Posts by Chris Kliesen Wehrman
January-February Pastor’s Corner
Beloved Community, Today I plan to eat a peanut butter, bologna and lettuce sandwich on white bread, with the crusts cut off. I’m thinking to serve it on a favorite vintage plate (photo included) with a few potato chips on the side. If I can come up with some red licorice, it will be dessert. If you follow pop culture, I imagine you’ve figured out why. 1) It was Betty White’s favorite sandwich, and I’m curious.2) I learned about it…
November Pastor’s Corner
Friends, I hope you have gotten some mail from PPUMC recently, first, an invitation to the Fall Arts and Food Fest coming up this next weekend on its traditional date: the first Saturday in November and second, a letter introducing this year’s Stewardship season. I hope you received both. I like the balance of the two. One, the Fall-Fest, is an invitation to be part of the neighborhood and community by coming together at the church when it is filled…
October Pastor’s Corner
Beloved community, It is October, and we are a hive of activity! We are: Preparing the parsonage to be listed for sale. Preparing for FAFF – that’s the Fall Arts and Food Fest. It’s our newest iteration of the PPUMC Bazaar and Art Fair, still the first Saturday in November. Preparing for our annual Stewardship Campaign to roll out, which also means we are working hard on the budget for the coming year. Preparing to welcome the Dignity Congregation back…
September Pastor’s Corner
I am a fan of cooking shows on television. They’re, for the most part, the only “reality TV” I enjoy. I learn tips and tricks, sure, but mostly I enjoy watching the cooks solve problems creatively to delight those they feed. One of my favorites: somebody gets artichoke as the featured ingredient and not only do they produce deep-fried artichoke fritters, but also an artichoke soufflé. They call it “Artichoke Two Ways.” I’m thinking of Church Two Ways these days.…
August Pastor’s Corner
Jimmy Fallon has a running bit that has lasted through both of his late-night television shows, in which he writes thank you notes. Each is written to a flourish of music provided especially for the moment. He’s been writing them for years. They’re funny and sometimes pointed and very occasionally sweet. Mine are none of those things. They are simply sincere. Thank you PPUMC congregation, for encouraging me to take time away from work. David and I traveled some, and…
July Pastor’s Corner
My first Sunday as pastor at PPUMC was July 3, 2011, almost exactly ten years ago today. I’ll take this opportunity to wish us happy anniversary! Congratulations to us! Anniversaries are fine occasions for a quick think back. It’s been a decade. What do I – what might you – remember? You may recall, or this is the way it went: I was appointed – at rather the last minute. None of us knew a change was coming until the…
June Pastor’s Corner
Beloved friends, They say a picture speaks 1,000 words. This little dog stood watch over many a Nativity scene in its time. Its legs cracked years ago. It’s wire-skeleton showed. It stood propped against a cow, the manger, often Joseph for as long as I remember. This past Christmas a leg fell off. She couldn’t stand at all. Me neither. So she guarded me. And I her. And bit by bit well…you see what happened. Her jewels are visible. In…
March Pastor’s Corner
We’ve heard about the month of March. It comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb – or vice versa. Accordingly, we are currently in for a lovely April 1st, or may instead end up April fooled. March is a month in which we expect to be either surprised or sideswiped! This is fitting for Lent, a season that calls us to venture out of hibernation into vivid, sensory, renewed life! In fact, we could think of…
February Pastor’s Corner
Beloved community. There is a paraphrase of a Mary Oliver maxim that captures something of communal worship: Show up. Be amazed. Tell about it. There are many ways we worship! Each of us may do so anywhere, anytime, alone or in bundles, and indeed we do. We worship separately in songs and prayers and actions and choices and gifts, every day. And, then, once a week, we gather to worship all at the same time. Of course these days, the…
January Pastor’s Corner
Beloved Community, A new year has begun, and I am ready to celebrate its unfolding! 2020 was a year of challenges on a global level – a year of resourcefulness and vigilance and constant check-ins for our community. And as strange, fluid, precarious and unexpected as it was, David and I personally crowned the year with a life-changingexperience. As most all of you know by now, on Sunday evening, Dec. 13, we were involved in a serious car accident near…
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