Read Emily’s latest sermon, “Most Highly Favored Lady,” on her blog, Sit and Eat. The text is Luke 1:26-38, the story of the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary.
This Sunday, December 9, we will be celebrating at St. Lydia’s! All sorts of folks will be coming (including you!) to celebrate St. Lydia’s, bless our ministry, and install Emily as our pastor. You are invited.
The service will begin at 7:00. As usual, we will eat dinner! All are welcome.
Read Emily’s latest sermon, “Fields of Your Heart,” on her blog, Sit and Eat. This is the first passage in our exploration of the Gospel of Luke. About Nicodemus and his sudden loss of words in the temple.
Serves 4
Time: 30 minutes
Source: Adapted from Cooking Light
Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
1 tablespoon grated or minced peeled fresh ginger
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth, divided
1 cup dried small red lentils
1 cup water
3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin puree (that’s half a 15-ounce can)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
plain low-fat yogurt, toasted pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds), and
chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
Directions
1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan;
swirl to coat. Add onion and garlic to pan; sauté 4 minutes. Add
cumin, salt, cinnamon, red pepper, and half of ginger, then sauté 1
minute. Stir in 3 cups broth and lentils and bring to a boil. Cover,
reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until lentils are tender.
2. Blend lentil mixture: With an immersion blender, blend mixture in
the pot until smooth. With a blender, transfer lentil mixture to
blender (if necessary, process in batches) and remove cap in blender
lid (to allow steam to escape); hold lid on firmly with a kitchen
towel and blend until smooth, then return to pot. Add remaining 1/2
cup broth, 1 cup water, and pumpkin puree to pot; cook 3 minutes or
until thoroughly heated. Stir in lemon juice and remaining ginger.
Garnish soup with yogurt, pepitas, and cilantro if desired.
–Prepared with our help by Heather on November 18, 2012
On Saturday, November 11, we had a very successful community meeting, during which we affirmed the 2013 Budget, our five new Leadership Table Leaders, and the St. Lydia’s Rule of Life. This document is the result of our nine-months-long governance structure discernment process. It is a glorious thing, and everyone should read it!
Read Emily’s latest sermon, “Dreaming of Highways,” on her blog, Sit and Eat. This sermon was preached on Sunday, November 11, in the weeks following Hurricane Sandy. The text is Isaiah 40:1-5; you can read the text here. The sermon was part of a three week series on John the Baptist, preparing us for the season of Advent.
This traditional Advent hymn is our gathering piece in the season of Advent. We sing it with the song leader leading the congregation in echoing each phrase.
We sing a version with updated lyrics by Philip Cunningham and Ken Meltz
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And with your people always dwell
Who mourn in mortal exile here
Until the Lord of Life appear
(Chorus) Rejoice, rejoice
Emmanuel shall come again and with us ever dwell
O come, Redeemer of the slave
The shackled Hebrews you did save
And then your covenant was sealed
The Torah on the Mount revealed
(Chorus)
O come, O God’s revealing Word
Your voice the Hebrew prophets heard
They sw that one day war will cease
And all creation be at peace
(Chorus)
O come, O Wisdom from on high
Who bring the truth of Adonai
To us the path of knowledge show
And teach us in your ways to go
(Chorus)
O come, Incarnate Word revealed
Your people you both taught and healed
You trusted Abba’s love would save
And so were raised up from the grave
(Chorus)
O come, O Lamb of God who was slain
You underwent our human pain
Dispel our fear of endless night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight
(Chorus)
O come, O Bread of Heav’n sublime
Who come to us in bread and wine
Still sacraments will one day cease
In God’s eternal reign of peace
(Chorus)
Here’s a teaching recording of the melody, but with older lyrics which we no longer use.
Here is the sheet music with the updated lyrics.
Because many people are habituated to the older lyrics, when leading the song, introduce it by saying “you may be familiar with this tune, but these words will be different. so listen carefully and echo me.”
A further note on the updated the lyrics:
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is a beloved hymn, yet with a growing sensitivity to the ways Christianity embodies antisemitic theologies in its traditional prayers and hymns and even it scriptures, vigilance requires revision of problematic texts. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is one of those. In short, the hymn’s more-or-less traditional lyrics (though there are variations) are pretty well summed up by an outdated and problematic understanding of the relationship of the New Testament to the Old Testament, and therefore also of the Church to Israel: The Old Testament was understood to have spiritual validity only when read in reference to Christ and the Church, and Israel was seen as spiritually valid only as the precursor to Christianity. Read more about this here (under Educational Resources > Advent resources), and look forward to a thoughtfully revised version of this beloved hymn each week during Advent. Thanks especially to the Rev’d Liz Edman for pressing this issue.
Click here to listen to O Come O Come Emmanuel.
Click here to look at the sheet music!
Squeezebox is a place for our Song Leaders, as well as congregants, to learn the songs we sing at St. Lydia’s.
Lydians will know just how much I (Emily) love them based on the fact that I’m willing to post this incredibly nerdy recording of me singing harmonies WITH MYSELF on the hymn “People Look East.”
It’s a wonderful hymn, with fantastically fun harmonies to sing, and we’ll be taking it on during the season of Advent as our final hymn.
Click here to hear all four parts (and what they all sound like together) of People Look East.
Squeezebox is a place for our Song Leaders, as well as congregants, to learn the songs we sing at St. Lydia’s.
We’ll sing this simple chant, calling for God to be a presence of liberation among us, during the season of Advent as our Candle Lighting Song. The piece if from the Iona Community in Scotland; we’ll be sining it with a shruti box and harmonizing as we feel led!
Click here to listen to Come O Lord and Set Us Free.
by Naomi Shihab Nye
is not turning the way you thought