Reflecting on God's Blessings

Dear Pali Pres Family,

Since many of you have been asking, I wanted to share with you an update on the recent Hardin/Fish family vacation to Japan. We did, indeed, have a blast! Mary and I deeply appreciate your prayers for us and our boys while we were so far away from home. Outside of one lost shoe (Mary is absolutely heartbroken) and some nasty jetlag (I dare say the worst either of us has ever endured), everything went extremely well. It was such a joy to show our boys our old neighborhoods, the places where both of us used to work, and delight with them at all the beautiful/fun/quirky things that make Japan so unique and special.

An unexpected blessing during the trip was to see our children play with the children of our dear friends. It was almost beyond belief to watch our kids interact with our friends’ kids in places that Mary and I used to spend time, like our favorite park or restaurant. How is it that time moves so darn fast?!

I come back to the Pacific Palisades with a sense of deep gratitude for the blessings of my life. As quickly as time is moving, I look back on the different chapters of my life with heartful thanksgiving to God for what I have been able to see and experience. My time away from home has also helped me realize just how much God has blessed me in the here and now, with the life we have here and in this community of faith that the Lord has called me to help shepherd.

If you have not done so recently, I hope you will take some time from your usual routine this summer to reflect on God’s blessings. Perhaps that comes in the form of a fun family vacation, or perhaps it comes in the form of a simple hike in nature or walk around your neighborhood. However you do it, I pray you will find a way to give thanks to God for the precious and special life he has given you. What a true gift it is!

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Matt

Farewell Michelle

Dear Pali Pres Family,

It is with very mixed emotions that I share with you the news that Michelle Cohen, our contemporary band’s excellent vocalist and musician, will soon be leaving us. Over the past six years Michelle has blessed our congregation with her beautiful voice and talents on the piano. She has also been a faithful member of our church and a true blessing to our Pali Pres family.

Michelle will soon be moving back to her home state of Pennsylvania with her husband, Mattan. She has given me permission to share with you the fantastic news that she is pregnant! This pending move will allow Michelle and Mattan to be close to family as they welcome their first child into this world (a baby girl!).

While we will all miss Michelle and her gifts for leading us in the worship of God, I know we all celebrate with her and Mattan this exciting new chapter in their lives. Please join me, Pastor Grace, and Anthony in praying for Michelle as she enters into this time of transition. May God bless her and Mattan and help them make a smooth transition into their new life back in Pennsylvania.

This coming Sunday, July 9, Michelle will join us in worship so we can thank her for her ministry to us and send her off with our love and blessings. I hope you can join us!

Grace and peace,

Pastor Matt

Independence Day & Christ

Dear Beloveds,

This coming week, we celebrate Independence Day! July 4, 1776, the day that the Declaration of Independence came to be, was one of the defining moments for us as a fledgling nation. Moreover, the celebration of July 4th and being a believer in the risen Christ can also hold a beautiful meaning for us. For a person who professes Christ in their lives, the principles of freedom and justice are the very same values that Christ taught while He was here.

We are taught in scripture that all individuals are created in the image of God, and have beautiful dignity and worth, and we are called to care for one another-- no matter who we are--with respect and kindness. The celebration of Independence Day can serve as a reminder for all of us that we are called to continue to pursue these ideals of unity and perseverance as a people and a nation.

More importantly for me, as a child of immigrants who stands in two cultures, I am deeply appreciative of the many people who have gone before me in time and history who have sacrificed so much that I might live the life that I have now. I am reminded as well of the freedom that I have through God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice for me that I may live a life of meaning and worth.

Independence Day is a symbol of so much: the struggle for self-determination, worth, liberty, and so much more. I hope that we can all take a moment to reflect on the rich diversity that makes our nation great, the dialogue that we can choose to engage in with others to learn, and to recognize that this great nation has been created by people from all places and walks of life.

Please join me in taking the time this coming week to honor those who have gone before us, to express sincere gratitude for what we have, to join the efforts for unity and charity, and also to urge us to continue to fight for equality and justice wherever we are.

With great love for you,

Pastor Grace

Sojourn of Faith

Dear Beloveds,

In the pursuit of new spiritual growth and a deeper appreciation of God’s great earth, I was blessed to be able to take a wonderfully unique sabbatical adventure that took me away from our pulpit and into the incredible world of a working farm. I truly looked forward to finding a new experience that would connect me with nature, strengthen my faith, and deepen my understanding of who God is in my life and the world. Little did I know that this transformative journey would not only renew my spirit, but also reveal profound lessons about God’s presence in the simplest aspects of life.

