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Kindred in Christ,

I look forward to gathering with you during our upcoming Christmas Eve candlelight service and our Christmas morning celebration! After two years of not being able to gather in-person for worship during the holidays, it will be a gift to light candles next to one another and welcome the coming light of the Christ Child among us. Yet during this season, I am also reminded of how easily it is to miss God’s emerging light. In fact, I find that the four weeks of Advent and our Christmas celebrations only begin to prepare our hearts and minds for what the manger means in our world today.

One of the things that I love about the depiction above, by Everett Patterson, titled José y Maria, is that the more time you spend looking at it, the more you’ll notice. Drawn in literary comic-book style, in shades of purple, lavender and gray, it depicts a gritty street scene with a poor young Latine couple standing on a sidewalk in front of a convenience store at night. The man has a public telephone wedged between his shoulder and ear. He looks worried. His wife rests at his side, resting by sitting sideways on a child’s mechanical pony ride. She holds a hand over her very pregnant abdomen. She looks worried too, and tired.

Are you starting to see the picture? The artist loads it with evocative hints: The woman’s hoodie reads “Nazareth High School.” A sign in the store window, advertising Starr Beer, bears a blue neon star. A poster calls out “Good News.” Around the corner, a lighted sign for Dave’s City Motel reads “NO VACANCY.” And my favorite, in a crack in the sidewalk a hopeful green shoot has sprouted between the man and woman. What other hints do you see?

Join us this Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, in-person and online, as we explore further what it means to witness and welcome the coming of Christ in our world.

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

After being sick with the flu and lying in bed for almost a week, I am happy to share that I am almost back to feeling like my regular self. A big THANK YOU to those that stepped-in and stepped-up last Sunday to lead our worship service in my absence! I especially appreciated our new worship leader, Ben, sharing a reflection and personal testimony. If you missed it, you can watch the service here.

I am excited to be back with you for the final Sunday of Advent, as we consider The Annunciation to Mary (Luke 1:26-38), as seen depicted above by Scott Erickson. My favorite aspect of Erickson’s modern icon is the upside-down messenger inviting Mary into an upside-down way of looking at the world. Join us as we explore how Advent is about God showing up in our lives and transforming the way we see the world.

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

One of the things I love most about Advent is the invitation to embrace the darkness and mystery in our lives. During the four weeks leading to Christmas, we get to only light one candle per week. A slow progression from darkness to light. This serves as a reminder that our spiritual lives are nourished from both the certainty of the light, and the mystery of darkness.

Join us this Sunday, as we reflect further on these themes in our series, The Unexpected Gifts of Advent. And in the meantime, I invite you to take time to meditate on the prayer below.

Advent in the Dark

We wait in the darkness,

expectantly, longingly, anxiously, thoughtfully.

The darkness is our friend.

In the darkness of the womb,

we have all been nurtured and protected.

In the darkness of the womb

the Christ-child was made ready for the journey into light.

It is only in the darkness

that we can see the splendor of the universe –

blankets of stars, the solitary glowings of the planets.

It was the darkness that allowed the Magi to find the star

that guided them to where the Christ-child lay.

In the darkness of the night,

desert people find relief from the cruel relentless heat of the sun.

In the blessed desert darkness

Mary and Joseph were able to flee with the infant Jesus

to safety in Egypt.

In the darkness of sleep,

we are soothed and restored, healed and renewed.

In the darkness of sleep, dreams rise up.

God spoke to Joseph and the wise men through dreams.

God is speaking still.

Sometimes in the solitude of the darkness

our fears and concerns, our hopes and visions

rise to the surface.

We come face to face with ourselves

and with the road that lies ahead of us.

And in that same darkness

we find companionship for the journey.

In that same darkness

we sometimes allow ourselves to wonder and worry

whether the human race is going to survive.

And then, in the darkness

we know that you are with us, O God,

yet still we await your coming.

In the darkness that contains both our hopelessness and our hope,

we watch for a sign of God’s hope.

For you are with us, O God,

in darkness and in light.

~ from the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand (abridged).  Posted by James Hawes, on Sunday Papers. http://www.sundaypapers.org.uk/

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

I am thrilled to welcome our new Worship Leader, Ben Fowler, this Sunday Dec 4^th. I hope you will join us in-person or online to greet Ben as he leads us in some of our favorite Advent hymns! In the meantime, feel free to send him a note of welcome at ben.fowler@ugathering.org.

I am also excited to continue in our series, The Unexpected Gifts of Advent. During these four weeks leading to Christmas, we are exploring the four themes of advent (Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy) in light of the four antiracist values of transformation according to Crossroads. These values are:

1. From either/or thinking to both/and thinking
2. From a scarcity mindset to an abundance worldview
3. From a secrecy mode to transparent communication and decision making
4. From Individualism to cooperation and collaboration

Read more about these transformational values here.

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

During this season of gratitude, I give thanks for each of you, and for the unfolding journey we walk together accompanied by the Spirit.

A few years ago with a former church I used to serve, I attended an anti-racist training with Crossroads, which was very eye opening. They challenged us to think critically regarding how decisions were made, where power was consolidated, and how white institutional values still drove decision making even with a diverse church staff and leadership.

The four white institutional values they outlined were either/or thinking, a scarcity world view, the practice of secrecy, and competitive individualism. Of course, these are not the only white institutional values, but these are the ones that have been identified as showing up again and again in organizational systems—including churches.

Yet, as it turns out, the opposite of these four white institutional values, correspond well with what God was enacting in this world through the coming of Jesus. Unexpected values, that God gifted to us, by arriving in our midst in human form. Values that run counter to the systems of privilege and exclusion and empower us to live in the fullness and freedom of God’s love.

Join us this Sunday as we light the Hope candle, and begin our new Advent worship series, The Unexpected Gifts of Advent. This first week we will explore what it might look like to trust and practice a both/and way of being in the face of either/or systems.

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz