Tabernacle Church In Salem

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Welcome Visitors and Friends
Tabernacle Church is one of the oldest congregations in the country. And though we honor our traditions and history, we are a progressive and creative community of faithful people. Our Open and Affirming mission guides us as we follow Jesus and open our doors to everyone. Located in downtown Salem Massachusetts, where history has proven how powerful our spiritual connections can be, we are uniquely aware of the importance of keeping our hearts and minds focused on the love of God.
We encourage collaborative efforts between our church and our community. Through benefit concerts we support local Domestic Violence programs, homeless shelters, and international poverty relief efforts. Our children reach out to support children in shelters and in foster care.
Worshiping God through music, prayer, study, dance, and sermon is vital to our faith. Our music program includes classical, jazz, gospel, folk, and traditional and contemporary hymns. In our services you might find bagpipes, African drums, flutes, fiddles, guitars, and upright bass as well as exquisite piano and organ accompaniments.
If you are a guest of our web page, then I invite you to join us on Sundays. Worship begins at 10:00am. Following each service, there is an opportunity for individuals to receive the healing waters of faith in a private blessing at the altar. I would be delighted to meet and greet you with God’s love.
Peace to you,

Open and Affirming Statement Tabernacle Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Salem, Massachusetts, is an Open and Affirming congregation that welcomes, respects, and supports people of every race, ethnicity, creed, class, gender, sexual orientation, age and physical and mental ability, inviting all to join us on our journey of faith. We welcome all people to participate fully in the worship, rites, sacraments and ministry of Tabernacle Church. Although we are many members, we are one body in Christ. As one body we are called and challenged by God to respect and reconcile our differences. Our faith calls us to speak up in the face of prejudice, injustice, and exclusion, and to express in word and deed our hope for justice and inclusiveness for humanity.

On October 6, 2010 I flew to Washington DC to be part of a healing team for survivors of suicide in the military. For me, the week was an invitation to offer a glimmer of divine hope and a promise of God’s love for military families. It was also an opportunity to practice trusting God and healing souls, which is the theme for our church this year.
About 130 vulnerable and grieving families, and 70 children, came to Washington DC in search of healing. Led by Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, (TAPS) the four days were packed full of healing workshops, support groups and one-to-one mentoring. As the Spiritual Leader for the event, I was honored to join family members at this unfathomable moment in their lives. Using prayer, music and rituals designed to remember and renew relationships I entered into this sacred time with God’s help.
During the closing worship, where we created a safe and healing sanctuary for grownups and children together, we designed an altar of memories. On the altar were pictures, trinkets, and symbols of military honor and of human frailty. As one voice, we sang songs of freedom, peace, and hope and we held hands in a circle of love. During our final ritual we named our loved ones who died by suicide, and shared a quality about them that will live forever in our hearts.
On Sunday Oct. 17, I will share more of my experiences from this retreat, during our worship service at Tabernacle Church. My hope is that the community will gather with the intention of being a trusting and healing congregation for people who are suffering from the silent and tragic reality of suicide.
Please follow this link to an article written by Tom Dalton on October 9, 2010 for the Salem Evening News. http://www.salemnews.com/local/x500716801/Salem-minister-takes-on-military-suicides