Amidst the farm work, I discovered a profound connection between physical labor and spiritual well-being. Each chore, whether it was making cheese, milking the cows or sweeping floors, had the possibility of becoming an act of deep devotion. It was in these moments of daily manual labor that I realized more and more that God’s presence is never confined to church walls, but truly is revealed in the acts of every day life.

As I immersed myself in the rhythm of farm and monastery life, I was blessed to be able to encounter fellow laborers and sojourners of faith, each who carried their own stories and struggles. I was able to glean from them wonderful lessons of resilience and the power of community.

My sabbatical was an incredible adventure that not only deepened my faith but also illuminated the sacredness of the ordinary. Nature became my chapel. This short but meaningful time away taught me to look for God not only in the huge moments of our lives, but in the humblest aspects of daily life. As I have returned to my pastoral duties, I now can carry with me a renewed sense of purpose, a heightened appreciation for this beautiful world, and holding witness to the great connectedness of spirituality and God’s great creation.

I cannot wait to share what I have learned with you over the course of the next few weeks in my sermons and writings. I am so thankful for my time away, and hope that I am a better pastor for you because of it!

With great love for you,

Pastor Grace

Tenth Anniversary in Tokyo

Dear Pali Pres,

It’s hard to believe, but later this year Mary and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. I know it’s not 40 or 50 years like some of you have been fortunate enough to experience, but it’s a start!

As a way for us to celebrate, we are taking a trip with our boys back to where it all got started…Tokyo, Japan. We depart next week and will miss two Sundays here at Pali Pres. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to take vacation, and very thankful to Pastor Grace for holding down the fort while I am away.

Mary and I met while she was working at an international school in Tokyo and I was a pastor at an international church also in Tokyo. Having each lived there for several years (Mary for eight years, and me for five years), Tokyo remains a very special place to us. We have many good friends who still live there and several places (including her former school and my former church) remain special to us. We are very much looking forward to showing our boys our old neighborhood, introducing them to our friends, taking them to our favorite ramen restaurants (if they still exist!), and having a fun walk down memory lane together.

Mary and I sincerely value your prayers as we make this long journey with our boys. We pray for safety, only mild jetlag, and lots of fun and laughter as we share with our children the place where our little family got started.

While we are gone, please know that you and the church will be in our prayers. We look forward to seeing you in a few weeks. Who knows, maybe the sun will come out by then!

God’s peace be with all of you,

Pastor Matt

Bertha von Suttner: Utilizing God's Word and the Holy Spirit

Dear Pali Pres,

Today, June 9, is the birthday of novelist and peace activist Bertha von Suttner, who was born in Prague in 1843.

Suttner and her husband were devout Christians who committed their lives to the European peace movement of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Together they established the League Against Anti-Semitism in response to the growing antisemitism in Eastern Europe. As Suttner once wrote, “true religion is neighborly love, not neighborly hatred. Any kind of hatred, against other nations or against other creeds, detracts from the humaneness of humanity.”

Interestingly enough, at one point in her life Suttner briefly worked as an assistant to Alfred Nobel, who made his fortune by inventing dynamite and developing weapons of war. Over time, Suttner persuaded Nobel to include a peace prize among the “Nobel Prizes” that he established with his fortune. Just a few years later, in 1905, she became the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for her audacity to oppose the horrors of war.”

I am continually amazed and inspired by the lives of people like Bertha von Suttner. Such people of faith utilized God’s word and the courage of the Holy Spirit to leave a positive, lasting impact on our world. May we all continue to practice putting our faith into action in ways that help and bring forth God’s peace.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Matt

“After the verb ‘to Love’, ‘to Help’ is the most beautiful verb in the world.” - Bertha von Suttner

Service & Sabbatical

Dear Beloveds,

This coming Tuesday, June 6th, I will be back in the office after my sabbatical journey! I look forward to being back at home and with all of you.

My time away has been an incredible blessing, and I have learned so much in such a short period of time. I can’t wait to share with you all that God has taught me and continues to teach me during my time away.

