I believe many of you will have by now experienced the beautiful Casa Del Sol prayer of Jesus in our services. It is a sung paraphrase of The Lord's Prayer written by John Philip Newell. An ordained minister of the Church of Scotland, former Warden of Iona Abbey, Companion Theologian at the American Spirituality Center of Casa Del Sol at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico, and noted scholar of Celtic spirituality, his works and wisdom have become infused into Plymouth's worship life. It was a pleasure to lead his "Prayer of Jesus" (as we have come to call it) in Mr. Newell's presence upon his visit to Plymouth several years ago. I have gladly shared this prayer and musical setting with several colleagues and people throughout the world. It is good to know others can experience this meaningful paraphrase of perhaps the most ecumenical of all prayers in Matthew 6.9-13. And many more can experience the poetic text in Mr. Newell's publication The Ground of All Being: The Prayer of Jesus in Color, a small tome presenting each line of the nature-oriented prayer with a scene from the deserts of New Mexico. This contemporary paraphrase of Jesus' ancient words is quite special to me. It speaks to universal truths that one can relate to regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof. Inclusive to the core – as Love is. Below you will find the original version as conceived by Mr. Newell (a few slight changes were made in our sung version to more elegantly accommodate the melody). I find these words to be especially poignant today as we wade through strange landscapes as a people far and wide — and close to home. Mark Ground of all being,
Mother of life, Father of the universe, Your name is sacred, beyond speaking. May we know your presence, may your longings be our longings in heart and in action. May there be food for the human family today and for the whole earth community. Forgive us the falseness of what we have done as we forgive those who are untrue to us. Do not forsake us in our time of conflict but lead us into new beginnings. For the light of life, the vitality of life, and the glory of life are yours now and forever. Amen. If you missed worship this past Sunday and need a little something to move your heart and soul this week, check out the psalms that our church members wrote: Elaine Kim, Megan Campain, Bob Jeffrey, Carlos Sosa, and Rev. Marta. View here. Sharing the Pulpit this June! Check out our guest preachers/wisdom sharers for this June. We are all about celebrating and beloved community.
![]() Ministry Highlights for may 2024 Last Sunday It may have been a three-day weekend, but Plymouth showed up to worship together on May 26th. Pentecost Sunday On May 19th, the children's chorus "Kids Will Sing!" was part of our Pentecost service and at Fellowship Hour we had our first "Fellowship That Transforms" gathering. (More will follow at intervals over the summer.) A pray ground at the front of the sanctuary provided space for kids to worship in their own way. Sunday Celebrations In May there were two special coffee hour celebrations: on May 12th we celebrated Joyce Sjogren's 98th birthday and on May 26th, Tricia and Jim Medlock's 50th wedding anniversary. Confirmation On April 28, six youth were confirmed. The Kids Will Sing! group participated in the service. It’s been almost a month now since Leadership Council made the difficult decision to place our senior minister, Hal Chorpenning, on paid administrative leave pending the result of a fitness review initiated by the Rocky Mountain Conference’s Committee on Ministry. In that time, our staff has stepped up to a challenging situation with grace and diligence. Mark continues to be our point person for music; Phil is overseeing administrative and financial needs; and Marta is taking the lead on worship and pastoral care. I’m grateful to our entire staff, and to the many Plymouth members who have stepped up, or who will step up in the coming weeks. The love we have for our congregation and each other has been apparent every day.