A Jewish mystic, known as The Baal Shem Tov, taught that to master our sorrows, we must know how to be fully immersed in emotion, yet not ruled by it; to surrender mindfully to authentic feelings without being overwhelmed. Jesus, a Jewish mystic and Rabbi, would call this the language of God spoken through our hearts. Immersion in emotion, without being overwhelmed.
Listening to our authentic feelings, being immersed in emotions, is a spiritual practice that children seem to master more easily than grown ups. It may be why Jesus perpetually called children to come to him. He liked to be surrounded by emotional energy. Children live in their bodies more than most adults and therefore are attuned to emotional energy. Their emotional intelligence is part of their innate curiosity. Today, we celebrate the inter-generational language of feelings, with awareness of children and grownups alike all over the world.
Listening to your heart is essentially what the Apostle Paul encourages in his gentle and instructive letter today. Specifically, he wants Timothy to listen to the language of his tears. He says: "Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy." He recalls Timothy’s childhood, which was blessed with the persistent presence of his grandmother and mother who taught him to trust God and to trust the language of God spoken through his heart.
The context of this Epistle is that Paul has been thrown in jail for preaching and teaching about Jesus approximately 50 years after his death and resurrection. Paul has been actively advocating for church-starts throughout the Roman Empire, planting small communities of Christians in urban and rural areas. For that reason, he has become a threat to the Greco-Roman establishment. By introducing a new religion that encourages poor people and marginal outsiders, to be organized and inspired and even healed by the power of the Holy Spirit, he has become a threat.
Whole emotionally charged communities have come seeking Baptism by water and Spirit and have become believers in Jesus Christ. Their emotions make them powerful.
Timothy, a tender and kind young man, is a student in training for ministry in this radical and revolutionary spiritual effort.But his teacher and mentor Paul, has been arrested. He visits Paul in prison. And when he leaves, Timothy cries.
I’m sure we can all relate to leaving someone we love, even if they are in a good place, and weeping. A month ago, I told you that I left my third child at college - and spent a day weeping. I know many of you have done the same in the last several years. But not just college. Even leaving a child to get on the school bus for the first time, or to begin kindergarten for the first time, or at day care for the first time, can instigate a flow of healthy and healing tears. Maybe the children in our congregation can relate to saying good bye to their parents and feeling that twinge of tearfulness that pops up unexpectedly. Age makes no difference regarding authentic expressions of the heart.
In a wonderful book called "Healing the Dark Emotions" the author Miriam Greenspan writes: "Tears are the medium of the ego’s surrender. Surrender happens unevenly: sometimes ina blinding flash, sometimes incrementally. It happens and then is undone, and then happens again. And then one day, usually when it is wholly unexpected, there is a new awareness of peace."Paul encourages Timothy to weep. But not out of shame that his mentor and teacher is in prison, because he is there for the love of Christ. Timothy’s tears fill Paul with joy because they are a true expression of Timothy’s authentic self. And it is precisely that authenticity that God calls to both lay and ordained ministry. God speaks to us through the emotions of our hearts.
Paul continues in his gentle and loving letter, to encourage Timothy using these famous words: "I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power, love and self-discipline."
And finally he urges this young student to "guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit."
Let’s just pause for a moment and consider the children in our lives and in the world. Send them this gentle prayer: "guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit."
On Thursday night, I accompanied one of our students, achild who grew up in this church, Lindsey Levanson, as she defended her ordination paper with the Committee on Ministry. You know her as Lindsey Peterson, the oldest child of Valerie and Bob. Lindsey is seeking ordination in the United Church of Christ. She has finished her Masters Degree and all the requirements for the sacrament of ordination, except the presentation of her paper to the broader community for their support and ultimate vote. Being with one of our beloved parishioners through this incredibly vulnerable experience, has been a gift of the spirit for me. Lindsey has presented her theology and her passion for God with a spirit of power, love and self-discipline. You will have an opportunity to join her for her final presentation later in the year.In the middle of our working together, preparing for her presentation last Thursday, Lindsey cried at my dining room table. Not feeling sorry for herself, but filled with the emotions in her heart. All the work, all the sacrifice and courage, all the lives she has touched and been touched by, were brought into a moment of deep emotions. Ordination is a Call from God and community, that speaks directly to the heart of the one being Called. Her tears became a window for God’s healing and loving touch. And a reminder for her to "guard the good treasure entrusted to her, with the help of the Holy Spirit."
Tears are a common expression of emotion. When I work with people who are grieving, which I will be doing all next week at a conference for families in the military who have survived suicide, I talk about tears as a window for God. In the Hebrew tradition, the rabbis of the Talmud said that when Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, God saw the loneliness of their exile and out of compassion gave them the gift of tears. With this gift came the promise of healing their grief.
Listening for God, trusting God’s healing touch through the gift of tears is a way of rekindling the gift of God that is within us. Tears are the natural window for God to enter.
In closing today, I wanted to follow in Paul’s footsteps by reading to you a letter from me to you. I write and read this from my heart:
I am Rev. Laura, called six years ago to be your spiritual leader for the sake of a deepening love of God and a more sincere relationship with Jesus and with the community in which we live. This letter is to you my beloved parishioners. Grace, peace and mercy from God our Creator, Christ our Redeemer and from the Holy Spirit, our constant companion.I am grateful that God connected you to me and me to you. I had a dream about you earlier this week. In the dream, I was Called away. But before I left, I stood before you with enormous gratitude in my heart. I saw each of you face to face. There was so much gratitude in my heart that I cried, in my dream.
You are a community filled with courage, creativity, hope, energy and faith in God. In my dream I was reminded how important you are to me. I found a rekindled spirit of appreciation for you my beloved parishioners.
You invited me years ago to be your spiritual leader and I accepted your invitation in absolute faith that God is in our bond. I trust God completely.
As we proceed in this mysteriously sacred and profound Call to ministry together, I invite us all to guard the good treasure entrusted to us, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.
With love and gratitude

At first-glance, this passage from Luke has an obvious meaning: God is unconditionally concerned for human kind, especially the afflicted and dispossessed. Another first-glance interpretation might be a message from God: Go ahead and starve, my little ones; Because in the after life, you will be at my banquet table.

