Every year our neighborhood holds a massive Fourth of July celebration — it’s got a theme, at least three days of events and a lot of community spirit.  This year our theme was summer camp, and we had an afternoon with a whole bunch of camp activities: tie-dye, crafts, archery and aerial acrobatics. That last one was led by our congregation.  Yup, you read that right.  We’ve had an aerial arts troupe (known as RAPT) for the last few years, started by a professional trapeze artist.  Yes, we bring it into worship – think amateur Cirque du Soleil interpreting song and Scripture.  (Read my Outlook blog about it here.) An important note here: We’ve shared our aerial arts ministry with the community on numerous occasions.  We did a Fourth of July showcase one year.  We’ve held workshops.  We’ve invited them to see it in worship. So, it was something of a shock to me when one of our long-time neighbors came up to me later in the day and said: “I wish I could have been there.  I didn’t … [Read more...]

My heart is pounding its way up my throat. My hands are sweaty enough that I’m glad we still have communion to celebrate before the end of the service and the inevitable line of people waiting for a vigorous handshake. My knees are trembling so badly that I’m positive everyone can see it. When I first started preaching, this was a familiar feeling – it happened every week just before the end of our second Scripture reading. But today there is no sermon in my hands. Today the pulpit will remain empty. A couple of minutes later, I’m hanging upside down over the congregation. One foot is locked in the fabric of the aerial silks, the other is hooked at the knee to keep me from plummeting down to the aisle below. After a couple of moments, I’m spinning my way out of the pose and climbing back down to the floor as another aerialist steps into another fabric at the front of the sanctuary. By the end of this act of proclamation, six of us have taken to the silks – and just a few months … [Read more...]