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Help us spread Gun Violence Prevention Awareness by supporting the cause and saving lives. One Team. One Goal. A whole lot of support. We’re thrilled to share some exciting updates on all the great things happening at the Gun Violence Prevention Committee of the Ohio Council of Churches. Our resources are expanding with Committee members’ input.
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The Ohio Council of Churches (OCC) is a partnership of 17 Christian denominations in 23 different organizational configurations or judicatories throughout Ohio. While our administrative offices are in Columbus, the Ohio Council of Churches is much larger than any office; it is all of us, together, across Ohio!
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THE MANDATE
A Holy Week Reflection for Maundy Thursday
Dear Beloved in Christ,
Christian communities are in the middle of Holy Week. On Thursday we will observe what I call the first Last Supper. It’s our remembrance of the day Jesus takes a traditional Jewish practice and gives it new meaning. It’s something Christians do on a regular basis. We call it Holy Communion, the Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper. We find it in each of the Gospels, told slightly differently by each author.
John is the only one who includes Jesus washing the feet of the disciples and it is John’s Gospel that we reference for today’s thought.
In John’s gospel we get a different take on things, a different emphasis, with the story of the foot washing. John tells of a meal, too, but his focus is more on the show and tell:
“this is what it looks like when you love one another.”
The story of this day, this night, includes dinner with friends, some farewell speeches, the washing of feet, entreaties to wakefulness, sleep, betrayal, violence, absence. It is a night of sweetness and of division, of coming together and ripping apart. The stories we most often associate with this day, this night, and which we remember most fondly, are the stories of a last supper, of Jesus instructing his disciples to “remember me,” of Jesus washing his followers’ feet.
When we mark Holy (Maundy) Thursday, we mark the beginning of the end, in a sense. It is the time when Jesus bid farewell to his followers on this earth and gave them final instructions for carrying on in his absence.
It was a last opportunity for Jesus to tell them his message and show them what he meant:
Love one another; do it like this.
John’s relation of the story of this day, this night, has a message for us beyond the breaking of bread, even beyond the breaking of the Body of Christ, which we do over and over again in our lives and in our Eucharistic worship.
John’s message is this: Remember me. Love one another. And this is how you do it. “Love one another” is our mandate for this day. As we break the Body of Jesus once again in the act of breaking bread, may we remember his command to love one another, and better yet, his example given us in the Gospel of John, to take care of one another – in remembrance of our Lord.
Dr. Rev. Amariah McIntosh
Associate Director
Ohio Council of Churches
Good Trouble Friday
Join us on Friday, April 3 from 12-1pm at Trinity Episcopal on Capitol Square
(125 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215)
A Lenten Reflection from Rev. Dave Long-Higgins,
Board Chair of the Ohio Council of Churches
"In the beginning was love, and the love was with God, and the love was God. He was with God in the beginning and the world was made through him and so was I. And there was light, and the light was the light of heaven. And there was goodness, and the goodness walked the earth. And there was beauty. And the beauty would sing like a voice in the wilderness calling my name. And before I knew what love was, love was in the beginning." ~ from "In the Beginning" by Jon Guerra, inspired by John 1:1-5
Dear Beloved in Christ,
One of the things I love most about the liturgical year is that it reminds me of an alternative rhythm that can shape my life if I'm willing to allow it. We are nearing the end of Lent, that season of forty days, not counting Sundays, reminiscent of Jesus' time in the wilderness. As I'm sure you know, there are many practices associated with Lent, like giving something up or starting a new practice.
In this final week of Lent, we can reflect on the journey we have had and where we are going. Did we travel in a circle and end up right where we were? Did we awaken ourselves to something that maybe we wish we had done but have not yet engaged. If that is the case for you, I'd like to suggest a practice it has surprised me this year.
My pastor Beth Gedert introduced me to the music of Jon Guerra and his album, entitled "Jesus". You can find the album by clicking on this link here. The lyrics from the first song I have put at the top of this note for you. I have found Guerra’s music to be quite powerful in its rendering of the Gospel with tunes and arrangements that land deeply in the soul. Songs like: “Who is the greatest?” “Take Up Your Cross,” “I See the Birds”, and “Love Your Enemies” are especially powerful. This year, my Lenten practice has primarily been listening to Jon Guerra's music daily.
As you have likely experienced, music lands in our hearts and minds more deeply than just words alone. I have found these
renderings and reflections on the gospel way of Jesus Christ to be especially formative. I can't exactly say how, except that I now find myself humming these songs unexpectedly throughout the day. Their meaning and message rise up in a powerful and gentle reminder of God's call and claim on my life. I realize you probably didn't expect a music recommendation from me in this monthly word.
But you may have heard that much of the Christian journey is like sharing bread to tend to another's hunger. Sometimes, during a journey, where the destination is still too far away to see, we may discover a hunger of the soul. If we are fortunate, someone may arrive bearing bread of one kind or another. And if we are willing to receive it we discover ourselves filled in a way that goes beyond the needs of the body, landing deeply in answer to the ache of our souls.
So, dear friends, if Lent has not been your thing, but you're still discovering a hunger in your soul, especially given all this going on in the world, it's not too late to start a practice that can center and renew you. Through such practices, we make ourselves available to this love that has been from before the beginning, and we'll hold us after the end, and everywhere in between. Go ahead. Give a listen and gift yourself with a sacred pause that reveals a way out of no way.
Blessings on you for the ongoing Lenten journey!
Pastor Dave Long-Higgins
Ohio Council of Churches Chair
Heartland Conference of the United Church of Christ