In my view, neither of these is the primary point for Jesus. He isn’t suggesting today, that God loves the poor more or that the poor will suffer now and rejoice later; although there are places where he says just that. Rather, today Jesus is asking us to ponder in our hearts, a very important dilemma. How to live and reflect God’s love for humankind, without creating a chasm between rich and poor; between haves and have-nots; between those who are healthy and those who are covered in sores. The chasm is the dilemma. The urgent and unanswered question is how do we transform our ways, so that there is no such thing as them and us. How do we eradicate the chasms?
In our parable, when the rich man finds himself in Hades, in torment, he still is living in the world of chasms. He still doesn’t understand that his dilemma is not about money. It’s about taking hold of real life with God in it.

It’s about seeing people for who they are: not their poverty, not their homelessness, not their alcoholism, not their abuse, not their religion, not their culture, not their ethnicity. Jesus looks to the people around him and urges them to see one another as fellow human beings. And to love one another in spite of and because of differences.

Speaking to Father Abraham, the unnamed rich man still doesn’t acknowledge the presence of Lazarus. He tells Father Abraham to tell Lazarus to go back to his house, the rich man’s house; To warn his brothers and sisters that they only get this one chance to choose God over money; To see God in all people. “You tell Lazarus to go back.” He says.

But the father in the story says to the child, if they haven’t gotten the message by now, they aren’t going to believe someone who has risen from the dead. If they haven’t listened to Jeremiah, who called into the wilderness saying "Trust God" or Ezekial, who called into the city saying "Trust God" or Malachi who called into the sanctuary saying "Trust God." If they haven’t listened to Moses and the prophets, why would they listen to a man risen from the dead?

Why would we? Why would we who hardly listen to a man who spoke so clearly and graciously during his lifetime about love and justice; why would we listen to him when he rises from the dead? The urgency of today’s message is that we have this ONE lifetime to listen to Jesus and choose God now.
We have only this opportunity right now, to take hold of real life, with God in it! For Jesus, justice is an eternal life issue. Justice, the narrowing of chasms, is a real life issue. God’s justice is a Christian issue.

A young woman who works with people living on city streets was quoted in an article: "Considering the vastness of starvation and the extent of lack of food, perhaps what Christians need to do is give up their secure life and go and live amid the starving. Go simply because of our love. Go so that for those to whom you can give nothing else, you can give the certainty that you care."

Being Christian is complicated, because Christians look and see real life, and we care. We see God in all people. We see God in the interactions between people. We see God here. God is here in real life.

You might remember a film from 1980 called "The Elephant Man" directed by David Lynch. The film is based on a true story of John Merrick, a grotesquely figured man who lived in England in the late 19th century. Merrick’s appearance is repulsive to most people. His head is so gigantic and heavy that he can never lie down as a normal person would. He sleeps sitting up. And when he goes out in public, he hides himself under a hood so as not to offend anyone. The hood is the chasm.
When we meet him, he is a source of revenue for a circus troupe. Mocking his deformities, people pay a lot of money to see him. But they see his deformities, not his humanity.
In spite of his infirmities, or perhaps because of them,Merrick is a very religious man. He trusts God. He believes that his health issues are part of his deepening relationship with God. And he keeps his faith silent.

But his benefactor, Dr. Treves, who rescues him from the circus, refuses to accept this illusion of God’s grace. He follows the worldview that God is an illusion and that every problem can be solved. He lives by the view that we are alone in the universe. In his effort to fix Merrick, the doctor sees his deformities not his humanity. He inaugurates a campaign to make him "NORMAL." Merrick becomes a problem to solve rather than a human being.

In a profoundly moving scene where Merrick goes out in public and is accidentally unmasked, he cries out: "I am not an elephant. I am not an animal. I am a human being. I am a man!"
The doctor sees Merrick for the normal man he could be but not for WHO he is. In their desire to make Merrick "normal" the people around him stop seeing HIM and start seeing their own worldview. As the movie continues, it becomes clear that everyone has abnormalities - the doctors, the clergy, the rich and the poor. Some of the imperfections areseen and some are unseen.

In the end, Merrick throws his life into God’s hands. He lies down for the first time. That night, he dies when his windpipe closes. He sets himself free from the world of chasms.

Accepting one another, just as we are, closing the chasm between US and THEM, means recognizing and accepting our own abnormalities and seeing others with that same God-centered acceptance. Seeing each other for real and recognizing our common humanity, is what Paul means in his letter to Timothy. He instructs his student to take hold of life. Live it fully. Live into your faith. Live a life that enduringly pursues faith, love and justice.

Like Jesus, he contrasts love of money with love of God. Love of money does not guarantee a happy life. In fact, money and riches can be a distraction from a life lived with God at the center. Riches cannot save you.