For my sabbatical, I chose to serve on a farm at an abbey in the middle of the countryside in France. (It is truly in the middle of nowhere, the closest little village is quite a walk away and does not even have a restaurant or market!) I was open to whatever God had planned for me and welcomed the opportunity to serve in any way.

What I found at this faithful community is a truly unique and devoted group of believers who have wholeheartedly given their lives to God in serving others and one another.

The work on the farm was hard, the days beginning with morning prayer, work, then pausing for mid day worship, lunch, work again, and then worship again before and sometimes after dinner.

Days on the farm are filled with different tasks, from herding and milking cows, to making cheese, tending the apple orchard, kitchen work, and general heavy duty cleaning and farm work. The entire community works en corps— together as a body— to accomplish everything. I have not worked this hard at doing pure manual labor in a long time, and I appreciated each task, and what God was teaching me as I did it. I go to bed each day completely exhausted, body aching, blisters and cuts abounding, but heart and soul singing and giving thanks.

I have also learned so much from the brothers and sisters who live in this community, most of them as celibates and some of them as married families. Each has a role and meaningful part of the community at the abbey, and love each other daily through their work and labor together.

In the coming weeks, I am excited to share with you all that my heart has learned and taken in.

I truly have cherished my time here at the abbey, and I hope to come again soon for a study week next year to work, learn, and labor alongside these faithful folks again and again.

I feel that I have made lifetime friendships and know that through this experience, God has changed my heart forever. Thank you for all your prayers and love for me during this time. I can’t wait to see you!

With great love for you,

Pastor Grace

Pentecost Sunday

Dear Pali Pres,

This coming Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, one of my favorite days on the church calendar. I very much look forward to leading worship with Rev. Elizabeth Gibbs Zehnder, who will be our guest preacher (you can read more about Elizabeth below). No stranger to Pali Pres, Elizabeth will be sharing with us a message on God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. Be sure to wear red (the liturgical color for Pentecost) and join us for what is sure to be a festive Sunday.

The story of Pentecost can be found in Acts 2, when the disciples were visited by the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ ascension to heaven. The Spirit appeared to them in the form of “tongues of fire,” which enabled each disciple to speak in a different language, as the Spirit enabled them. This event has long been recognized as the birthday of the church. It was from this point—after receiving the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit that the disciples went out among the people and began spreading Jesus’ message, even to those who spoke other languages.

This Pentecost I encourage us all to take a moment to reflect on God’s gift of the Holy Spirit and to give thanks to God for the gift of his church. Empowered by the Spirit, may we continue the work of the first disciples and help spread Jesus’ message to all.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Matt

Let Your Light Shine Before Others

Dear Pali Pres,

This coming Monday marks the anniversary of the debut of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” the longest running children’s program on television. Premiering on WQED in Pittsburg in 1967, Fred Rogers’ show introduced generations of young children (including me!) to ideas of kindness, peace, diversity, and even death and grief. As Fred Rogers once said, “The world is not always a kind place. That’s something all children learn for themselves, whether we want them to or not, but it’s something they really need our help to understand.”

Led by this conviction, and a heart for ministering to children, Mister Rogers created and hosted his TV program which helped children feel valued, safe, and special.

An ordained Presbyterian minister, Fred Rogers continues to serve as an example on how important it is to spread God’s love, especially to our children and youth. In this world that is so full of ugliness and pain, it is vital that we as God people use whatever gifts we have to bring forth peace, understanding, and hope. We may not all be good with children, and we may not all be ordained ministers, but we have each been given gifts and talents to make this world a better, more friendly place. As Jesus said, “You are the light of the world…No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

So, members and friends of Pali Pres, remember—you are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others!

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Matt

Rest, Recovery & Learning

Dear Beloveds,

It is with great joy that I share with you that I will be leaving for sabbatical on the evening of May 14th! I was ordained in 1996, and this is my very first sabbatical I will be taking since I began my ordained ministry! I am so grateful to Pastor Matt, our Personnel Committee, and our Session for helping me to make this come to fruition. This will be the first time in our 30-year marriage that Charlie and I will be apart for this long of a time, so I ask for prayers not just for myself, but also for Charlie, that he will not be too lonely or hungry while I am gone!

Sabbaticals are given to pastors as a time of rest, recovery, and learning. I am grateful for the gift of this time away, having gone through many challenges at our church over the past 17 years. I look forward to this time of true rejuvenation, discovery, and learning.

