06/07/2026

     One of the unexpected joys of Spring in my home in Indy has been the humming birds. We’d never actually seen any hummingbirds in our area, and I wasn’t really sure that in a major city there was actually going to be much of a population of them. Much to our delight, they started showing up immediately and would even hover at the windows eye level with our cats (much to their excitement and frustration). Now we have come to expect them as a typical harbinger of warmer weather. When the windows are open, even when we aren’t looking, we know that they are there, because we can hear the tell-tale sound of their particular wings fluttering at that amazingly rapid pace. It’s beautiful and calming and always brings a smile to my face. It also always surprises me though. My logical brain is taken aback that the sounds of the smallest bird in the world’s fluttering wings can be heard so clearly over the street sounds of a city of almost 900K very loud and noisy humans. It seems like such a thing would be impossible. Maybe I hear them because I am listening for them.

     This is how I imagine it is with us and the Spirit. The Spirit is always present, even when we haven’t taken the time to previously notice or pay attention, and once we become aware of it and attuned to listening for it, all the background noise and distraction can’t prevent us from hearing it. God is ever speaking to us, through the Word, through Creation, through our Neighbors and our Fellowship of Faith. The only question is if we are listening.

05/31/2026

Poured Into Our Hearts

A Blessing for Trinity Sunday

by Jan L. Richardson

"And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love

has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit

that has been given to us."

–Romans 5.5

Like a cup

like a chalice

like a basin

like a bowl

when the Spirit comes

let it find our heart

like this

shaped like something

that knows how to receive

what is given

that knows how to hold

what comes to fill

that knows how to gather itself

around what arrives as

unbidden

unsought

unmeasured

love.

05/24/2026

 Pentecost

by Malcolm Guite

Today we feel the wind beneath our wings
Today  the hidden fountain flows and plays
Today the church draws breath at last and sings
As every flame becomes a Tongue of praise.
This is the feast of fire, air, and water
Poured out and breathed and kindled into earth.
The earth herself awakens to her maker
And is translated out of death to birth.
The right words come today in their right order
And every word spells freedom and release
Today the gospel crosses every border
All tongues are loosened by the Prince of Peace
Today the lost are found in His translation.

Whose mother tongue is Love in every nation.

05/17/2026

     I’m not particularly good at being still. When I consider the words of the hymn, “Peace, be still, and know that I am God,” I long for a magic day, a blessed season of life, when I will finally have a pattern of living that will be settled enough or secure enough that I can finally make regular, sustained time to just be peaceful and still with God. I wish for more than just the few blessed moments that I can be snatched here or there in the usual chaos of my life. This isn’t necessarily surprising, having grown up in a culture and society that often equates busyness and productivity. 

     Sometimes, even my prayer and devotional time can fall into the patterns of productivity. Placing completely self-inflicted expectations surrounding checklists of who to pray for, or needing to read a certain amount of scripture in a specific timeframe, or only giving myself time in my day for meditation and reflection if it will be able to have “real quality” to it. And yet those words from Christ in scripture, “Peace be still,” are not spoken as advice for a more grounded spiritual reflection, but rather a command to a literal storm he and the disciples find themselves in.

     While peace and stillness can be cultivated in spiritual discipline, it would serve me well to remember that more often, stillness is something we must learn to demand in the middle of life’s storms. Something we faithfully carve out in the middle of life’s chaos, when we are most busy or feeling overwhelmed, and when we seem to have the least time. Not because God needs it from us as a demonstration of faithfulness and devotion, but because we need it for ourselves, so we might better know God’s peace.