Rev. Erin Gilmore with the Rocky Mountain Conference has informed us that the fitness review is underway, and that interviews have begun. At this point we still do not know how long the fitness review will take, or how many interviews the committee is likely to conduct. This period of waiting is difficult and potentially frustrating. I will continue to share any updates we receive with the congregation. As always, please feel free to reach out to members of Leadership Council with any questions or concerns. In this season of waiting, there are also lots of exciting things going on! As in previous years, summer worship (with one service at 10:00 a.m.) is underway, and Marta, Mark, and Brooklyn are hard at work on a wonderful range of services. Fellowship groups are meeting, including Fellowship of the Grape on 5/24 and Plymouth Social Club on 5/25. And the long-awaited roof repairs are complete! We continue to be a vibrant community filled with people doing good work together. However you contribute to the life of our congregation, thank you for continuing to be Plymouth during this season! Adam Redavid, Plymouth Moderator P.S. There are a few questions that have come up often: Why is this review occurring right as Hal was about to retire anyway? The Conference received the complaints before Hal announced his retirement. It is important to note that pastors don’t retire from the United Church of Christ; they always have to retain their standing. This process would be happening regardless if he was at Plymouth. Why didn’t these members of the congregation try to handle this internally? The Conference works to ensure that all internal efforts have been exhausted before moving forward. How can we support the staff? Know that the changes we are making to be more efficient are very helpful and things are running smoothly. Oh, and chocolate is always welcome. :) I’m confused, what is happening? You may not have received our first letter on April 24th; that letter went out to covenanted members of Plymouth only. The short answer is that Rev. Hal Chorpenning is on administrative leave for a fitness review with the Rocky Mountain Conference, United Church of Christ. Last week, I wrote this reflection as part of a visionary care assignment for my Justice & Spiritual Care course at Iliff. The prompt was to imagine my commitments and how to bring them into alignment within my care context. I wanted to share these reflections with you, and I invite you to share your own commitments with me. Much love. - Brooklyn
I am a commitment to wholeness and integrity. I am a commitment to radical, courageous, unconditional love for all people. I am a commitment to truth-telling, liberation, and flourishing. I am loved apart from my importance. I am important because I am loved. I am exactly where God wants me. I will be fully present here until God moves me. To be a peacemaker, I will show up as an empowering cheerleader and empathetic advocate. Small is all – how we are at the small scale is how we are at the large scale. If we want the turmoil in the world to stop, we need to address the turmoil in our small circles. Our church is one of the greatest and most important spaces where we can practice the world as it should be. If we allow dysfunction and other destructive practices in our church, then we cannot expect those problems to change at the large scale. Instead, when we see people speak truth to power, we should respond with empathy and love. That same empathy and love should be extended to all people in pain, and I know there are people in pain across the whole spectrum of the issue we are entrenched in right now. To care for our community, I will lean into mutual aid, where we “work to build a new world, where people create safety through community building and support each other to stop harmful behavior through connection rather than through caging.” Instead of “caging” ourselves and each other, we need to be connecting with each other. We need to be having these complex conversations in the context of our relationships rather than putting our ideas of people into different boxes of right and wrong. Recently, a ministry coach and dear friend of mine taught me about the idea of backpacks and baskets. Her eight-year-old daughter says that God wants us to store in our backpacks things that we always need. Her friends tell her stories that they want her to put in her backpack, but her backpack cannot get too heavy. So at the end of the day, she puts it in a basket. She can carry the basket when she needs to, and she is still holding their story, but she is not carrying it in her backpack. Maybe some of the pain of our congregation needs to go in baskets, not in our backpacks. Now is the time to get abundantly clear about our values and our hopes, as this time requires “the combination of adaptation with intention, wherein the orientation and movement towards life, towards longing, is made graceful in the act of adaptation. This is the process of changing while staying in touch with our deeper purpose and longing.” I wonder what it would look like to ask our congregation: what are we committed to? I wonder if we would find ourselves in alignment. "May our wonder outmatch our wounds," prays Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Black Feminist love evangelist. I want to lead from my wonder, not my wounds. May our wonder outmatch our wounds, and may we recognize that there are deep wounds that need to be healed. - Brooklyn Works Cited
