Author Archive: Rev. Dr. Jonathan Sloan
Pastor’s Manna – But then…
But then… Just a week ago, on Easter Sunday, we celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This was quite literally a triumph over evil, a victory over death, a defeat of sin. For the disciples, it changed everything. Their teacher and leader had been killed. They had been hiding behind doors, fearful of the […]
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Pastor’s Manna – From Death to Life
From Death to Life Last month our region experienced significant flooding damage as rivers swelled to historic levels and overflowed their banks. This affected many people, including people within our congregation. Some towns were completely cut-off from the world and on their own for awhile. Some people lost all they possessed, and some people lost […]
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Pastor’s Manna – Lenten Practices
Lenten Practices Have you ever wondered what the season of Lent is all about? Why do some people give things up? Why do all these places suddenly advertise fish? How is this related to our faith? The Catholic church began a tradition that a person would give up something for Lent, remembering the 40 days […]
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Pastor’s Manna – God’s Word for You in 2019
God’s Word for You in 2019 On the first Sunday of 2019, I passed out different Star Words to those who had gathered for worship. This was a piece of paper, cut into the shape of a star with a word written upon it. The word was one of 150 words from a list of […]
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Pastor’s Manna – New Year, New Start
New Year, New Start What does the New Year mean to you? I always love how with a new year, everything resets. New Calendars, new files, new goals… new chances! I remember growing up, it meant a struggle to figure out what New Year’s resolution I would be trying to keep. What was worthy of […]
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Pastor’s Manna – ‘Tis The (Busy) Season
‘Tis the (Busy) Season I have always loved Christmas. I especially enjoyed the midnight candlelight service, lighting the candles of all the people who had come to worship. We would always start at 11:00pm and when worship was finished, it was Christmas. Like most children, Christmas was always a magical time of gifts, family, parties, […]
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Pastor’s Manna – What does it take to Grow?
What does it take to Grow? This fall in worship, we have been talking about trees, their parts and their growth, We have found that in many ways the image of a tree is a pretty good example of our spiritual journey. Starting from a tree’s root system, to the trunk, to the branches, to […]
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Pastor’s Manna – Sabbatical Time
Sabbatical Time As most of you know, for the later part of the summer I took a sabbatical. This Sabbatical had a specific focus of trying to renew various relational aspects of my life that I have not been able to focus on while I was serving as a pastor over the last 10 years […]
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Pastor’s Manna – Sanctuary July 1st – Together!
Sanctuary July 1st – Together! Three months ago, just before Holy Week began, the beam cover fell in the sanctuary creating a need for us to vacate our regular worship space for just over 14 weeks. We certainly wouldn’t have planned to be out of the sanctuary during significant worship occurrences (like Palm Sunday, Easter, […]
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Pastor’s Manna – There Ain’t No Cure for the Summertime Blues
There Ain’t No Cure for the Summertime Blues Eddie Cochran certainly didn’t have churches in mind when he sang his song “Summertime Blues”, but churches frequently experience the Summertime Blues. Somehow, we have gotten it in our mind that summer is a time when we can lessen all of our responsibilities. We take vacations, (and […]
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