As a Christian community, called to peacemaking and reconciliation, we affirm that people of any race, ethnic identity, gender, who are gay or straight, of any ability, age, or economic status, are welcome to full participation in our congregation.
RMC’s summer series on the Genesis account of creation continues with this Sunday’s sermon by Elizabeth Korver-Glenn. Dr. Korver-Glenn is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, and a member of Raleigh Mennonite. Elizabeth began by sharing from a booklet she and Randall received at their wedding. God creates out of […]
Continuing the summer’s theme on creation, this Sunday Dr. Derek Hicks brought the sermon. Dr. Hicks is associate professor of Religion and Culture at Wake Forest University. What is creation for ALL if some are pushed to the margins? Or left out altogether? How does that square with the radical nature of Jesus’s declarations about […]
Our summer series focusing on the creation story from the beginning of Genesis continued. Dr. Christopher Hays, president of Scholar Leaders, joined us this Sunday. He shared the Babylonian creation story, the “Enuma Elish,” comparing and contrasting it with the biblical creation story. The Enuma Elish provides insight into how the contemporaries of the ancient […]
As our summer series focused on creation from Genesis 1 continues, Chas Edens brought the message this morning. Melissa introduces him at the outset. Do we name and care for creation, for the environment, as an asset or part of our livelihood, an extension of ourselves? How we look at it may depend upon our […]
As part of our summer of creation, we’re encouraging everyone at Raleigh Mennonite to pick up one (or more!) new practice(s) to try for the summer. You might want to try one practice for a few weeks to try it out. Or you might try one practice for a month at a time. Whatever you […]
In the midst of our busyness it’s easy to miss the beauty of God’s extravagant creation all around us. Through the poetry of Psalm 65 and several more modern authors, Melissa recounts more of her sabbatical journey and encourages us to stop and notice that we too are a part of the joyful abundance of […]
On this Easter Sunday we celebrate that creation is reborn, and we with it. The tomb opens and life is born from it. You can’t thwart it or destroy it. You can’t even unbelieve it, or overpower it. Because all that’s left to do here is to bear witness.
We’re brought up in a system that divides people from commodities. All that other stuff–oceans, animals, trees–all of it is neutral material used to benefit people to make us happier or richer, or to give us more space or more stuff. But we can’t separate ourselves from other creatures because over and over in the […]
Scripture: Genesis 1 & 2 Melissa began her message by sharing the video “Manoomin: Food That Grows on the Water” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eOz8CPW0m0]. The audio is included in this recording. For the Anishinaabe creation is a gift. But it’s also a gift that forms a bond not just between giver and receiver, but between creatures. The concept of […]
Genesis 1 Melissa’s sermon was preceded by viewing a video featuring James Weldon Johnson reciting the poem The Creation. The poetry of Genesis is where we’re starting our “Year at the Table.” Our lives are dependent upon creation, just as they’re dependent upon a loving, creative God. Every time we eat, we are reminded that […]
This Sunday marks the beginning of a new study of Genesis. Prior to Melissa’s message from Genesis 1, Pam read a poem, “God’s Grandeur” by Gerald Manly Hopkins. There is mystery in the creation story. Everything in the world is a pure gift, an unmerited pure act of God’s love that somehow has intersected with […]