05/10/2026

    The history of our modern Mothers’ Day is a complex one. The version of Mothers’ Day celebrated today is rooted in the work of Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis (1832–1905) and her daughter, Anna Jarvis, who established the holiday to honor her mother. After having more than a dozen children, most of whom died from diseases such as diphtheria or measles, which were common during her day in the Appalachian area of Virginia, Ann Maria worked hard in her community to try to help other mothers and families avoid the tragedies she had suffered. She organized “Mothers’ Work Clubs” and promoted special “Mothers’ Work Days,” when women would collaboratively collect trash and undertake other projects to improve local environmental conditions and their neighbors’ understanding of hygiene. The focus of Jarvis’ work changed with the Civil War. Her region was deeply divided with local soldiers fighting on both sides of the conflict, and guerilla warfare was rampant. Jarvis insisted that the women’s groups she organized help both Confederate and Union troops who were sick or wounded, and she worked to promote peace and unity following the war. In 1868, despite threats of violence, she organized a “Mothers’ Friendship Day” to bring families from both sides of the war together to try to restore a sense of community. It was her deep belief that women—and especially mothers—were best suited to bring people together with a goal of peace.   

     Her daughter, Anna, set out to honor her mother’s legacy by establishing a national Mothers’ Day on the second Sunday in May, the day her mother had died. Anna, who never married or had children of her own, did not focus the holiday on peace activism but on the idea of honoring one’s own mother. Anna succeeded in her quest for official recognition, and President Wilson issued a proclamation of the first national Mothers’ Day just before the start of World War I in 1914. Anna Jarvis, however, soon grew discontented as she noted increasing commercialization of the celebration. What she had wanted to be an earnest “holy day” had become, in her eyes, a crass holiday benefitting florists and greeting card companies more than honoring the mothering work done by women. Anna was so distraught over the way Americans observed the holiday she had worked hard to establish that she started a petition to have it recalled in 1943.

    Mothers’ Day provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on and honor the role of mothers in our own families and in the rich and complicated history of our nation.

05/03/2026

    A fellow pastor once shared the story of when his normally outgoing and boisterous father was in the hospital following a major heart surgery. While he was with his father, members from his father’s church came to visit and pray with him. His father looked frail and was hooked up to lots of machines, so he was not in the setting or in the emotional or conversational state that the fellow members were used to seeing him in, and the pastor observed that the visitors seemed awkward and uncomfortable at times while they fumbled with what words to say. The pastor noted and recognized their kindness and commitment in visiting during such a difficult time, but also could not help to think that they weren’t very good at it. In the end though, none of that apparently mattered, because upon their leaving his father turned to him and said with great conviction, "Anyone who doesn't have a church home is stupid."

    While both my fellow pastor and I would strongly hesitate to use his verbiage as an outreach effort or argument for the importance of the role of a church community in people’s lives, the intention of the sentiment is nevertheless appreciated. There are times when God's people do not live up to the expectation to love one another which Jesus so clearly lays out for us. However, this is often less because we do not care, but rather out of fear. Fear that we won't do it right. Fear that we won't be enough. Fear that we will intrude where we might not be welcome. And yet, we have also experienced ourselves over and over again what love looks like in the company of God's people, in spite of (and perhaps sometimes because of) its imperfection. The kind of love that shares time, resources, hopes, and prayers even when they aren’t as polished as we might wish. Love lived out through the sort of folks who, though far from perfect, often do what they can to build up, to support, to simply walk alongside those in need. To walk in the footsteps of Christ to the best of their ability. Leading with presence rather than perfection.

04/26/2026

     Growing up, I encountered many Christians who scoffed at the environmental movement, insisting that God had given us “dominion” over the earth and we were entitled to take anything and everything we wanted from it, that it was all ours anyway. When I pressed some of these folk on the potential destruction of our world through mistreatment of the gift of creation, I was often met with responses that amounted to “God will never let that happen” or “then God will just fix it for us.” Even as a teenager, such a dismissive and entitled response to the amazing gift of creation seemed like a slap in the face to the Divine.

     Dominion, in the OT context, refers to the authority and responsibility given by God to humans to govern, manage, and steward creation. It is rooted in the idea of stewardship, where humans are seen as caretakers of the earth, accountable to God for their management of God’s creation. Dominion implies a God-given authority that is both a privilege and a responsibility. It is not a license for exploitation or abuse but a call to stewardship and care. The biblical mandate for dominion is closely tied to the concept of being made in the image of God, which suggests that humans are to reflect God's character in their authority over creation. This includes exercising justice, mercy, and wisdom as they engage in that work.

