Dear Edwards Church Community,

As we observe the second Easter during the pandemic, I wonder what the resurrected body of our church will look like in 2021 and beyond. For many of us, the experience of living through the last year has been a lot like being entombed, so resuming anything like our pre-pandemic lives will be a resurrection. Our new life, our “new normal,” will not be exactly like our old life. We cannot yet know all the particulars, but as it unfolds – and it will – we will recognize that new life is emerging.

In the gospel stories, none of the people who knew him best were able to recognize the resurrected Jesus right away. He was that different. But with a little help and time to process their thoughts and feelings together, the community that formed to follow Jesus adapted and carried on his ministry. “Christ died on the cross and rose as the church.” (Rev. Carl Scovel) They grew deeper in their commitment to him, each other, and the unfolding kin-dom he proclaimed.

        Whenever we return to the sanctuary, it will look a bit different. Not as different as Jesus looked to his followers on that first Easter, but different. During the pandemic, the Building and Grounds Team has taken advantage of reduced foot traffic to address needed projects that would be harder during normal operations. One such project is replacing floor tiles that contain  asbestos. As you can see in the B&G article on page 7 of this Spire, that project requires moving the pews, which inspired several members of our community to wonder if this could be an opportunity to explore a new way to use the space in which we worship.

Acting on a recommendation from the Worship Planning Team and others, we will be experimenting with the space occupied by the first few pews in the front of the sanctuary. By leaving them uninstalled for several months, we will have the opportunity to try different seating arrangements in a more flexible space. The desire to try this predates the pandemic. The experience of seeing the faces of others in worship this past year has also fed a desire to maintain that sense of intimacy when we return. Finally, there is hope that this will help address lingering physical access issues.

This is an experiment. Nothing has been decided, other than the willingness to try it. After all, “we are a Christian church asking God to open us to a new way.” There will be opportunities for further discussion and trying different arrangements, including the way it has been for decades, before any decision is made. “Knowing that the road is long, we choose to walk together.”

        Just as we flex our adaptive muscles to experiment with the pews, we are being invited by external conditions to stretch our thinking about how we use the church’s wealth to give life to our vision. The pandemic has exposed persistent economic and racial injustices. We are also experiencing an historically high stock market. “Encountering the world’s joys and suffering, we offer ourselves as instruments of love and justice.” Can and should we be bolder – not careless, but  bolder – in using our gifts to address our neighbors’ persistent suffering? Are not we, as a gathered community, called to love and serve the widest circle possible, since we are institutionally blessed?

Finally, during this pandemic year, the Care and Visitation Ministry Team has worked quietly and effectively to stay in touch with many members of our community. Some have been especially challenged by the pandemic. Others have “only” had to live through the  isolation, boredom, and uncertainty. Whatever your experience, I hope you have felt the connection we tried to maintain. Some of that takes place in Sunday worship. The rest happens in different ways. If you feel your connection needs a booster shot, please contact me or Deb Moore. We need your help to do our best.

Michael: minister@edwardschurchnorthampton.org and (413) 531-9729

Deb:  ffminister@edwardschurchnorthampton.org and (413) 275-5507

In the Spire last June, I mentioned that periods of great stress tend to expose existing flaws or weaknesses in any system. There is nothing predictive about that just a truism of physical, emotional, political, economic, and other systems. What I did not mention then is the flip side, that periods of great stress also tend to confirm, even deepen, existing strengths. As we emerge from the tomb of this pandemic, may we rise to the new life God has envisioned for us and incarnate it as fully as the Spirit empowers us. God has been with us in every moment while we’ve been entombed. We can and will rise to new life.

In faith, with hope, for love,

Michael

From the Minister of  Faith Formation

Dear Beloved of God,

“A single crocus blossom ought to be

enough to convince our heart that springtime,

no matter how predictable is somehow

a gift, gratuitous, gratis, a grace.”

 – David Steindl Rast –

At the time of this writing, Holy Week is just under two weeks away.  During that week, we will remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the waving of palm branches and the events that would lead to his betrayal and death like his overturning tables on the grounds of the temple symbolically exposing the roots of an unjust economic and political system.

Full disclosure:  when writer’s block stalled further composition of this offering, I embarked on a walk to and around one of my favorite outdoor sanctuaries – the Whiting Reservoir.  A transformation occurs within me when I walk without intention to maintain or surpass a time previously set or to track steps on my Fitbit. My spiritual being becomes fully open to the Divine, the sacredness of all that is around, and the wonderings stirred – often by trees. For example, the one stripped of its bark and riddled with the tattoos left by the pileated woodpecker(s) who feasted upon the nutrition it offered to them.  Or the one whose base seamlessly opened into four other sections, the arm of one which also fed woodpeckers the others which held migrant branches separated from their tree of origin for whatever reason.  Multiple trees supported others in various stages of wellbeing.

During this walk (which did take longer than usual), I was drawn in a more compelling way to the trees downed at their very base, roots exposed for all to see.  Admittedly, there have been many times that while taking notice of “another downed tree,” I just continued walking.  On this afternoon, I ventured from the well-traveled path to really look at the uprooted bases of several of the trees, one of which was taller than me.  While most of the exposed roots dangled from their bases exposed to the elements, others appeared to       remain embedded in the earth not fully uprooted.  I wanted to touch the roots, feel the gnarly knots, the thin fibers.  I wanted to listen and hear what it was like for them to be underground nurturing the life flourishing from them and to now be separated from that into which they were rooted.  I wondered about the blessings and the trauma the trees and the roots experienced.  I still do.

On the day we celebrate as Palm Sunday, another political group was making an entrance into Jerusalem from the opposite direction of those following Jesus.  Representatives of the Roman empire who clearly did not want their systems to be uprooted fearing the loss of what they were living and profiting from were there to ensure their sovereignty.

During this pandemic year in which our personal, vocational, and church lives have been uprooted, the inequities rooted in our systemic racist policies on multiple levels have been re-exposed in heightened awareness and pronouncement. Most recently and close to home was the reported incident at the JFK Middle School.

One of the things I have learned and experienced whenever deeply looking at and exploring the history of why we do what we do in whatever setting we find ourselves, is that triggers can bubble up exposing fears, trauma, gnarly knots, slender fibers, lament, severed roots and those still embedded in the foundational ground in which they were planted.  “Holy troublemaking” as John Lewis referred to it is a long journey to reconciling and repairing them.  A journey not only measured by SMART goals but also measured by the transformation in the way we relate to and live with one another, God, and the world – SHALOM.

As a faith community soon to journey into the fifty days of Easter, we continue in an   experimental period with a new governance structure.  Our Adhoc and ECM Teams are engaged in discussions around how and when to safely return to worship.  Our Building and Grounds Team has been overseeing multiple upgrades to our building.  Our Justice Education Ministry Team is focusing on antiracism and white privilege; the ONA (Open and Affirming) Ministry Team is pursuing what that means and evaluating our Welcoming Statement; both teams have and will make opportunities for further exploration available.  Our Outreach Grants Team is exploring new possibilities within and beyond the community.  In various settings we wonder in what manner existing ministries, some well-adjusted to Zoom, will continue.  The Thriving Congregations Team (more to come) will delve into what it means to be a congregation that thrives in relationship to one another, God, and the world.

I wonder what new way(s) our journey through Eastertide to Pentecost and beyond the pandemic might expose, uproot, and lead us to.

Blessings,

Deb

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