using clips from award-winning PBS documentary, The Power of Forgiveness, we’ll talk about reconciliation—personal, political, and communal. And draw on a wide range of interfaith voices—Thich Nhat Hanh, Elie Wiesel, Marianne Williamson, etc, etc—to bring up this crucially important idea.

October 25:What is Prayer

November 1: The

Power

of Generosity

Why is generosity and stewardship so important in every religious tradition? At a bank the other day, I saw a sign that said: It’s not what you make, it is what you save. I wondered if we could say: it’s not what you make, it’s not what you save, it’s what you value and build and support.

November 8: To Humanism

November 15?

November 22: The Power of Gratitude

Why is gratitude such an important part of the journey towards wholeness? What is it about gratitude that is so compelling? What does gratitude stand for?

November 29: Bread Communion

I’m leaving all of December open, wanting to hear from the Religious Education staff about when the children’s pageant might be and what other traditions might occur during this time. Plus, I will have become a bit more aware of some of the themes that really need to be addressed, so even though I have ideas, I’ll keep this open.

December 6:

December 13

December 20:

December 27: Champagne and Chocolate Service

January 31: Special Musician: Justin Roth of Loveland.

Sometime in February:

A Theology of the Blues

We’ll need to find a blues band. We’ll explore the themes that the blues provides and the way that the blues can help us think about really important questions.