Dear Members and Friends of Immanuel United Church of Christ, What a strange Holy Week this will be! We are used to gathering together with great joy at the end of Lent to raise our palm branches high, shout hosanna, and welcome Jesus into Jerusalem. We are used to gathering together on Maundy Thursday to wash feet, celebrate communion, and then begin…
Catch me in my anxious quarantine, Lord, and hold me in this Lenten season: hold my feet to the fire of your grace and make me attentive to my mortality that I may begin to die now to those things that keep me from living with you and with my neighbors on this earth; to grudges and indifference, to certainties that smother…
A letter from Immanuel Church’s President Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27 The taverns are fair full of gadabouts making merry this eve. Though I may press my face against the window like an urchin at a confectioner’s, I am tempted not by the sweetmeat within, a dram in exchange for the pox…
Lenten Devotion – Week Four Opening Thoughts The dictionary describes “interruption” as a stoppage or hindering of an activity for a time, or a break in the continuity of something. Interruptions have been happening since the world began, but certainly now more than ever we recognize that everyone on earth is being interrupted… and currently for the same reason. Therefore, the question…
In an effort to stay connected during this time of disconnect, we invite you to pause in the solitude of your home and read through our “modified” Journey Connection.
Opening Prayer ~ Gather Me to Be with You by Ted Loder O God, gather me now to be with you as you are with me. Soothe my tiredness… quiet my fretfulness… curb my aimlessness… relieve my compulsiveness… let me be easy for a moment. O Lord, release me from the fears and guilts which grip me so tightly; from the expectations…
Dear Immanuel Church Family, How does the church respond in this era of COVID-19? Over the last 24 hours, the corona virus situation in the U.S. and in Wisconsin has changed drastically. Globally, we are in a “pandemic.” The U.S. has instituted emergency precautions. Yesterday, the Governor of Wisconsin declared a state of emergency. Cases in Wisconsin have gone from 1, last…
Lenten Devotion – Week Two Opening Prayer ~ I Need to Breathe Deeply by Ted Loder Eternal Friend, Grant me an ease to breathe deeply of this moment, to follow this light you offer, to know this miracle of now. Beneath the din and fury of great movements and harsh news and urgent crises, make me attentive still to good news, to…
Last week marked the opening of Lent. For six and a half weeks, we will join Christians around the world in self-reflection, new disciplines and spiritual awareness. What will that look like for you? What is your hope regarding your relationship with Jesus and your own wellbeing by the time we celebrate Easter? No matter what sacred pathway you are on, strive…
Follow the RAINBOW to our March Journey Connection and see how Immanuel is using its treasures to shine the light of God’s love to the world.