"The Feast of the Persistent Widow" at All Saints Church, Pasadena

Here's a link to the rector's sermon du jour at All Saints Church this morning on what I like to think of as "The Feast of the Persistent Widow." It's the same gospel (Luke 18: 1-8) I picked to preach when we kicked off the Claiming the Blessing collaborative back in 2002 in St. Louis -- and nearly five years later I believe we need Luke's challenge to be persistent more than ever.

The "take away" for me this morning was: "Being the people of God means giving up the right to give up. Pesevere. Don't give up. Hang in there."

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Thanks be to God for faith communities that DON'T "give up" even when it's hard, even when it's stressful, even when it would be easier to sing a few hymns, say a few prayers and head to Sunday brunch and let somebody else make the fuss or stir the pot or make the point this time. That's not in the DNA of All Saints Church and for THAT I say, "Thanks be to God."

Here are a few fun facts to know and tell about Persistent Widow Day at All Saints Church, Pasadena:

• We baptized ten little people into the Body of Christ.
• When the children's choirs (2nd-5th grade) sang at the 9:00 there were 71 children making a joyful noise unto the Lord.
• The flowers were given to the glory of God and in thanksgiving for the blessing yesterday of the union of Bruno Finocchio & Jerry Mersky ... who baked the communion bread we used this morning.
• At 7pm I'll return to give the "Proclamation and Evangelism" talk to our Covenant I group -- the All Saints "new members" class we run three times a year. There'll be about 80 new members which is an average class for us.
• And following that I'll go down to the Forum and catch the end of the GALAS screening of "For the Bible Tells Me So" which will be followed by a panel discussion.

Just another Persistent Day in Paradise.
Hope your Sunday had Good News in it as well.

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