Claremont United Church of Christ

Is there much to be grateful for in a world where so much is going wrong? Is it privileged of us to take time out of our days to be grateful when so many people are suffering? Join Pastor Jacob in our Bless this Mess sermons series as he explores the importance of gratitude as a spiritual discipline.

GUEST PREACHER: REV. DR. KATHERINE GEORGIA A. THOMPSON The Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson is the General Minister and President and the Chief Executive Officer of the United Church of Christ. Rev. Thompson is the first woman and first woman of African descent to serve as leader of the denomination. She is a writer, poet and theologian who has contributed to numerous publications. Her book of poetry Drums in Our Veins was published in 2022. Prior to this call, Rev. Thompson served in the national setting of the United Church of Christ for 14 years – two years as Minister for Racial Justice, eight years as Minister for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, and four years as the Associate General Minister for Wider Church Ministries and Co-Executive for Global Ministries. She was elected as Associate General Minister in 2019. As General Minister and President of the UCC, Rev. Thompson is the head of communion and the spiritual leader of the church, as well as the executive leader of the church. Her passion for justice and equity moved her work on behalf of the UCC into a global context when she served as Minister for Racial Justice. This passion for justice was a catalyst for her global advocacy to reduce the marginalization experienced by African descendant peoples and other communities globally. She continues to participate globally bringing her leadership to addressing a variety of issues including global racial justice, gender justice, and human rights. Before joining the national staff in 2009, Rev. Thompson served in the Florida Conference United Church of Christ as a Pastor and on the Conference staff as the Minister for Disaster Response and Recovery. She also worked in the nonprofit arena for over 10 years in leaderships positions. Rev. Thompson earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brooklyn College in New York, a Master of Public Administration from North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC, and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York. She also studied Public Policy at Duke University and earned her Doctor of Ministry at Seattle University. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from Heidelberg University in 2023.

This Sunday Pastor Jen will be preaching on Bless This Mess: "Wreck the Ship"

This Sunday Pastor Jen will be preaching on Bless This Mess: "Not My Circus"

In Ezekiel Chapter 37, God brings Ezekiel to a valley full of dry, dead bones and asks him, "Can these bones live?" As we survey the chaos and country of our world, God asks us the same question, "Can these bones live?"

Our world, our lives, and sometimes our hearts feel messy. Thankfully, Jesus entered our mess and agreed to walk through it with us, never turning away from our pain and promising transformation along the journey. Lent is a season that celebrates transformation--in all its messy forms. Join us as we spend 40 days facing hard truths, taking responsibility, and creating something beautiful together through it all. May God bless this mess!

This Sunday we welcome guest preacher Lydia Sohn to the pulpit! The Rev. Lydia Sohn is a Korean American United Methodist elder and writer whose writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic and The Christian Century, among others. Her forthcoming book, Here: A Spirituality of Staying in a Culture of Leaving releases on February 25, 2025 and is available for preorder now! Most importantly, she is mom to Hugh, Ivy, and Iris, wife to a handsome brainiac named James, and a long time resident and lover of Claremont. Follow along her journeys in Claremont filled with parenting, writing, eating pastries at Some Crust, and pastoring at www.revlydia.com. The official launch party for her book is this upcoming Saturday, March 1st at 2 p.m. at Claremont United Methodist Church. This event is free and open to the public! Learn more at launchforhere.eventbrite.com

Did you know that there were more letters written by apostles like Paul and John than are contained in our New Testaments? Many of these letters have been lost to history! Pastor Jacob explores the gaps in the correspondence between the apostles and the churches to whom they wrote and explains how Christians today carry on the conversations that the apostles were having in their letters.

We launch a new series this week looking at stories where there are holes in the plot or content of the passage. So many times when we read a Biblical story, we are not privy to the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters. In today's Scripture reading, Jesus is rejected by his hometown, and he must have been disappointed and distraught. Pastor Jacob reflects on Jesus' potential feelings and compares them to the ones so many of us are feeling in a time of turmoil.

This Sunday Pastor Jen will be preaching on Second Chances: "Zacchaeus"

We often think of second chances coming when we have made a mistake and need an opportunity to get it right. But what about second chances when everything goes wrong, and we did nothing to cause it? This week we read from the Book of Lamentations and ask how our world might get a second chance when everything seems lost and hopeless.

This Sunday Pastors Jen and Jacob will be doing an "Ask Us Anything" session in lieu of a sermon!

We continue our series "All I Want for Christmas," with the fourth candle on our Advent wreath: Love. We talk A LOT about love in the church, but what does it actually mean to love someone? Is there a way to quantify our love? How do we know if we are actually becoming more loving? Pastor Jacob tries to define love so that perhaps we can give and receive love this holiday season in more ways than ever before.

Each week during our Advent sermon series, Pastors Jen and Jacob will be comparing a classic Christmas toy to one of the candles of our Advent wreath: hope, peace, joy, and love. This week Pastor Jacob questions whether the vision of peace presented in Scripture is simply a fantasy, or is our faith the most real and authentic part of our lives

Now is your chance to ask Pastors Jen and Jacob your burning questions! With a Spirit of humility and humor, Pastors Jen and Jacob will turn the chancel into a conversation space where no questions are off limits. Congregants both online and in-person will be able to submit questions “live” and Pastors Jen and Jacob will answer those questions on-the-spot with no prior knowledge of what the questions will be!