The theme for my sabbatical is all about “Rest with Renewal.” With this theme in mind, I have chosen to work on a farm on the grounds of a medieval monastery in a remote part of France. While I am a bit nervous for this adventure (I know nothing about farming and agriculture, nor do I know the French language!), I know that God will teach me so much during my time away. I will be working in the fields of the farm every day, staying in very spartan communal living quarters, joining the friars in daily worship, doing my laundry by hand (as there are no modern luxuries), and will be happily sequestered from the world, working side by side with the monks and other sojourners from around the world.

I will be gone a total of three weeks, the last week devoted to true physical rest, more reading, processing, and writing my reflections during this time. I look forward to sharing with you all that I learn when I return back to our church campus on June 5th!

Sabbaticals at our church are 6 weeks in length, but Pastor Matt and our Personnel Committee have graciously allowed to me to split this time in half so I will not be away from my beloved for such a long period of time; I will be taking my second half of this sabbatical this fall.

I will continue to be in touch with Pastor Matt while I am gone, but the internet service where I will be is unknown at this point. I have started an Instagram account so that you can walk with me! Please follow me on @maypeacebethejourney_revgrace on Instagram; I will be uploading photos and videos from my sabbatical and beyond.

Please do join me on my journey of discovery - and I greatly appreciate your prayers for both Charlie and me.

I will miss you dearly while I am gone, and please know that you will be, as you are always, in my fervent prayers.

With great love for you,

Pastor Grace

Mental Health Awareness Month

Dear Pali Pres,

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, an important time to celebrate the progress made to raise awareness around mental health and to encourage folks to seek help. It is also a time to acknowledge that people living with mental illness continue to face stigma and, often, discrimination.

As people of faith, we are called to follow in the ways of Jesus, whose life and ministry were rooted in compassion and the healing of people—physical healing, but also emotional, spiritual, and mental healing. May we hold in our prayers all those struggling with mental illness as they/we seek support and treatment. The following is a portion of a beautiful prayer written by Rev. Susan Gregg-Schroeder, founder of Mental Health Ministries. May we join together in prayer as we recognize Jesus’ ongoing healing work among us.

Divine One, you love each one of us just as we are and you walk with us on our individual journeys through life.

Give us courage to face our challenges and open us today to the many ways you are already working in our midst. Inspire us as we seek to overcome fear, acquire knowledge, and advocate for compassionate and enlightened treatment and services. Enable us to find ways to be inclusive of persons living with mental illness in our everyday lives. Be with doctors, therapists, researchers, social workers, and all those in the helping professions as they seek to overcome ignorance and injustice with care and compassion.

Sometimes, Divine Spirit, we feel discouraged and hopeless in the face of so many challenges. Help us to see ourselves as you see us…persons of value and worth… persons of creativity and potential. May we come to understand the interconnectedness of mind, body and spirit in bringing about health and wholeness. And may we go forward into our communities with a renewed sense of vision, hope and possibility for the future. Amen.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Matt

The Everlasting Joy of Easter

Dear Pali Pres Family,

Believe it or not, my boys are still finding Easter eggs around the house. Yes, still. Now, some of that has to do with the Easter Bunny hiding the eggs really well this year. But the other reason Joshua and Luke are still finding eggs is because they keep asking me and Mary to hide them! Nearly every night they go through the same routine of sorting their Easter goodies, filling dozens of eggs on their own, and then pleading with their parents to hide the eggs so they can do one more Easter egg hunt. “Just one more time, we promise!” It’s very cute.

Mary and I oblige (most of the time) because of how happy it makes our children. And, honestly, we want our boys to savor the joy of Easter for as long as they can. Why not?!

To me these endless Easter egg hunts serve as a perfect metaphor for us as Christians. As I said in my sermon this past Sunday, Easter was not a one-day event. Yes, Easter Sunday was nearly three weeks ago but the good news of Easter is something to embrace every day! We gather to worship on Sundays because that is the day of Jesus’ resurrection. And each Sunday we hear the assurance that we are loved, forgiven, and provided for by the God who raised Jesus from the dead. As it says in 1 Peter 1:3, we have a “living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

So, as we move further away from Easter Sunday with each passing day, I encourage you to hold tight to the Good News. Do not forget the living hope you have been given through the resurrection. While I suspect you have little interest in doing your own Easter egg hunt, I do hope you find some way to keep the joy of Easter in your heart…some way to remind yourself, each day, of the assurances you have through Christ.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Matt

Deacon Sunday

Dear Beloveds,

This coming Sunday is one of my favorites at our church. It was started many years ago by one of our members (I believe it was Bruce Brough) as a day when we could acknowledge our amazing deacons, honor them, and thank them for their heart-filled service to all of us.