Two Tuk Tuks picked us up at the retreat center's entrance. These tiny open-air taxis look like roller skates, making the ride fun. Three of us were crammed into the back of one, and two of us in the other. This adventure was outside our schedule, but someone got wind of a street market on Tuesday morning. When I found out, I was all in. Hanging with the locals brought me extraordinary joy—and their art! I chatted at length with several merchants. One man made beautiful jewelry out of thin wire. I asked, “Do you make all of this by hand?” He immediately said “yes,” went behind his table, grabbed a piece of wire and tools, and began to show me how he twisted the wire into beautiful designs. Then handed me a simple ring with three spirals atop each other. “Oh!,” I said. How much? He says, “It’s for you.” Then he said, “The first spiral is creation, the second is people, and the third is balance.” Whaaattt!? That’s so good, I thought. I wish I knew his name and story. So, I bought a necklace charm from him, for far more than I wanted. [Insert eye roll—I was probably suckered.] Also, how about the Holy Spirit = Balance? Later today, we practiced a long, spacious 90 minutes of Vinyasa. We started with our hands at our hearts in prayer—pressing our pinky fingers and thumbs together while allowing our three middle fingers to blossom like a lotus flower, meaning divine essence and rebirth. And, then we practiced balance. With eagle pose, half moon pose and dancer pose. To balance takes all of my presence, intention and strength. At the end of our practice, we put our hands together again, bringing them to our foreheads. The teacher calls this our third eye, meaning intuition and inner vision. I like to think of my third eye as the sacred search for self love, peace and harmony within. Then, we say namaste in unison, meaning honoring the divine in self and others. This week, the retreat has focused on healing. Often, we need to heal from a place of grief or loss. Yesterday, I transitioned to the book As Long As You Need, Permission to Grieve by J.S. Park. The author calls himself a grief catcher, and I love that image. He says, “Grief is the debt we pay to live and love and chase the stuff that gives us meaning.” I also got my kids three dream catchers from another merchant today. Some of them may call them grief catchers and that's okay. Sometimes grief needs to be held and heard and wondered about. It made me think of the three spirals on my new ring made by a Costa Rican man at a market. If you are paying attention, wisdom comes to you in the most unexpected places. Balance can allow room for that. Jesus’ story of loss and grief is so powerful that we can heal and rebirth from the ashes of his death. Out of that rebirth, the Holy Spirit moves among us like an energy force and invites us to so many possibilities of equilibrium. Egalitarianism? Equity? Fairness? Justice? Or, as the jewelry maker would say it, balance. Namaste, Marta *P.S. This July, we are going to do a worship and learning series and book study on the book As Long As You Need, Permission to Grieve by J.S. Park. Get your summer flyer in the Overview, or pick it up on Sunday.
Remember the Sabbath day and treat it as holy. - Exodus 20:8
A troop of monkeys gathered in the trees above our heads as we wandered the jungle sidewalks this morning. We were looking for a yoga studio where we could practice at 11 a.m. I said, “Hello, friends!” [to the monkeys] and thanked them for joining the community of saints this morning—all the critters that live among the varieties of palm trees, sweet-smelling flowers, and veiled in a heavy dew. I was so delighted to see these monkeys. They made the ride from Liberia, Costa Rica, to Nosara in a fifteen-passenger van on “developing” roads, worth every nauseous moment the day before. Last fall, I began planning this continuing education week a few months after I finished an academic program at Ilff. My postgraduate work spanned from 2010 to 2023, give or take a few years of break. I wanted a different type of education. I signed up for a yoga and meditation retreat in Costa Rica, not knowing anyone but knowing that my sacred body and mind needed this work to ground my ministry with the sacred bodies and souls of all of you. In the Fall of 2023, I learned that Plymouth’s personnel committee reviews a continuing education proposal from pastors before approving the time away. This is a great way to ensure accountability and a connection to the work. I decided to call the proposal Rest is Resistance. Soon after I decided on this excursion, Rev. Thandiwe Dale-Ferguson, the pastor of First Congregational in Loveland, said she would like to join me. A few days later, her long-time friend Nikki [whom I met during that time period] also wanted to join us! A few months later, I met Allison at the yoga studio in Fort Collins, where she became my traveling companion. Her friend Meg joined us from Delaware. I practiced yoga at Yoga Pod in Fort Collins approximately four times a week and got to know the beautiful instructor, Joy, who is facilitating this retreat in Costa Rica. All of a sudden, it’s monkey business! And I feel like I am hanging in a monkey tree with a barrel of monkeys in the middle of a Costa Rica jungle. Perhaps this is a tiny miracle if you believe in those. I thought I was going alone, but I now have new friends. I knew what my body needed, I knew what my soul needed, and God knew what I needed. Here is what Thandiwe and I worked on together as our continuing education proposal: Rest and sabbath are foundational concepts in scripture. Our creation story includes a full day of rest -- and it’s