This summer, worship services at BCMC have focused on readings from the book of Genesis: Stories of Biblical characters such as Abraham, Hagar, Ishmael, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Esau, Jacob (who later came to be called Israel), Rachel, Leah, Joseph and other descendents of Jacob.   This multi-generational family narrative is the story of God calling the people of Israel to be a covenant community who will be the vehicle of God’s blessing to all people in the world.   At the same time, these peoples’ lives were also filled with conflict, danger, deceit and dysfunction.  Some of the stories are quite disturbing, raising questions about how human beings perceive God’s presence and interpret God’s will. They invite us to wonder about how human choice intertwines with divine purpose.

These ancient family stories have echoed in my mind, as I have joined my relatives for several of our own extended family reunions this summer.  As reunions often do, our gatherings include telling stories about our common ancestors, showing pictures, and reviewing family genealogy.   In the process we discover that – like the characters of Biblical history – the members of our families are far from perfect.  In the telling of our stories, we cannot help but notice brokenness, imperfections, flaws and foibles.  We observe the wounds of division, hostilities and conflict that leave their mark from one generation to another.  Yet, like the ancient people of Israel, our family stories also reveal the faithfulness of God working through – and in spite of – our human choices and events beyond our control.  God chooses to use ordinary people to carry out God’s purposes in the world.

In Jacob’s dream, God told him: “…your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring…”

May our families – scattered as they are, imperfect as they are – also be the relationships through which we experience God’s faithfulness, seek to be faithful to God, and become a blessing to the world around us.

In my last pastor’s post, I wrote about a recent vacation trip my husband and I took to Alaska.  I described the beauty of God’s creation that we saw:  Mountains, ocean, glaciers, forests, lakes, rivers, icebergs, and wildlife. And I mentioned visiting our son who has lived in Anchorage the past year, serving with Service Adventure through Mennonite Mission Network.

So, this post is “Alaska – Part II.”  Our vacation in Alaska occurred at the beginning of the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament, which just concluded.  Being avid soccer fans, we were on a constant quest in Alaska to find venues to watch soccer games – places that had a TV, got the required TV station, and would turn it on for us.   Seeking soccer-watching venues  is often a feature of our family summer vacations, since the World Cup occurs in summer.  For example, I remember the time we stopped to watch a game in a restaurant in Pueblo, CO, on the way back from time in the mountains.  Our waiter was annoyed because he would rather have been watching baseball or golf on another TV station.  And there was the time a group of us stopped during the Bike Across Kansas to see a game in a hotel in Baldwin City, KS.

Well, it was no different in Alaska – except the venues were more exotic and the food more expensive.  In Anchorage, we watched games and ate burritos in the Los Arcos Mexican Resturant, hamburgers at the Peanut Farm sports bar and grill, pizza at the Firetap Alehouse, and blackened halibut tacos at the Beartooth Theater and Grill.  Then there was Thorn’s Lounge down in Seward on the Kenai Peninsula along the gulf of Alaska, where we ate cheesecake and apple pie; and Mike’s Palace in Valdez, where a friendly waitress ushered us back to a separate room with large screen TV all to ourselves, ate Greek salads and watched end-of-the day highlights of the U.S. victory over Ghana.

The next morning, after we had cleaned up our tents from camping in the rain, we came back into Valdez looking for a warm spot to have lunch and watch Brazil vs. Mexico.  First we stopped at Ernesto’s Mexican Restaurant, thinking surely they’d be showing the game.  But no, they were not even aware of it. So we ended up instead at the Fat Mermaid restaurant, where a waitress cheerfully sat us down at a table right in front of the TV, and enjoyed clam chowder (fitting for a harbor town) and chips and salsa (to honor the Latin American teams playing).

So, why should a pastor tell about her family’s obsession with soccer? Well, there are some parallels to church life.  Watching World Cup soccer connects us to something beyond ourselves – a global community that is quickly recognized when kindred spirits meet one another.  At the Peanut Farm in Anchorage, we had just come in and been seated to watch the Netherlands vs. Spain game, decked out in orange t-shirts in loyalty to our favored team – the Dutch.  Then, in walked a group of Dutch tourists, all wearing orange, carrying orange hats and an orange banner.   Upon seeing our orange attire, they heartily greeted us and said, “You are one of us – come be part of our group!”  They rearranged tables and chairs so we could all sit together, and they proudly hung the banner on the table in front of us.  Instant camaraderie!  Soon, a larger group of soccer fans had assembled, some cheering for Spain, some cheering for Netherlands, but all sharing the spirit of fun, good-natured debated over the referee’s calls, and the drama of the game.

