Join us this week as we continue our exploration of stories from the Gospel of Mark. This week the reading group began a new book, The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels (you can still join us), and we started out with a background on how the New Testament writings were collected. Mark is the shortest, the simplest, the earliest, and the most direct of the gospel accounts. One early church theologian called it “the memories of the apostles.” This first chapter tells us why and how people were attracted to Jesus and the movement around him. A healing story (Mark 1:21-28) is one of the reasons.
Healing takes many forms. Come with your needs for healing and with your gifts to be a healer. Sometimes speaking a truth can bring a much needed healing. We’ll also hear a moving rendition of You Will Be Found from the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen.
Join us for a time of healing and restoration. Invite your friends and family members, near and far, as we gather in Zoom church, as we will continue to do for a while.
Rev. Jim Mitulski
P.S. One of my favorite quotes, from the introduction to The Gnostic Gospels: “A heretic may be may be anyone whose outlook someone else dislikes or denounces. According to tradition, a heretic is anyone who deviated from the true faith. But what defines that ‘true faith?’ Who calls it that and for what reasons?” (p. xxii).
P.P.S. I just started reading the newly released book by New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow – The Devil You Know (review: https://www.kqed.org/arts/13891832/charles-blows-the-devil-you-know-is-a-black-power-manifesto-for-our-time). If you are reading this book too or are interested in reading it, let me know.