      Earth Day (April 22nd) was founded in 1970. The desired outcome was that we as human beings would begin to shift our thinking, and our actions, away from seeing the world only as source of “resources” to be pillaged and consumed and instead begin to recognize the earth as a provider of all we need to live and sustain ourselves. One that can only do so through a delicate balance. We, as people of faith, should always remember that we bear both the privileges and the responsibilities of being appointed the caretakers of one of God’s greatest gifts to us. Happy Earth Day!

04/19/2026

~ PASTOR’S NOTE ~

    I don’t know about you, but I am really uncomfortable with not being in control. I understand that one of the most basic Christian understandings is that God is in control and we are to trust in that, but I find it much easier said than done. See, I am a helper. It seems to be something that is baked into my DNA, and when you combine that with my theological understanding that, as disciples, we are called to be the hands and feet (and even at times, face) of Christ in this world for those in need, it is easy for me to slip into a headspace where I am never able to do enough.

    Then there are those in the faith who are content to lean into the idea of God being in control as a way to shrug their shoulders and say, “only God’s in control and therefore, only God can fix it.” This too often becomes a justification for not engaging with the pain and the need and the struggles of the world. And I’m not comfortable with that approach either. There is so much need and so much hurt in the world, and that suffering is being inflicted on beloved children of God, those created in the Imago Dei (image of God), who we are charged to love and seek justice for. I am struck by the words of Pirkei Avot, known as Ethics of Our Fathers, one of the best-known and most cited of the Jewish texts, and the apothegm, “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.”

     So, it is mine to do, but not all of it. God is in control, but I am not allowed to sit back and coast on that truth. Today I will simply need to have faith that God made me enough for this moment. For what does the Lord require of us, but to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.

04/12/2026

Every year, in the days following planting the first seeds in my garden for the year, I worry. I stare at the barren soil and wonder, “Did I screw it up somehow?” I fret that I have over or under watered the seeds, especially in the early Spring when the weather and temperatures are so changeable and unpredictable. Logically though, I know that there hasn’t been enough time for the seeds to germinate, or that just because the seed package says that it is going to only take a certain number of days doesn’t mean that it’s going to be totally accurate. I remind myself that patience is the key in this process just like every growing season that has come before. And yet, I still cannot help wondering once more, “is this going to be the year that nothing grows?”

Often, when I find myself entering into a spiritually challenging season of life or taking on a new ministry role, I fall into the same pattern of worry. “Am I doing too much or not enough?” “What if I don’t have enough experience to accomplish this new thing?” “Will God still be able to create something positive even I screw it all up?” Just like in my garden, it is essential for me to remember that I am not being asked by my Creator to control the end result, but rather I am being charged to faithfully plant seeds. Even in the midst of worry, doubt, and inevitable mistakes, I am called to keep on sowing.  

God will take care of the rest.

04/05/2026

Lost & Found

by Rev. Sarah Speed

Mary wept.

Standing in the garden,

soft dirt under her feet,

sun still tucked away,

sleeping under the horizon.

The other disciples left,

but Mary stayed.

Mary wept.

Shoulders shaking,

tears running down her face.

She said, They have taken my Lord away,

and I don’t know where they put him.

But here’s what Easter taught me:

if you think you’ve lost God,

if it feels like heaven has slipped through the cracks,

if you feel like the night will never end,

then know, there is no hide-and-seek with the divine

that doesn’t end in you being found.

Stay still.

Keep breathing.

God is closer than you think.

03/29/2026

Where are you headed?

by Rev. Sarah Speed

We are trains on a track,

moving through life at warp speed.

Please keep all arms and legs

inside the moving vehicle

at all times.

The years pass like a flipbook,

faster than we can absorb,

but the train does not stop.

We press our faces to the windows

to try and get a good view

and we ask each other,

Where are you headed?

And there on the train

we decide—

We want to head toward

the promised day.

We want to head toward crowded tables

and long, healthy lives.

We want to move in the direction of joyful children,

and hopeful communities.

We want to move closer to God

with every mile of track,

and that does not happen by accident.

So it’s time to ask,

Where are you headed,

and who’s driving that train?

