Processing with God: Narrative Lectionary, Liturgy, Prayers
Author: katyandtheword
Pastor Katy has enjoyed ministry at New Covenant since 2010, where the church has solidified its community focus. She now works at Capital CFO plus as the Non Profit Director. All opinions expressed on this blog are her own and do not reflect those of Capital CFO plus. Prior to that she studied both Theology and Christian Formation at Princeton Theological Seminary. She also served as an Assistant Chaplain at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital and as the Christian Educational Coordinator at Bethany Presbyterian at Bloomfield, NJ.
She is an writer and is published in Enfleshed, Sermonsuite, Presbyterian's today and Outlook. She writes prayers, liturgy, poems and public theology and is pursuing her doctorate in ministry in Creative Write and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
She enjoys working within and connecting to the community, is known to laugh a lot during service, and tells as many stories as possible. Pastor Katy loves reading Science Fiction and Fantasy, theater, arts and crafts, music, playing with children and sunshine, and continues to try to be as (w)holistically Christian as possible.
"Publisher after publisher turned down A Wrinkle in Time," L'Engle wrote, "because it deals overtly with the problem of evil, and it was too difficult for children, and was it a children's or an adult's book, anyhow?" The next year it won the prestigious John Newbery Medal.
Tolkien states in the foreword to The Lord of the Rings that he disliked allegories and that the story was not one.[66] Instead he preferred what he termed "applicability", the freedom of the reader to interpret the work in the light of his or her own life and times.
God, We keep hoping Let freedom ring Means our definition of freedom
But we know that your promise of forgiveness liberation and justice is somehow all the same thing– that in Greek somehow: it is all contained in one word
Gracious God you gift us with our authentic selves reminding us that in the midst of the Kin-dom work
the freeing of captives the feeding of the hungry the clothing the naked
Remind us that we are beloved and that you are present the work is not ours alone– you are planting seeds and tending gardens and we are not alone
So as we hear bells and wonder if we should flinch at the fireworks Remind us that you promise a liberation that is not of our hands but is instead, full of grace it is the wedding celebration of the overflowing cup the feast of the prodigal child and coin it is the finding of a home, where there is a room for each and every one of us
And we are made welcome out of grace, and true liberation forgiveness and justice
Thank you God for the chance to rest in your liberation instead of our freedom– Amen.
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Jesus: I came because the commandment thing…well..it wasn’t working in the first place (and Christians have a weird understanding anyway of it. See below) You have heard it said posting the law is the answer But Truly I say to you the law has been fulfilled so that you are redeemed by grace, overflowing and freely given—And that grace is better than the law.
The code is more like “guidelines” than actual rules
God here’s a prayer for the church The messy, institutional church The one that is dying The one that is full of too many rules and regulations and buildings and other things
Here’s a prayer for this greater church That I grew up in and love, and still think can transform things
I have seen a million churches God
And through these imperfect vessels I have witnessed tears births
Children giggling in pews and holy silences
“I don’t worry about the church”
I say God, And you know, that most days I actually mean it
I can love this imperfect thing even as it is changing to something new Here’s a prayer for the church that raised me and is changing into something unrecognizable
like a new dawn after a storm
like a movement
Here’s a prayer for church a thing that happens in parking lots breakfasts phone calls and hugs
May we not get caught up in “saving it”
That was never our job anyway And instead catch glimpses of it along the way I pray
Amen.
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
God I remember–when you came out of the closet– Flaming!
And Moses, said, What are your Pronouns? And God says, I am what I am
And Moses says, Cool, I gotch-you, You’re the God of Pronouns!
And, God says, Good, because I have a feeling, This will get more complicated!
And then People were doing Violence to one another So God turned the World On and then Off again
And sent the animals two by two Upon a boat And hung up God’s weapon, a Bow (that’s an old school gun)
And said, I’m hanging up my weapon, so you will hang up yours As a sign that Love is Love is Love is Love
And Noah said Cool And God said, Cool, Because I have a Feeling this might get misconstrued someday
God I remember when Joseph Draped themselves in a Lady’s Coat
And their bros made fun of them And tried to feed them to the Lions
And God said, Nope, I claim the Queer One And then we “retranslated” it as a Rainbow coat, so no one will understand them as Queer
(And you laughed again God, didn’t you? You mysterious and all knowing I Am)
And then Joseph said what you meant for Evil, God meant for Good No one can take away my God, And God said mmm-mmmmm
And I remember Isaiah, where the prophet saw God, And clearly identified God as multiples, and referred to God as them
And scholars thought up a new word Trinity– And we ignored the singular/multiple thing–and God waited, patiently as only God can, for it to dawn upon us.
And then there was when Ruth declared her love and devotion for Naomi And said where you go I will go, your people will be my people, your God will be my God
And God laughed and said, this will be the foundation text for weddings This found-family declaration between two women, shh! Don’t tell the Conservatives.
And then came Jesus who instructed us, “Care for the Least of these” and “Let no one revile you in my name” and “Welcome the Stranger”
And we nodded along like we knew what he meant and then we disciples whispered among ourselves about exceptions
And God, God you knew You knew. You knew before we knew
You know, the Bible is so Queer; It would not even be the Bible, if it did not include rainbows and flames
It would not be Holy without found families and radical, unconventional love
God only knows, that it is not us who gets to say who belongs to God; it is but our job to practice welcome and hospitality
Someday, perhaps we will get the laughter of angels right
Amen.
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
And Pride month starts with celebration, “rememories” (as my youngest calls them), and reminders that you are fiercely and beautifully made
I feel all if these emotions that smell like fresh cut lawns, sound like sudden hot thunderstorms, and nuzzle like my kitten at the end of a way over scheduled spring-to-summer season
God sometimes you know that pursing justice and sorting the laundry sometimes feel like that same thing
Mundane
Overwhelming
Vital
And yet
I think of how you continue to promise to fill the world with good things
Tuck a dandelion behind my ear as a symbol of hopeful weeds
And turn my worries into prayers once again
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Doctorate of Ministry in Creative Writing as a Public Theologian (Whew what a long thing to say)…Achieved. I graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Mr. Roger’s Alina Mater on Friday.
What a beautiful journey. There is a bunch of my cohort, we are nicknamed the buffalo because there are so many of us–the whole class of 35 stuck the whole program, and a good proportion of us graduated “early” this year, with more to follow next year.
What a blessing. Thank you everyone. Thank you God Thank you.
There is no way the God of the rainbows invented some convoluted umbrella system
God didn’t you promise that authority would be about love and servanthood and the washing of feet?
To me that sounds like the opposite of Umbrellas
Did not our Savior say they were the Water of Life? Everflowing Splashing every which way Getting everyone wet?
What is to prevent me from being baptized Asks the Eunuch Philip, Peter Looks to me like authority and umbrellas are being snatched back from people’s hands left and right
Screw umbrellas authority human lines drawn in the sand
Splash
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta “KatyandtheWord”
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