Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places— Greetings in the name and spirit of Jesus Christ! I want to be lifted up on butterfly wings. The Rev. Dr. Mary Kuhns, Parish Associate for Pastoral Care, Presbyterian pastor, youth minister, chaplain, Associate for Justice for Women for the Presbyterian Church (USA), licensed therapist, teacher, inclusive language advocate, singer at nursing homes, lover of dogs and cars and people. Mary, who helped start the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) Program, who sat at hospital bedsides and listened to our stories, and played the ukulele… I could go on and on. You probably could as well. Mary died November 24th, after a somewhat brief illness and hospital stay. ...

Dear Saints in Santa Fe, and other far-off places: Greetings in the name and spirit of Jesus Christ! When has the Church ever been out in front? Right now, actually.  Each year Christianity gets a head start on the new year with Advent, our New Year, beginning at midnight this morning, exactly one month before the world catches up with its own. So what shall we do with this month grace period?  Work harder, comes to mind.  Get better at being church?  Nice. Do more?  Surely.  Go more places?  Why not?  But honestly, these words don’t feel right and sound exhausting the more I repeat them.  Such a pace may be what the culture does, but no, not us, not right now.