03/22/2026

the answer is yes

by Rev. Sarah Speed

It’s the question we ask at the end of our rope,

when the storm is raging,

when the monsters under the bed have

introduced themselves.

When everything around us seems to be on fire.

It’s the question we ask when hope slips through like sand in a bottle,

when the mockingbirds stop singing,

when the news reporter leads with another mass shooting.

It’s the question we ask when the depression moves in,

making herself at home, making a mess of it all.

It’s the question we ask

when we’re not sure if Easter will come.

Will it be Lent forever?

Will the sun ever rise?

Will this hope lead to something?

Can these bones ever live?

03/15/2026

Jesus in the psych ward

by Rev. Sarah Speed

He’s in group therapy, plastic chairs in a circle.

Paper cups with weak coffee. Everyone in the room has seeking eyes.

The Pharisees admitted him. They said things like,

He’s more than we can handle.

They let the rumors fly.

The other patients like him. They say, He listens to me.

He calls them by name.

And when one of them asks,

Is this our fault? Are we here because we sinned?

Jesus does not wait for the facilitator to speak.

He crosses the circle. He kneels down. He grabs their hands in his and says,

Child of the covenant, God loves you too much to ever wish you pain.

Bodies and minds crumble sometimes, but God’s love for you does not.

And after that

there were happy tears and the group was dismissed to lunch,

where they broke bread and no one talked of sin.

**A note from the author: “I placed Jesus in a hospital setting to reflect the text’s (John 9:1-41) focus around healing. In particular, I chose a psychiatric setting to continue dismantling unfair stigmas around mental health. Once again, in this modern-day context, Jesus offers words of comfort and belonging.”**

03/08/2026

anything & everything

by Rev. Sarah Speed

I’d give you a drink,

a warm cup of tea with lemon and mint,

a confetti cannon, roses from the garden,

my favorite sweatshirt, a bed to lay in,

homemade bread, a hand to hold.

I’d give you my full attention.

I’d give you my phone,

and say, put your number in.

I’d give you the melody line,

a standing ovation,

a sense of security.

I’d give you anything and everything

if it made you believe

that you were enough.

03/01/2026

How Do We Begin Again?

by Rev. Sarah Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC

Do we slide into something new?

Do we make a formal announcement? Dearest reader,

I have decided to begin again. Do we turn gradually,

a gentle yield

in a new direction; or like a wave,

do we crash onto the shore of a new day?

Do we grieve the change? Are there breadcrumbs

on the path?

Will Nicodemus be there?

Will it ever be easy?

I’m not sure exactly how we begin again,

but I know that moths wrap themselves in silk,

and after quite some time,

after many long nights,

after days spent alone,

they break out of their shell.

They pull themselves out under open sky,

and they spend the rest of their days chasing the light.

Maybe it’s always that way with beginnings.

Maybe it feels like the protective layer falling away.

Maybe we have to go it alone at first.

Maybe it feels like pulling and dragging yourself into something new.

Maybe there’s always open sky at the other end.

02/22/2026

At the Start

by Rev. Sarah Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC

Is this the fast I choose?

Will I wake with the sun each morning?

Will I start with thank you?

Will I peel back the cage around my frame to let you in

or will I get too busy? Will my Bible collect dust on the shelf,

along with my journal, along with my sense of self,

or will I roll back the stone and wade in?

Every new season beckons something of us—

attention, beauty, the chance to create.

This season is no different.

So, like moths to the light, will we find our way toward God,

or will we hover, circling fake suns?

I am seeking something deeper.

I am kicking off my shoes.

I am starting this season on holy ground.

02/15/2026

Transfiguration    by Malcom Guite

For that one moment, ‘in and out of time’,
On that one mountain where all moments meet,
The daily veil that covers the sublime
In darkling glass fell dazzled at his feet.
There were no angels full of eyes and wings
Just living glory full of truth and grace.
The Love that dances at the heart of things
Shone out upon us from a human face
And to that light the light in us leaped up,
We felt it quicken somewhere deep within,
A sudden blaze of long-extinguished hope
Trembled and tingled through the tender skin.
Nor can this blackened sky, this darkened scar
Eclipse that glimpse of how things really are.