When I was in seminary, there were two quotes that were repeated often by teachers and preachers alike. One was by Reinhold Neihbur regarding Being Christian: "We are called to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." The other quote was from the German theologian Karl Barth. He said, "The Pastor and the Faithful should not deceive themselves into thinking that they are a religious society. They live in the world. The real world. We still need the Bible and the Newspaper. Take them both. Read them both."
These great theologians believed that the chasm between the rich and poor, the haves and have-nots, the comfortable and the afflicted - is a result of the unfairness of the real world. Life is not fair. But God’s justice is fair. We are to keep our eyes wideopen and take hold of the real world, with God in it. And be both HUMAN and KIND.

But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.
Our theme this year comes from a snippet of scripture that is rich with hope. The imagery speaks about trusting God - revering God - believing in God; no matter what the circumstance in life. And through trust, healing happens. Through God, hope is restored.
The snippet of imagery however, is only powerful when considered in its context. Getting to know a little about the mission of Malachi will help us grasp the power of our theme for this year.
The year of Malachi is approximately 550 years before Jesus is born. The Jewish community is called the People of God or the House of Israel. God is referred to as Yahweh and in today’s passage the Rising Sun. The Jewish community has returned from its second exile to its home territory Jerusalem and rebuilt the Temple. This is the second rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem because it had been destroyed twice.
Let me pause to be sure we understand the real impact of this Temple. Yesterday we remembered with heavy hearts and vivid images, the destruction of the Twin Towers nine years ago. These buildings represented a way of life when they were strong and standing tall. Their destruction and the tragic deaths that occurred on 9/11 have changed everything about our relationship with the world. Andquite frankly, our relationship with God and the people of God. And now as we consider what will be built on or around the land called Ground Zero, there is great passion and fear and a challenge to all of us, to honor and trust God by practicing religious tolerance.
When the people re-gathered in today’s passage, in the rebuilt Temple of Jerusalem, there are controversial feelings. The loss of their Holy Temple twice over was bad enough, but the new Temple wasn’t as beautiful or elaborate. Malachi sees that something is dramatically different; not with regards to the building, but with God’s people.
People have changed. Energy has shifted. The community is disengaged with God. Worshipers are not enthusiastic; the flare for praising God and revering God’s Holy Word is dim.
The new community is different for good reason. They have been through a lot. They have been uprooted; lost jobs; been divided from their families; lived in transition for a long time. Their faith has been challenged by life’s sorrows and tragedies.
Malachi prophesies at a time when all SHOULD be well because people who were lost in exile, have been found. The community has been re-gathered. But there are no SHOULDS when it comes toreal feelings. The people’s hearts were no longer IN their worship. Malachi uses his moment as a leader to be firm and sharp. Throughout his chapter he accuses the people of dishonoring and disrespecting God. He admonishes them for faithless and ungrateful actions.
To make matters worse, the people complain to him. They say that worshiping God is not a worthy use of resources and time. Because serving God does not pay back. In fact, they say that the people who are doing best are those who do not believe in God. The people on top of the world’s powers are not wasting time singing and praying in the Temple. "Where is the God of justice?" They ask. "Why serve God if religion yields no tangible benefits?"
In his frustration, Malachi continues to call for reverence and respect for God. Honor, Understanding and worship of Yahweh will benefit you and your community far more than accumulating wealth, fancy vehicles and attaching to big expensive buildings.
Trust God and your soul will be healed.

500 years later, God sent a new messenger to live in the midst of the human community. This new messenger didn’t threaten or speak about apocalyptic endings if people remained aloof and unenthusiastic about God. This new messenger was God incarnate, Jesus, and he came with the clear message of peace, love, hope and joy. And for any who were lost, Jesus would find them. And once found, God would rejoice.
God searches us out and rejoices at the re-union of all who are gathered.
Jesus doesn’t just tell us that we need to trust God in themidst of scary and difficult times; and that through our trust, we will be healed. Jesus doesn’t just preach this hopeful and good news. HE IS THE ONE TO TRUST AND HE IS THE ONE WHO HEALS.
What’s interesting is that he always points to God, not to himself. In this wonderful parable about the 100 sheep, he points to God’s incredible love for each and every one of us. He doesn’t admonish the lost sheep. He says that the 99 who are gathered already trust God. So God will go out and find the one whose faith is dim; who is lost. God will find that one and the healing of the whole will be complete.
At any given time, any one of us can be the lost sheep. Losing faith is a common bond between us. Not one of us could say that we haven’t had a crisis of faith at some point. But the power of being the gathered community of faith worshiping God together, is that when one of us feels lost, the others trust God enough to be here when the lost return. There is a responisibility in being the 99.
As the 99, Trusting God and healing souls becomes a way of living and honoring and respecting God at all times. This year at Tabernacle, we are challenged like everyone else, to keep our faith alive in the midst of despairing and difficult times. Not all of us will always be enthusiastic. But if we commit to revering God, together, we will restore faith and rejoice at the healing power of God in our world.