Stories from the heart(h)

On Ash Wednesday, we kicked off our Lenten Sermon Series of Campfire Stories with your stories of finding The Hearth (or Castle Church if you've been around for awhile). I had prepared an entire sermon in the event that no one wanted to share their stories, but after 15 minutes of telling stories and laughing together and crying together, those of you who shared provided a better sermon than I could have given. Thank you.

Stories have the power to shape culture in a way that pragmatic discourse cannot. Stories create illustrations that fill in the gaps of our understanding. Stories reach deep inside our brains, engaging every neuro connection and speaking directly into our subconscious. There is a reason that stories are used to shape religion and the culture of our communities, and The Hearth is no different. The stories you told last night had shared themes that speak into the values we hold dear in The Hearth community.

Divine in All
We believe that the experience of the Divine is complex, multi-faceted, and deeply personal. We believe that God is God, and we have a shared understanding of who God is. However, we each have a personal relationship with God that may be reflected in the Divine creation of nature - seeing God in the Oak trees or water systems God created; in the face and love we experience from a friend or family member; in a piece of art that reflects the Divine Creator; or the experience we have when the Spirit dwells within us during meditation or prayer.  

Wrestling is Okay
We believe that The Hearth is a safe space to experience all the facets of true and deep faith, including the doubting and the wrestling. Faith is a journey, and the relationship we have with God is layered and nuanced, and we will have days where we feel close or far, satisfied or angry. We believe God is big enough to hold all of that in Divine hands, and it is all valid reflections of authentic faith and relationship. We believe that wrestling with Scripture, with Religious practices and history, with divine interventions in current events is a process of deepening our understanding and relationship with God, not a lack of faith.

Community is Key
The Hearth values relationships. We believe that relationships and community are the building blocks of faith in action. This is why we spend so much time together after church and outside of church. We deeply care for each other and accept each other exactly as we are, knowing that the Grace of God is busy working to file down our rough edges and help us grow closer to the divine creation God created each and every one of us to be. And we believe that God works through others and through our community to help us through this self work.

Go out and spread the Good News of God and the Gospel and the Church community you call home. You never know the impact of your stories and who needs to hear them.