You are home.

These words were spoken by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at New York’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967 – exactly one year before his death: “I come to this magnificent house of worship because my conscience leaves me no other choice…. ‘A time comes when silence is betrayal.’ That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam.”

What might Martin Luther King, Jr. be saying to America today? Our featured presenter will be The Rev. Graylan Hagler, long-time peace and social justice activist and Senior Minister at Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington DC. Read more in Events and Beyond Afghanistan – A Time to Break Silence.

Join St. James and the other faith communities who are part of Loudoun Interfaith BRIDGES for the 18th Annual Celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. King.

This year’s theme is “‘The Dream,’ Unity in Diversity.” Celebrate with us the dream of a Beloved Community.

Have great joy! ..and know that at St. James, we don’t sing “Come SOME OF ye Faithful.”

No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, we would love for you to join us for what will be a fairly traditional Christmas Eve service - but one with relevance.

Read more about the November 8 Interfaith Day of Thanks at the Loudoun Interfaith BRIDGES website:

Loudoun Interfaith BRIDGES, an association of congregations including St. James UCC, comprised of Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Ba’hai, and Unitarian Universalist faiths, recently held a Day of Thanks for people of all faiths to event celebrate the cultural and religious diversity of Loudoun County. The event featured keynote speaker Ben O’Dell, Deputy Director at the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and world renowned percussionist Tom Teasley, and included a multicultural potluck meal and the presentation of awards. See photos from the event.

Listen to the podcast of our Faith and Life Forum featuring Dr. David Baltierra from PHYSICIANS FOR A NATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAM.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…time for our monthly Church School for children and Adult Education groups to start up again. Look under Events for details ==>.

Please keep the food coming! We’re learning about more people in need every week. Our food bank garden is coming along beautifully, with onions, broccoli and rainbow chard planted so far (see more pictures on Facebook). A big thank you to Crooked Run Orchard in Purcellville for the donation of onion sets and compost. Want to help? Contact outreach@stjamesucc-love.org.

St. James continues to collect food weekly for distribution to our neighbors who need some help. We contribute to the Lovettsville Food Closet housed at New Jerusalem Church; Interfaith Relief in Leesburg; and Loudoun County Department of Family Services Drop In Center. For guidance on some great items to donate, see here.

Featuring the voice of The Rev. Graylan Hagler, minister of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ.

“Dissent is a cornerstone of the American dream, from the declaration of independence to civil rights, from the end of slavery to the enfranchisement of women. Today we are faced by a new tyranny… a war which the US government started in Iraq, a war that is costing tens of thousands of lives, and trillions of dollars, a war that betrays the ideals and international reputation that for many Americans is the source of their national identity. New voices of dissent have, since before the war began, been raised to call the American people and government to the standards of justice and democracy on which this country was founded. Finding Our Voices is a film that tells compelling and inspiring stories of people who proclaim with their lives that ‘peace is patriotic,’ and dissent the responsibility and birthright of a truly democratic people.” –From the synopsis of Finding Our Voices, screening to be announced.

What do we mean at St. James when we say that we take the Bible seriously, not literally?

We see the ‘library’ of writings we know as the Bible as testimonies of faith, the living word of God handed down to us through the experience of fallible human beings. It is God’s story, a story intended to include us.

We do not fear, but rather embrace the ambiguity and contradictions we find in the Bible; we can marvel that God thought so highly of us that we were not left with a mere rule book, but rather a word of so many dimensions that it would take a lifetime to explore.

We understand that the Bible has been misused, to mislead and do harm; but also that the answer to misuse is never disuse, but better use. We take the word of God seriously enough to question our own and others’ understandings with regard to the limitations of time, place and culture.

It can take some time for the implications of the truths revealed in the Bible to be fully realized. For instance, today we understand that slavery is wrong and irreconcilable with a Christian way of life. Yet early Christians, including the Apostle Paul, seemed to accept the practice. When Paul said that in Christ there is “no longer slave or free,” it came like a revelatory flash, but even he did not understand all the implications fully. Only hundreds of years later were the full implications of that understanding seen or lived.

We recognize that God is not restrained by the borders of our imagination. We are as fallible as those human beings who have gone before us, and we do not know through whom the Holy Spirit might speak. We have no authority figure telling us how we must interpret the Bible, rather we study, listen and seek discernment in community.

Excerpts in italics are from The Bible and the UCC, a booklet prepared by the United Church of Christ Writer’s Group - download PDF (5.60MB).

On Sunday, May 18, our congregation began a sacred conversation around race, as one of our Adult Education offerings. We are continuing that conversation at occasional gatherings, TBD.

“Sacred conversations are not always easy, especially when we are dealing with our nation’s painful past.”