02/08/2026

It’s hard to imagine that we are only a few weeks from another Lenten season. This year during our season of Lent we will be guided by the theme Seeking: Honest Questions for a Deeper Faith. The lectionary for Year A offers us many stories of Jesus encountering people who are seeking: Nicodemus comes to him in the veil of night, he approaches a Samaritan woman at a well, he heals a man born without sight. In these stories, each person is seeking a new beginning, a different life, a deeper faith. What unfolds is an exchange filled with questions and exploration. Often, an unveiling occurs—assumptions are disrupted, a new perspective is revealed, mystery grows.

I chose this theme because I know that this congregation is in the midst of a time of seeking, a time of discernment regarding what God may be faithfully calling us to next and who we are to become as a community of faith going forward. Anderson CoB doesn’t look like it once did, and we are unsure of what comes next for us. It is a difficult liminal space for communities of faith to find themselves in. Such seeking requires hard questions and conversations, a willingness to sincerely reflect on and consider initially uncomfortable answers, and the courage to be honest with ourselves about what faithful risks we are (or are not) willing to take. All of this must be engaged in with a spirit of love, care, and compassion, both for ourselves as individuals and for one another. 

To that end, I would encourage each of us to think a bit differently as we approach Lent. It is a common practice to give something up for 40 days of Lent as a form of fasting and preparing our hearts for the resurrection of Christ. Alternatively, I suggest we consider what it would look like to commit to a new spiritual discipline for Lent, focused on Seeking. Such disciplines could include Openness, Generosity, Radical Visioning, Prayerful Reflection, Honest Assessment, Deep Listening, and Risk Taking. As we pursue these practices to engage more fully with the Holy Spirit and how it is moving in our congregation, we are faithfully moving toward the threshold of God’s vision for us.

02/01/2026

Beatitude Prayer

(inspired by Matthew 5:3-12, from Catholic Online website)

Lord Jesus, you said,

    "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Keep us from being preoccupied with money and worldly goods, and with trying to increase them at the expense of justice.

 Lord Jesus, you said,

    "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth."

Help us not to be ruthless with one another, and to eliminate the discord and violence that exists in the world around us.

Lord Jesus, you said,

    "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

Let us not be impatient under our own burdens and unconcerned about the burdens of others.

Lord Jesus, you said,

    "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be filled."

Make us thirst for you, the fountain of all holiness, and actively spread your influence in our private lives and in society.

Lord Jesus, you said,

    "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."

Grant that we may be quick to forgive and slow to condemn.

Lord Jesus, you said,

    "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God."

Free us from our senses and our evil desires, and fix our eyes on you.

Lord Jesus, you said,

    "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God."

Aid us to make peace in our families, in our country, and in the world.

Lord Jesus, you said,

    "Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of justice, for the kingdom of heaven in theirs." 

Make us willing to suffer for the sake of right rather than to practice injustice; and do not let us discriminate against our neighbors and oppress and persecute them.

01/25/2026

    I would like to take a moment this week to express my deep appreciation for the extended time away that the congregation was willing to offer me following the death of my grandmother, which allowed me to travel down to Virginia for her funeral. Many thanks to Jaye Lee and John for delivering the messages on Sundays I was absent, and to all of the members of the congregation who sent cards and texts and prayers. All the support you have shown during this difficult time of grieving has been a meaningful demonstration of support.

    As we begin to enter the next phase of getting to know each other, please know that I am greatly looking forward to learning about each of you as individuals, and to learning about the hopes you have for the future of this congregation and the challenges you perceive the church is facing. Over the coming months, I would ask each member of the congregation to reflect on how they would answer the following questions:

    1. What do you love about the Anderson Church of the Brethren?

    2. What are the values of the Anderson congregation? (How would you describe the congregation to your neighbor on an airplane?)

    3. If you were granted one wish and could change anything about the congregation, what would you do with that wish?

    As we move forward together in discernment for what God may be calling Anderson to next, may we do so with open hearts and listening ears, knowing that God walks with us.