Each year, our deacons answer the call to serve with love, compassion, and energy, and they truly are the hearts of our church. If you have served as a deacon in the past, you will know how much support is needed behind the scenes.

Our deacons play such an essential role in the church for so many reasons: they are ordained to serve the church and its members and friends and they work to serve in tasks such as caring for the sick, assisting when there has been a crisis, and providing practical help and support to the congregation. Our deacons also provide important leadership within the church; they work closely with the pastors to ensure church members’ needs are being met. Without our deacons, we could not function the way we do in so many aspects of our church!

You have the opportunity to participate in the ministry of our deacons! This Sunday, there will be special envelopes set out to give to the Deacons’ Fund. Every bit of this fund goes toward ministry that our deacons perform for our church. We hope that you will consider helping our deacons in their service this way. You can also give to the Deacons’ Fund through our website as well!

Please join us this Sunday as we thank all our deacons for their deep love and commitment to our church family. After worship, our deacons, in the spirit of their service, will be bringing and serving our snacks on the patio. Please be sure to take the time to meet and greet your deacon, and thank them for the care they give daily to all of us. They are truly blessings to all of us!

With great love for you,

Pastor Grace

Learning About Resiliency

Dear Beloveds,

We are very excited to bring a very special day to our church family on the morning of Saturday, April 29th!

Pali Pres will be hosting a wonderful learning opportunity for our entire community. As a proud Fuller Seminary alumni (I graduated in 1993), I have stayed connected and current with my alma mater, and I am excited that we can work together for this unique learning event.

Please join us for a light breakfast at 9am on our beautiful patio, after which we will move into the sanctuary to explore the topic of RESILIENCY together.

Our guest lecturer will be Dr. Cynthia Eriksson, Program Chair and Professor of Psychology in the Clinical Psychology Department, another Fuller Seminary alumni. Dr. Eriksson will be walking with us through important points of what makes us resilient, how we stay resilient in the face of challenges, and how this is interwoven with who we are as seekers and believers.

I do hope that you will be able to join us. Coming soon will be more information and a link where you can RSVP. Please do RSVP if you plan on joining; this will help us to plan for the food.

I hope that you will be able to bring some friends and neighbors with you to learn together. This is an important topic from which everyone can learn and discover to lead better and more fulfilled lives.

I look forward to seeing you there that we might feed our tummies, our minds and our souls together!

With great love for you,

Pastor Grace

If The Cross Tells Us Anything...

Dear Pali Pres Family,

We come into this day with the seriousness of Good Friday weighing upon us. Indeed, this is the darkest of days for us as Christians—the day our Lord was crucified. And yet, we dare to call this day “good” because of what the death of Jesus means for us and all the world.

To help us reflect on the meaning of this sad yet good day, I share with you the following prayer from Jon van de Laar. May it speak to our souls as we mourn the death of our Lord and ask for God’s mercy upon us and our world.

If the cross tells us anything, O Lord, it is that you know and share our suffering. You are with us, and all victims of violence and abuse. You are with all victims of ignorance, foolishness, and sin.

Help us and restore us, O Lord, we pray.

You are with us, Christ of the Cross, and all those who inflict pain on others, through our selfishness or greed, our hate and anger, through our rigidity or need to be right.

Help us and restore us, O Lord, we pray.

You are with us, Christ of the Cross, and all those who are fearful of threats, threats to this world we call home, to our safety and survival, threats to our sense of community and togetherness as people.

Help us and restore us, O Lord, we pray.

Christ of the Cross, see our need for your grace, and hear our prayer for your mercy. Come to us again, to help us and restore us, because we cannot heal ourselves. Amen.

I do hope you will join us this evening for a special Good Friday service at 7pm. We will be joined by the pastors and members of Brentwood Presbyterian Church as we reflect together on the meaning of this holy day. The service will be livestreamed (see button towards the end of the newsletter) and childcare will be provided.

