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Thanksgiving Angels

It shouldn't have surprised us, but it did. Situated as our sanctuary is on one of Los Angeles' main boulevards, we receive our share of Sunday morning visitors. But last Thanksgiving Day morning, when everything else was closed for the holiday, an unusual number of strangers appeared in the rear of our small sanctuary. They were welcomed by our ushers, given bulletins and helped to find a seat; but one young visitor, I could sense, was unusually restless, rising from…
John Rollefson
November 15, 2007
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Invoking in Public

"You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you odd."--Flannery O'Connor The call came from our County Supervisor's office inquiring if I would be willing to "do the invocation" for an upcoming Los Angeles County Board meeting in mid-April. A quick glance at my appointment book confirmed that the date was the Tuesday after Easter, when I would still be in recovery mode from Holy Week. But since yet again my congregation had failed to book me on…
John Rollefson
October 16, 2006
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A Church for Times Like This

The phone call interrupted the weekly text study I host for pastoral colleagues. The female caller identi- fied herself as Gretchen Johnson, the wife of Jack Johnson whose family used to be members of the congregation I serve in west Los Angeles. She thought we might remember that they sent an occasional financial gift to the congregation, although she admitted that her husband had not been active in the congregation for many years. I asked how I could help her.…
John Rollefson
October 16, 2005