Hospitality was another aspect of our soccer-watching.  Besides the open arms of fellow tourists, and the friendly welcome at the Fat Mermaid, there was the waitress at Thorn’s lounge in Seward who – after we’d already been nibbling our cheesecake and pie and sipping coffee for a good hour said, “You must be real soccer fans – you have been watching that screen the whole time!  Don’t worry, just put up your feet and make yourselves at home. Stay as long as you want!”  (We made sure to tip generously.)

Of course, I do not presume to persuade everyone to become soccer enthusiasts, nor do I assume World Cup soccer is without its flaws.  I would also not suggest that spending hours in front of TV screens eating hamburgers, nachos and cheesecake should be habitual activity.

But I do hope we in the church can take some lessons from World Cup soccer players and fans. I hope that we can exhibit the same level of enthusiasm for teamwork and goals.  I hope that we can take as seriously the training, equipping and effort that are required for faithfulness and some measure of success.  I hope that we can embrace with similar eagerness the reality that we are not an isolated group unto ourselves, but are part of a wide community of people who share common loyalty and purpose.  And I hope that we too will go out of our way to be welcoming and hospitable to those who come out of the cold and rain and travels of life to seek shelter, food, drink, and the joy of sharing it with others.

May God grant us energy and enthusiasm to join God’s work in the world.  May we have open hearts, minds and arms to embrace sisters and brothers in our own congregation, to love our neighbors in the community, and to seek the welfare of strangers and opponents in the wider world.  May we strain to watch God’s game – to catch sight of God’s Spirit on the move, to cheer the good news of God’s grace, to lament the losses and encourage the hopes of others, and to keep in view the purpose toward which God calls us.   G….o…..a….l !!

– adapted from a devotional presented by Heidi Regier Kreider at BCMC Church Board.

I recently returned from a vacation trip to Alaska with my husband, where we visited our son who has been living in Anchorage this past year, participating in Service Adventure with Mennonite Mission Network. We enjoyed seeing his work site, meeting his host family and other Service Adventure housemates, hiking in Kincaid Park on the Cook Inlet, and attending worship at Prince of Peace Mennonite Church.

Beyond Anchorage, we visited several glaciers, rode a ferry in the Prince William Sound, watched salmon fishing in the Copper River, canoed on Byers Lake, camped in the rain and beside a waterfall, and spent the longest day of the year – June 21- at Denali National Park.  I was enthralled with the stunning beauty and variety of of the landscapes and natural life we saw and experienced around us:

Mountains, oceans, and fjords…brilliant flowers and lush ferns…snow, glaciers, and icebergs…flat silty “braided” rivers, rushing streams and crystal-clear lakes…rain, clouds, hail, and blue skies…moose, fox, caribou, dall sheep, grouse, eagles…and more.

At the same time, it was sobering to observe how far the glaciers have receded in recent decades due to global warming; and to visit the site of the 1989 Exxon-Valdez oil spill in the Prince William Sound.

These examples of human environmental impact reminded me that the faraway beauty of Alaska is closely tied to the rest of us who live here in the “lower 48” and elsewhere around the globe.

How does our lifestyle and consumption of resources hinder or help environmental health?  How can we advocate for sustainable stewardship of earth’s resources? What responsibility do we have to care for the whole earth – not just our private lawns and gardens?

As I ponder these questions, and cherish the beauty I have experienced, I am humbled.  I think of God’s admonishing words to the Biblical character, Job.  Here is just an excerpt (see Job 38-39 for the full sweep of this magnificant poetry):

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?  …Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?  …Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?…Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail…?  What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?… Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that a flood of waters may cover you?…Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer?… Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes its nest on high? 

To which I can only respond, “No, of course not…”  And then say “Thank you!” for the incredible creation in which God has placed us.

– Heidi Regier Kreider

BCMC hosted the annual Bethel College Baccalaureate service on May 18.  Once again, it was a wonderful celebration together with graduating seniors, their families and friends, and the wider church community.  The poignant reflections shared by students, parents, and faculty members moved many of us to tears. The music offered by graduating seniors reflected the tremendous gifts and talents that have been nurtured over the years at Bethel College. The candles lit by graduates reflected the blessings that will light their way into the future. And the songs sung by the congregation and the Bethel College Concert Choir embodied both our connection with each other and the relationship with God that is expressed within community.  The hugs, tears and smiles that filled the sanctuary following the service were clear evidence of that!