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Matt

Palm Sunday Memories

Dear Beloveds,

One of my favorite memories as a little kid was Palm Sunday at my home church.

Our church was Immanuel Presbyterian Church in downtown Los Angeles, at the intersection of Wilshire and Vermont, which is now the heart of Korea town. If you have been there, you will know that it is a grand old sanctuary, that can seat hundreds and hundreds of people, complete with a rich history. It houses 3 organs on its campus, and beautiful stained glass windows all around. I was baptized, confirmed, and married in that sanctuary! We celebrated Christmas Eve with Handel’s Messiah, my sister and I falling asleep in the velvet red chairs, and every year on Palm Sunday, all the kids in the Sunday School dressed in white robes and waved palm branches as we processed in with the pastor.

What is so special about Palm Sunday? Not only does it mark the beginning of Holy Week, but it importantly marks the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, one week before His death. As Jesus rode in on a donkey (not a horse), people came to greet Him and cheer Him on by waving palm branches, shouting “Hosanna” (which, translated, means ‘Save us’)!

This event was the fulfilling of the prophecy in the Old Testament that spoke of the coming of a Messiah, a savior. The palm branches hold importance because they were symbolic of a great celebration, much like confetti and balloons are used today.

But this was not just any ordinary parade. The day was ripe with tension, both religious and political. Jesus knew what the week held for Him, and by this time, He had angered enough of the religious leaders and had plagued the government as well with His presence and His teachings.

We oftentimes forget that is the atmosphere in which Jesus arrived: He knew what was headed into, He knew what He faced, He knew what He had to do. And yet, He continued on in His mission, and entered the city as a humble servant leader, ready to give it all for humanity.

This is the God who loved us so; and this is what we remember as we begin Holy Week.

Lenten blessings to you,

Pastor Grace

The Remarkable Life of Fanny Crosby

Dear Pali Pres,

On this day in 1820 a remarkable woman was born in New York. Fanny Crosby was a mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. She is perhaps best known as a hymnist, a prolific hymnist. Crosby wrote more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs in her lifetime, with two of her best known hymns being “Blessed Assurance” and “To God Be the Glory” (which we will sing this Sunday in honor of Fanny’s birthday).

What makes Fanny Crosby’s life even more remarkable is the fact that when she was an infant, she lost her sight as a result of a doctor’s malpractice. Even so, she never let her disability distract her from the work God called her to do. A person of deep faith, Crosby worked tirelessly to answer God’s call, first as a teacher and later as a rescue mission worker in New York City. All throughout her adult life she continued to compose hymns, often commenting that her blindness was a gift which enabled her to focus on her music and writing. Incredibly, the story goes that Cosby would sometimes compose seven hymns a day, memorizing up to a dozen before dictating them to her secretary!

While she was alive, and long after she passed, Fanny Crosby served as an inspiration and example of faith to many. Her legacy lives on to this day in the hymns we sing, which enable us to focus our hearts on God’s goodness, provision, and love.

Happy Birthday, Fanny!

Pastor Matt

“One of the easiest resolves that I formed in my young and joyous heart was to leave all care to yesterday and to believe that the morning would bring forth its own peculiar joy.”

-Fanny Crosby

Interfaith Fellowship on the Softball Field

Dear Pali Pres,

As you’ve already heard, numerous times, our church has an official softball team called the Pali Pres Prodigals. In the cold, dark, wee hours of Monday night (9pm to be exact), we played our first game of the 2023 season. I won’t mention the outcome or final score, but I will say that our team (consisting of church members, staff, preschool parents, and even one of the priests at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church) had a great time!

A number of years ago when I was an Associate Pastor at a local westside church, I partnered with one of our church elders to establish the West LA Interfaith Softball League. Our vision was to bring together people of different faiths in a spirit of fun, fellowship, and friendly competition. This year, the league is up to seven teams representing diverse houses of worship from the westside of LA. The other six teams are:

Adat Shalom Synagogue

Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church & Brentwood Presbyterian Church (a joint squad)

IKAR Jewish Community

University Presbyterian Church (located near the campus of UCLA)

Westwood Presbyterian Church

Westwood United Methodist Church

While the league is always trying to grow and include new houses of worship, I find it pretty amazing that we are able to come together with these worshipping communities once a week to laugh, cheer, and recognize our unity in God. Some of our religious traditions are more charismatic than others, while others are more traditional. Some more liberal in their theology and approach to social issues, while others are more conservative. But in the end we are all sisters and brothers of the same Creator, in whose image and likeness we were formed. In fact, to start each game all players from both teams gather at the center of the diamond to join in prayer. It is not a Christian prayer or a Jewish prayer, but a prayer of thanksgiving to the God who gives us this day and one another.