God resting. If God needs rest, so do we! Jesus regularly retreats and rests. Gospel stories tell us of wilderness and mountain excursions; water turned into wine, and naps in boats. If I have learned nothing this past year, it is that rest and sabbath are necessary and life-sustaining spiritual practices. The practices of rest and sabbath stand in sharp contrast to our culture’s focus on productivity and doing, doing, doing. Occasionally, our “self-care” practices are escapes rather than rest -- watching television, scrolling through our social media feeds, or going on a shopping spree (just to name a few that I enjoy). Do these activities really rest our bodies, minds, and souls? I can’t speak for you, but for me, they don’t. If we are to take scripture seriously, rest is most often characterized by activities that engage our body, mind, and spirit:
More than just a beautiful place to escape, this is an opportunity to rediscover and renew my energy: mind, body, and spirit. It is an opportunity to explore the idea of rest as resistance -- not just as theory but as embodied practice. It is also an opportunity for me to invite our congregation to this mindset. Given my first year at Plymouth and what we know about ministry, this will be an opportunity that I can take to stave off burnout and ensure I am spiritually well as we continue our shared ministry. And, of course, this kind of “rest as resistance” learning must involve more than just a yoga retreat. I listed some books in the original proposal. But I was recently given some new books that feel more relevant to the church and me. My retreat reading will include:
In my original proposal, I suggested regularly journaling. Instead, I plan to write several blog posts about this time to share with all of you this week. Your connection to me and this work is important. Tricia Hersey writes about rest as a form of protest against production. She writes about her lived experience as a melanated person. She says, “Rest supports our grieving by allowing space, and with space, we can begin healing from the trauma of grind culture [or healing from the trauma of anything]. Grieving is a sacred act and one of the ways we can begin to reconnect with our bodies as we craft a rest practice.” What is your “rest practice” going to be this week? How do we transform grief into power? Lay and rest in these questions. ~ Marta It feels like it’s been more than just five days since Leadership Council announced the difficult decision recommended by the Rocky Mountain Conference of the UCC to place our senior minister, Hal Chorpenning, on paid administrative leave. In that time we’ve had the first of what will be many challenging but necessary discussions together. Thank you to those who attended one of the two congregational conversations, and to those who reached out in person or via email to share your perspectives, ask questions, or just offer support.
Amidst these important conversations, I also want to highlight that our work of mission and ministry continues! Plymouth’s staff is hard at work, and volunteers are organizing exciting programs every day. There are too many wonderful projects happening to name them all, so here are a few from this week: We had a beautiful and moving Confirmation Sunday service. The climate action ministry team is continuing their spring series “Resurrection in a Time of Climate Change.” And, perhaps most visibly, roof repairs are ongoing and should be wrapping up later this week (weather permitting). The roof repairs feel like an apt metaphor for where we are in this moment as a congregation. Fixing a leaky roof isn’t glamorous. It isn’t the reason anyone chooses to be involved in a church. In fact, it’s disruptive and uncomfortable. But it’s necessary work that makes worship, mission, fellowship, and Christian formation possible in this space. As a congregation we are moving through a difficult period, one that is disruptive and uncomfortable. Nonetheless, a theme that has come up again and again over the past week is how much people love Plymouth. My hope for our congregation is that we can come together, approaching differences of opinion with empathy and curiosity, united by the love we all have for our church. That way this difficult period can set the stage for vital ministry and community in the years to come. Adam Adam Redavid, Moderator "Resurrection in a Time of Climate Change" The Climate Action Team spring series is in progress! Here are some images from events that have already taken place. There's still more to come, through 5/12. Visit plymouthucc.org/climate to learn more and register for the film on 5/4. First photo is Doug Fox at the Forum on 4/14. The collage on the right comes from our Plymouth Online Connection Facebook group, where you don't have to wait until the end of the month to see great photos and videos of what is going on at church! Roof Repair Scheduled to finish at the end of this week. The first photo is day one. The second photo is from yesterday (4/22): They’re tearing off the existing roofing system layers of the north half of the roof over the Fellowship Hall. Memorial Services
Plymouth has had several memorial services already and another (Joyce DeVaney) happening this week. Remember, you can attend online (also later via recording) on our Memorial Service web page. This week, we are entering the third week of Resurrection in the Time of Climate Change, the Eastertide programming. The weeks have been rich with films and speakers, and we are excited about this Sunday’s Earth Fair during fellowship hour.