Baccalaureate is just one expression of the relationship that BCMC has with Bethel College.  It is a privilege, gift and calling that we should not take for granted.  This relationship is an invitation for our congregation to help shape the life of college students, and an opportunity for us to be enriched and challenged by those same students together with their faculty, staff and families.

Experiences like Baccalaureate give new meaning to the words of the Apostle Paul shared in the service that day:  “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9).

May it be so!

– Heidi Regier Kreider, pastor

Early on Easter morning in the waning darkness before dawn, church members, family and friends of BCMC gathered for our annual Easter sunrise service.  We arranged our lawn chairs and blankets near a pond on a grassy mown pasture at the Prouty home, and sat overlooking greening wheat fields stretching to the horizon.  As we waited and watched, light grew in the eastern sky, and a pink glow entered the clouds. The cool quiet of the morning was punctuated by calls of meadowlarks (and, someone told me later, a pheasant!).  The youth group led us in a simple service of readings, songs, prayers and silent reflection.  Several youth quietly caught our attention with the shape of a large cross formed from white fabric on the bank across the pond.  And then, as the service concluded, we saw the sun: An orange-red ball of flame peeking over the edge of the earth, then growing, until it was in full view! We shared a breakfast of fresh fruit and cheese, muffins and cinnamon rolls, fresh pascha (Easter bread), coffee and juice.   Easter had arrived! Hallelujah, the Lord is risen!

What if we greeted every morning as a day of resurrection, filled with opportunities to witness God’s gift of new life and love? Here is traditional Celtic prayer, fitting for the Easter season:

Thanks be to you O God,
that I have risen this day
to the rising of this life itself.
May it be a day of blessing,
O God, of every gift,
a day of new beginnings given.
Help me to avoid every sin
and the source of every sin to forsake.
And as the mist scatters
from the crest of the hills,
may each ill haze clear
from my soul, O God. Amen.

– Traditional Celtic Prayer

Heidi Regier Kreider, pastor

Reading the Bible in 90 Days

From January to March I participated in The Bible in 90 Days, a Sunday school elective at BCMC.   The purpose of the class– as the title says – was simply to read through the whole Bible in 90 days, from Genesis to Revelation.   This meant reading about 15 chapters – approximately 45 minutes – daily.  Some people listened to recordings of the readings.  Each Sunday we would also gather to share insights and questions about what we had read, and watch a video presentation with more explanation.  On the final Sunday, we celebrated the completion of our journey through scripture by sharing in a potluck lunch.  Everyone who had participated in some way was invited to the potluck – even those of us who were behind and still reading somewhere in the Epistles, or those who had “fallen off the wagon” (as one person said) after the Old Testament!   This was, after all, a Biblical banquet, intended to celebrate God’s good news for all!  This experience of reading through the whole Bible in a short time was a great way to review the “big picture” of scripture and the themes of God’s story: God’s creation of the world and calling of a covenant people; God’s persistent and passionate desire to restore this relationship when people are unfaithful; God’s Word made flesh in Jesus whose life, death and resurrection embody shalom in a new way; God’s gift of the Holy Spirit who breathes life into the church; and God’s promise of a new creation in the fulfillment of time.   This “big picture” perspective is an essential framework for interpreting scripture, guarding against “proof-texting” and taking individual texts out of context.   A full reading of the Bible also raises difficult questions:  What do we make of contradictions within scripture?  What about all the violence in the Bible?  What is the significance of scripture for our lives today?  Hopefully, such questions are reason to return to the Bible for further study, to explore it more closely.   For me, Reading the Bible in 90 Days was like flying in an airplane and seeing the vast contours of landscape below – mountains, valleys, rivers, fields, roads and cities.  Now I am eager to get down on the ground again and explore features of this landscape more closely: To struggle step-by-step up the steep inclines of difficult passages, to soak in the waters of poetry and songs of scripture, to trudge through the valleys of suffering and lament in scripture, to walk the paths of Jesus’ travels and teachings, to be astounded at the mountaintop visions of scripture – and along the way, take time to pay attention to detail, and ponder how this relates to the landscape of life in today’s world.  I invite you to join me on the journey of reading the Bible – whether it takes 90 days, or 90 years!