Irreverently Reverend

  Ordinary Time On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters;  5  but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.  6  Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb.  7  So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.  8  Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?” 9  After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord.  10  She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly. ...

  Third Sunday of Ordinary Time Picture this:   three and a half days of sitting with a laptop on a Zoom webinar with 1,000 other people around the state of Michigan worshipping, arguing, asking, clarifying, calling for final votes, and wondering what on Earth is on the bishop’s tie today.           Welcome to virtual Annual Conference.           To those just joining us it may seem like you picked the one day of purely internal business but this is part of who we are.   We United Methodists are a connectional church, so when you get St. Luke’s you also get Michigan, and you get the Northcentral Jurisdiction, and you get The United Methodist Church as a global body.   We lean into each other, tapping the deep roots of shared mission and resources that crisscross the world.   It can be really, really cool.   And, it can be pretty awful. Because organizations need,...