As we delve into the concept of ecosystems, I am reminded of the diverse ecosystems we are a part of: our families, our church, and the vast ecosystem of our planet. I am also reflecting on the intersections of our communities and identities and the potential for us to unite and support each other across differences, divides, and equity. I believe that this unity can have a profound impact on our climate and our world. I have attached a link to another of Jesus Has Left the Building podcasts in our season called "Altered States" (here). In this episode called "Kin-dom Work with Queen and Princess," we invite Queen [who leads a radical Black group here in Fort Collins called New Eyes Village] and her activist friend Princess to share their work. Some of you know that New Eyes Village is nesting at Plymouth. Some of you met Queen and her community. If not, this is a way to get to know her by listening to the story. The podcast episode is not about environmental justice but of Queen and Princess’s experiences. Studies also tell us that environmental racism is most prevalent in disproportionately impacted communities. As you listen, consider all the intersections this week. Our planet. Impacted communities near and far. Marta A guiding mantra in programming music for Easter Sunday this year was "expressions of Easter joy." As a worship planner, having a thematic approach to each service is nothing unusual. It's in fact the default method for creating the tapestry of words, music, and liturgical action required for a cohesive hour of community worship. But on such a prominent day of the church year as Easter Sunday where the natural expectation would be "shades of forte" throughout the morning, I found it enlightening to ponder the question, "What is Easter joy?" What is it that we are celebrating and how can that be viscerally expressed through music and worship? The Three Joys quickly came to mind.
Joy. The baseline variety. An appreciation that all is well and feeling happiness and excitement in that moment. The Spirit shows us that life can never truly die. The hymn writer John Crum succinctly stated this joy in verse four of the Easter hymn "Now the Green Blade Rises": "When our hearts are wintry, grieving or in pain, Christ's warm touch can call us back to life again...Love is come again like wheat that rises green." Ecstatic Joy. The enthusiastic intense sort. More of a burst of energy and motion — action — as words cannot adequately express this sublime restless feeling. The Good News becomes a reckless kind of hope in the reality that Love can never die. And that truth is quite exhilarating. And profound. A Quiet Joy. The contentment and assurance — a bold hope — that the Spirit's promise of unrelenting life in every moment, even in spite of hardship, is real. The worship services last Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter, were intended as a way to immerse ourselves into this quiet joy. Inspired by the contemplative Catholic feast day Divine Mercy Sunday on Easter 2, we entered a peaceful space where the significance of the Resurrection could be meditated upon through Taizé chants of the Paschal season, the soothing tones of a string quartet, and moments of prayerful reflection. On Easter Sunday we experienced the expected "shades of forte" through triumphant trumpet calls and robust congregational singing of joyful Easter carols. The organ roared in its support and offered an explosive moment of ecstatic joy in a contemporary setting based on an ancient Gregorian Easter chant. The Plymouth Ringers shared a contemplative meditation on that quiet Easter morning long ago. The Chancel Choir sang a more personal and whimsical account of Jesus' return in the first person exclaiming "I'm back...Love brought me back!" presented in a gospel and musical theater influenced style. The hope is that diverse expressions from across time, space, and varied cultures and traditions can enhance our understanding of greater truths, such as the life-giving power of the Resurrection, and connect us more deeply with the community of Life Seekers both past and present. May it be so this joyful Eastertide. Paschal Blessings, Mark Ministry Highlights for March 2024 Lent Resurrection Gardens We started March with a service with four speakers from