Update from Marcia Ostendorff: Pollinators, carpenter bees, and bumble bees, are helping out in the Greystone Gardens. The rabbits and deer are just helping themselves!!Good-bye green tomatoes and sweet potato vines. They left enough of the plants to keep going and give a little hope for more veggies later. The beans are blooming and, so … Continued

Following the Governor’s May 14th announcement easing restrictions on mask wearing, social distancing, and capacity limits for indoors, in-person gatherings, the COVID Think Tank, staff, and deacons have been considering best steps for Greystone as we continue to slowly ease back in to in-person and indoor activities on our campus. Since March of 2020, we … Continued

The origins of the hymn “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” are debated, but many believe that the author of the original text from which the hymn is derived was Burgundian abbot and doctor Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153).  His long poem, Salve mundi salutare (“Hail, Savior of the World”), consists of seven cantos (subsections), each one … Continued

“Via Dolorosa” is translated from the Latin as “The Way of Suffering” and refers to the path that Jesus took from where and when he was sentenced to death, making his way through the streets of Jerusalem to the crucifixion site on Golgotha outside the city.  On Good Friday, Christians around the world remember the … Continued

Maundy Thursday is the day in Holy Week, leading up to the Christian celebration of Easter, when we stop to reflect on the sacrifice of Christ’s love and remember his command to “Love one another as I have loved you.”  We commemorate the Passover feast that Jesus celebrated with his disciples in the Upper Room, … Continued

“Chrissy, give me your phone. Leave your watch on the table and your laptop on your desk. You are going upstairs. I don’t care what you do, take a nap, read a book, doesn’t matter to me… but you need to take a break.”  These are perhaps the most firm and most loving words Justin … Continued

At the beginning of Lent, I shared with you that I was going to craft my way through Lent as a form of self-care. For me, crafting is about far more than the actual act of making something with my hands. It is a way for me to clear my mind of the clutter and … Continued

In the fall of 2018 while studying at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity, I took a Christian Theology class for which the final project was to artistically express my own personal theology. Of course, I decided to write a song, which I ended up calling “This Is the End.” I would eventually play this song … Continued

It’s always a little mind-boggling to me to think about how we experience time differently based on our point of reference.  In reflecting upon the past year, it seems like time has slowed to a crawl, but still, so much has happened.  Just over one year ago, I was leading Ash Wednesday services at the … Continued

Here we are again. The season of Lent is upon us… again. In reality, it feels like it never really left us. Lent is seen by many as the season of giving up luxuries, vices and habits that pull us away from a more faith-centered life. It’s seen as a season of self-reflection, wrestling with … Continued