“Parting is such sweet sorrow…” wrote Shakespeare in Romeo & Juliet, but Pastoral Partings are peculiar and disconcerting: after years of walking hand in hand, pastor and people–sharing life’s highs and lows; praying, working, praising together–the time comes to part ways. This causes us all mixed emotions and thoughts, and can give confusions and bewilderment’s. […]
Start off the September with… The 5 Minute Faith Depth Charge Challenge In my sermon on August 23rd I invited (challenged?) anyone interested to participate in a simple 5 Minutes a day Faith Depth Charge Challenge. Some of you were curious enough to want to have access to all the possible options to choose from […]
Rev. Jim will be on vacation from July 11 through August 4. In case of any pastoral emergencies during this time, please call Angela Smith 603-219-1644, who will contact the pastor on call. We will be blessed to welcome four guest preachers who all share expertise in Mental Health careers, and have agreed to continue […]
Having announced my retirement effective at the end of November, I find myself reflecting back over these past 7 years in Pembroke. Interestingly enough, the just released “Religious Landscape Survey” by the Pew Research Center happens to cover precisely these same 7 years! So, I found it quite fascinating to read their report documenting the […]
Greetings to you in this Holy Week 2015. I hope you are able to carve out some devotional time to ponder the sacred events of this week as we journey with our Lord to the cross and beyond. For Good Friday, we are holding a special prayer group in the sanctuary at 7 p.m. All […]
We will soon be in the season of Lent. The word comes from “lengthen,” as in the daylight hours are growing in length. It is also the season for growing in the Spirit. All of us who participated in Unbinding the Gospel learned that great growth in both Spirit and Community occurs in small study, […]
To Epiphany and beyond… With apologies to Buzz Lightyear, I invite you to join me in imagining what the Spirit will accomplish among us all at Pembroke Congregational Church in 2015 and beyond! Your input is crucial. One of the delights and consistent discoveries from our prayer group and worship team is the creativity unleashed […]
Unwrapping God’s Greatest Gift Advent will start on Sunday, November 30, and we will start an exciting new Advent program, Under Wraps: The Gift We Never Expected. Prepared and piloted by The Woodlands United Methodist Church in Houston, this joyful program explores some of God’s unexpected qualities, presented over the four weeks of Advent, plus […]
When I arrived as your pastor some six plus years ago, the church had just completed a “Star Search” visioning process. You, the members and friends of this church, identified as the top priority “Reaching out to our wider community.” The most tangible example of our implementing this vision has been our local work camps […]
Dear Gentle People, It’s hard to believe that my time with you is over. It has been a privilege to grow together in faith with each of you. People have graciously invited me into their homes and into their hearts. I have enjoyed our Sunday worship together as we picked over different topics allowing them […]