different generations, plus a cross-generational project between services. St. Patrick's Day The service was focused on Celtic Christianity and kids made Celtic knots. Palm Sunday Palm Sunday was a festive occasion, with palm waving, Kids Will Sing!, and a message from the book, Together We Rise: An Easter Story for All of Us, by Paul Raushenbush, illustrated by Jin Xia. Easter Sunday Easter was celebrated with joyful worship, as well as an egg hunt and traditional cinnamon rolls. Cascarones eggs (filled with confetti) are special blessings and good luck on Easter Sunday. This year our own Pastor Hal received the blessing as he turns the corner of retirement. Many more pictures on our Gallery page. ![]() Fellowship of the Grape The February FOG group enjoyed a lovely spread of food along with the expected wine. The next meeting is 4/26. Change and new life seem to be everywhere this time of year, as we celebrate Easter and as the long Colorado winter finally gives way to spring. Plymouth is also entering a period of transformation! Some of these changes involve our physical infrastructure. In the coming weeks, you’ll see crews at work installing a new sloped roof above the Fellowship Hall and Fireside Room. Leaks and standing water on our current flat roof have been a problem for decades, so I’m thrilled that we’re finally able to address this critical need. Your Leadership Council anticipates funding this project by drawing on our reserves, with no need to take out a loan. Over the coming weeks, a small team of members will also be working to identify other areas where our facility could better support our community—and embody our values—with the goal of launching a capital campaign later this year to fund priority improvements and replenish our reserves. Stay tuned! Accompanying these physical changes, ministry at Plymouth is also entering a period of transition, as Hal prepares to retire after 21 years as Plymouth’s senior minister. Like many others, I find myself experiencing a range of emotions, including sadness at the loss Hal’s departure will be for Plymouth, as well as hope for new beginnings in the years to come. Leadership Council’s first step in navigating this process will be to meet with acting Rocky Mountain Conference minister Erin Gilmore to learn about what other congregations in our region have been doing and what resources are available to us. I don’t yet know what this process will look like beyond that, but I do know that we are committed to being transparent and intentional, so expect to hear lots more as we move forward. I’m excited to see how Plymouth grows and changes in the months and years ahead! Adam Adam Redavid is not only our moderator, he’s also one of the coordinators for Plymouth Social Club, our Gen X/Millennial social group. A Colorado State University alum and staff member, Adam lives in Wellington with his husband Nic. Pronouns: he/him.
COVID has changed how we think about so much, including the church. In a post-COVID world, faith communities have been invited to think anew about their building and land. What is the role of the building and the land in the church’s mission to its surrounding community? What does the church and its land/building owe to the surrounding community, if anything?
Post-COVID, churches are invited to consider their land and buildings as shared assets of the community to maximize their mission. Even mature and thriving congregations have relatively low space usage. This reality is becoming more apparent. Some congregations are rethinking how they use their physical space. As you may know, I have a podcast with Reverend Doctor Mandy Todd called Jesus Has Left the Building. In this season of the podcast, we hear the stories of several local Fort Collins congregations that re-imagined how they live in relationship to their physical space and land. Many of you have already heard the story of Heart of the Rockies Christian Church (DOC) and how they shared their land to create affordable housing. They are getting brand new neighbors who eat, sleep, work, and live near the church, indeed on its land. Listen to this inspiring story by Pastor Melissa and Pastor Wendy. Season 8, Altered States, Episode 1 Faith is Built on Three Legs. Marta |
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