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By JASPER LAPIENSKI

“In a place where there is no man, strive to be a man.” (Avot 2:6)If you take just the second half of this statement, it sounds uncomfortably familiar: Be a man. We hear that a lot these days. Real men don’t cry; be a man. Shoulder the burden. Do your...

By THE REV. DR. CANDI ASHENDEN

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and many little children in our towns will wake up to discover that the Easter Bunny has arrived while they slept and hidden real and/or plastic-colored eggs around their living rooms or yards, perhaps along with some little...

By STEVE DAMON

‘I’d like to invite the young and the young-at-heart to come on up,” I bellow as I skip, jog, crawl, roll, saunter, or … whatever … up to the United Church of Bernardston alter, every Sunday morning at approximately 10:50 in the morning, 9:50 during...

By HETTY STARTUP

There are many citations about prison fellowship and ministry in the Bible, including the Psalms, the Book of Isaiah and perhaps most well-known, chapter 25 of Matthew’s gospel.At St. John’s Episcopal Church this spring, the teachings are being taken...

By JAN FLASKA

I often ask the students I teach to tell me which fruit was forbidden by God in the Garden of Eden. A quick, abrupt answer is speculative: “Apple!” A thoughtful answer obligates us to read the source, which states that it is not specified. Now the...

By THE REV. JAMES KOYAMA

I’d like to share a recent experience with you and what it says to me about being part of the church in our world. Quite recently, one of our members passed away. He was a man beloved by many, who I came to know near the end of his life.When we...

By THE REV. LINDA M. RHINEHART NEAS

In a few days, people around the world will spend billions of dollars on cards, candy, jewelry, flowers, and a night on the town to prove their love and affection to a special someone. I may be wrong, but I think St. Valentine is rolling over in his...

By THE REV. CINDY LAJOY

Have you ever wondered why God sometimes leads us on what seems like a long and winding road, just to end up mere steps from where you started? Have you ever asked God to answer your prayers in a hurry, only to find yourself waiting for a response for...

By BISHOP DOUG FISHER

As you are reading this column, we are 35 days away from the official start of Major League Baseball’s Spring Training.So it is only fitting that I begin this column with a couple of inspirational baseball stories.Growing up in the 1960s, like many...

By PASTOR MARK E. ELLIS

One of my favorite movies is “Castaway,” a dramatic, Robinson Crusoe-type tale about one man’s survival on a desert island. Tom Hanks plays FedEx executive Chuck Nolan, who boards a FedEx plane to attend a business meeting in Malaysia. Over the...

By HETTY STARTUP

What do you see when you look at a rock? Perhaps it’s on the sidewalk, by the ocean or in a garden? Do you wonder how it got there? What is its story? Maybe rocks are not your thing. But as late April’s Earth Day celebrations have now passed, I...

By THE REV. CINDY LAJOY

Have you ever considered the difference between charity and generosity? Does giving to others make you feel good? When you drop a few coins in The Salvation Army bucket at Christmas, or donate a little to Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital, do you take...

By THE REV. LINDARHINEHART NEAS

The poet Dorothy Frances Gurney wrote “The kiss of the sun for pardon, / The song of the birds for mirth, / One is nearer God’s heart in a garden / Than anywhere else on Earth.” When my mother read me this poem for the first time, I asked her why...

By THE REV. HEATHER BLAIS

Our faith is like a garden, and we are the gardeners. I once read that to be a great gardener, we might take classes or read books about gardening, nurture our soil, pay attention, visit other gardens, plant seeds and take chances. This same advice...

By BRETT SHERWOOD

If you belong to a church in any capacity, you’re already prepared for tomorrow. The most pastel of your Sunday finest are ironed and laid out and your children’s baskets wait by the door, not to be forgotten in the mad dash to worship. Tomorrow is...

By ROBERT PECK

The formation of the United States of America was based on what is known as the rule of law to guard us from tyranny and to promote peace and safety for all its citizens. Our forefathers were faced with the challenge of finding laws that would be...

By THE REV. LIZA KNAPP

I missed church last Sunday.That’s unusual for a pastor. But I was sick on Sunday morning, and as I write this on Tuesday morning, I still am. It could be COVID or just a nasty cold; either way, I hope and expect to be better soon. But meanwhile, I’m...

By THE REV. CANDI ASHENDEN

Well, here we are beginning our Lenten journey. This is the holy time that begins on Ash Wednesday and continues until sundown on Maundy Thursday.In scripture, we are told that this is the time after Jesus’ baptism when Jesus went off into the...

By ALLEN COMSTOCK

This is certainly a time when something is ending and something is beginning. It’s easier to see what’s ending than what’s beginning. How you see what’s ending probably depends on where and when you began.My first memory was V-J Day (the day on which...

By PASTOR DENNIS JACOB

Prayer is talking to God, which is simple to do outwardly, but as taught by Jesus, can be personally challenging inwardly. Prayer is held up in scripture as the first vital work of the believer. Yet astoundingly, prayer is the most neglected work in...