Pastor’s Message: June 9, 2023

A MESSAGE FROM THE REV. J.C. AUSTIN: GOING WITH THE FLOW Way back in January 1994, I woke myself up coughing at 2 a.m. from an overwhelming haze of smoke that had penetrated the bedroom of my flat in Sydney, Australia, where I was living for the year. It was so bad...

The Gospel According to Ted Lasso: Beyond Believe

“Oi, mate; is this you?” U.S. football coach Ted Lasso is sitting on a plane winging its way towards Britain from the United States when a young, smug, English hipster approaches and shows him a paused video of Ted dancing ridiculously with a huge smile on his face,...

Pastor’s Message: June 2, 2023

A MESSAGE FROM THE REV. J.C. AUSTIN: HIGHLIGHTS FOR THIS SUNDAY This week I want to talk about two important things happening in the life of the church this Sunday. First, we are entering a new season on the Christian calendar, which is not actually a season at all!...

Up, Up, and All Around

When I was serving at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, I decided to do an adult education series on “Christ Figures in Film,” and we did sessions on Luke from Cool Hand Luke, E.T. from E.T. the Extraterrestrial,  and Andy from The Shawshank...

Pastor’s Message: May 19, 2023

A MESSAGE FROM THE REV. J.C. AUSTIN: HELPING PEOPLE JUST AS THEY ARE As you all know, we as a congregation are in a significant ongoing conversation about our mission strategy as a church, and more specifically how we can use our facilities and property to extend and...