Fat Sunday is Back!

Instead of just posting the sermon by Rev. Dan Puchalla, we thought you might enjoy the music and service as well before we head into Lent.

A note about the music: even though Black History Month technically ends on Friday, two of the songs we’ll sing on Sunday are based on texts written by famed Black activists – Congressman John Lewis and Dr. Maya Angelou, whose lives were patterns of service and inspiration, and made an indelible impact on the entire world.

When the Library of Congress opened an extensive exhibition called, “Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words,” Congressman John Lewis spoke. “Rosa Parks inspired us to get in trouble. And I’ve been getting in trouble ever since. She inspired us to find a way, to get in the way, to get in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble.” Our sequence hymn this Sunday will be sung in a taize style, repeating the text “Our faith has challenged us to make good trouble – to make this world a better place!” My hope is that this refrain will get stuck in your head… a constant ear worm that inspires you to make good trouble at every possible turn. :)

Also this Sunday, our offertory anthem is written by famed Black composer Rollo Dilworth, who set to music a few of the best-known lines of Dr. Maya Angelou’s book Rainbow in the Cloud. “The onus is upon us all to work to improve the human condition. Perform good deeds, for that is truly the way to battle the forces of entropy that are at work in our world. The composite of all our efforts can have an effect. Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. When we unite in purpose, we are greater than the sum of our parts.”