I wanted to share this blog with you, members and friends of Pali Pres, as an encouragement to us all. Not necessary an encouragement about winning softball championships, but about the value and reality of interfaith relationships. It may sound a bit silly, but this softball league really gives me hope. It shows that with a little effort on our part, God can and does provide his Spirit of unity and peace to his people. As Paul says, “So far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18).

May we all find ways to live at peace with one another, including with those who have different beliefs and traditions that we have.

Go Prodigals!

Pastor Matt

Purim Party

Dear Pali Pres,

This past Tuesday my family and I did something a bit out of the ordinary (at least for us) - we celebrated Purim! If you are not familiar with Purim, you can read all about it here. To summarize, Purim is a Jewish holiday celebrating the saving of the Jewish people from a plot to exterminate them by the Persian Empire official, Haman. The story is narrated in the Book of Esther.

The story of Esther and her heroic efforts to save the Jewish people is full of surprises and intrigue, and contains important lessons about courage, loyalty, and faithfulness. However, one thing the book of Esther does NOT contain, at all, is mention of God. Fun biblical fact: Esther is the only book in our entire Bible that doesn’t mention or even reference God - not once! How then can Esther be included as a book in the Bible, you ask?

Well, that’s a topic for a different blog (or maybe even an upcoming sermon). Anyway, Jews (and some of us Christians) all over the world celebrate Purim as a way to remember God’s faithfulness to his people. Purim celebrations are marked by festive feasting, gift giving, wearing of costumes, and the public recitation of the Esther story.

Mary, Joshua, Luke and I went to the Chabad Jewish Community Center, just down Sunset Boulevard, to join their Purim festivities. Their theme this year was “Purim in New York City” which meant the festivities included New York City inspired deli food, bouncy houses, New York City “street artists”, and some really good cookies!

All in all, it was a fun way for us as a family to learn more about the important story of Esther and share in fellowship with our Jewish sisters and brothers.

Shalom,

Pastor Matt

Interfaith Clergy Fellowship - Seeing God In All Places

Dear Beloveds,

I remember the day clearly - March 12, 2020. I had just completed defending my doctoral dissertation for my DMin and was celebrating with my family, even as Covid loomed in the foreground of life. It was the culmination of three years of hard work, wonderful discovery, and deep reflection, all for which I will forever be grateful.

My dissertation focused on clergy loneliness and the hope of interfaith dialogue to bring clergy together for companionship, support, and learning. Indeed, the years before at our church held some very difficult times for me as a pastor; there were days that felt so lonely, exhausting, and were so trying.

One of the great blessings that resulted from this wilderness of sorts was the relationships that I subsequently created and nurtured with the neighboring clergy in the Palisades. I am proud to say that I pressed, insisted, created, and facilitated fellowship with these colleagues, and now we meet regularly together for a brief, but meaningful, time of support and encouragement. I was so excited to introduce Pastor Matt to all these amazing people when he began at our church!

This special time occurs once a month, as each house of worship takes turns to host a simple luncheon on their campus. Almost every house of worship in the Palisades participates in our time together, and we come with no agenda, no plan, no notes. Just an open heart, thankful for one another, and the chance to share our lives for a moment in time.

This week, as I broke bread with my different clergy friends, I learned about how LDS churches send their kids out to two-year mission trips, how the Jewish lunar calendar works, what is celebrated at Purim, and Womanist Theology—all in less than an hour’s time! I truly do treasure this time together that brings so many of us with such different faith traditions together at one table to learn, to respect, and to see the world in different ways - together.

Our world can be a broken and sad place, ripe with misunderstandings and miscommunication. I am so proud of our Palisades clergy who are not only loving and respectful, but also collaborative and truly engaged with one another. I feel blessed to call these folks my friends and colleagues, as they have taught me so much, offered kindness and generosity in new ways, opened my eyes to different theologies, but most of all, helped me to see God in all places in this world. Thanks be to God for this great fellowship!

With great love for you,

Pastor Grace