By: Pastor Mary Beth Hartenstein Last Saturday, June 21, was the first day of summer. The extended school year is finished; the vacation schedules are beginning to unfold; and the hot and humid weather is settling in over the heartland. I had often heard it said that summer is a time when things slowdown in the […]
By: Pastor Mary Beth Hartenstein As we are on the verge of the opening day of yet another Hog Wild Days Event, I have been thinking about the 80/20 rule, otherwise known as Pareto Principle or the Rule of the Vital Few. Most, if not all of you reading this posting, are familiar with this principle. Named after an […]
By: Pastor Mary Beth Hartenstein In just a few days there will be the celebration of Father’s Day, a day set aside to honor fathers and male parenting. This day was established in the early 1900’s to complement Mother’s Day that was already being celebrated. Yet celebrating Father’s Day had little success and faded from the […]
By: Pastor Mary Beth Hartenstein It is that time of the year when graduations are happening, honoring students at every level of learning from preschool and kindergarten to high school and college to post graduate work. It is a time of the year that is often filled with joy and hope and anticipation as individuals celebrate […]
By: Pastor Mary Beth Hartenstein Today the world seems filled with all sorts of events and items that are worth my attention, our attention, and the church’s attention. Some are as near as members of our congregation who are dealing with the challenges of their lives: a parent’s recent death after an illness, the grief of […]
By: Pastor Mary Beth Hartenstein This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day, a secular holiday that has seeped into the church. Somehow there, on the part of many, that there ought to be an announcement, gifts and special attention given to this select group of women on that day. For me, it is one thing that Hallmark, […]
By: Pastor Mary Beth No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcomed here. This saying has been a part of the United Church of Christ’s identity and marketing message since 2004 when a campaign was launched indicating our greater church’s commitment to “extravagant welcome which continues to historically […]
By: Pastor Mary Beth This cartoon was posted by another clergy person this week and it made me smile! It is a more modern take on the stories found in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark. In those stories, Jesus leaves his disciples for a period of time to go away by […]
By: Pastor Mary Beth Hartenstein I am writing this reflection on Tuesday, April 1 – April Fool’s Day. I can remember both loving and hating this day. I loved it when I got to play a “trick” on someone else and it worked; I hated it when I was the one that had gotten “tricked.” Unfortunately […]
By: Pastor Mary Beth On Sunday, March 16, as we honored our active charter members, we also took time to gather together in small groups throughout our sanctuary and engaged in conversation around four questions: Who are we? What keeps you here at Hope United Church of Christ? What would you like to see Hope […]