Prayers and Ponderings

In this episode, Conference Ministers the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins (Heartland Conference) and the Rev. Dr. Chad Abbott (Indiana-Kentucky Conference), explore their work together as conference ministers in the United Church of Christ. 

The Rev. Jeff Nelson is the Minister for Ministerial Calls and Transitions for the United Church of Christ : Having served as a pastor in Northeast Ohio for 15 years – most recently at Grace UCC, Uniontown – the Rev. Jeff Nelson focuses on resources and support for pastors and other authorized ministers, including the denomination’s online portal for ministerial profiles. He said he is intrigued b...

An Interview about Neurodiversity with the Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund. In this interview we discuss Rev. Lund's new book: Blessed Minds: Breaking the Silence about Neurodiversity .  Neurodiversity is only now being widely understood for the unique ways it affects how we interact in all kinds--even church. Learn how to honor and celebrate neurodiversity, creating an inclusive environment where everyone fe...

Places of Rest, A Lenten Prayer: Holy One,  Help me pause just enough To notice Your invitation  To step off my harried path  And accept Your invitation  To the rest that truly resets.  Let the seat You offer  Be the reminder I need  To trust Your promise  To lighten every weariness  With Your renewing pause.  Yes, grant me grace  To turn aside and notice   Your outstretched mercy seat  Already wa...

With the release of his new book, Yes, Love, Thank You: Meditative Prayers and Pictures to Blossom Your Heart ,  the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins and the Rev. Cassidy Hall sit down to talk about prayer, spiritual practices, and new entryways into our interactions with the Divine. Often this Presence gets covered over by hurry, worry, or fear. But life doesn't have to be this way. Another way is pos...

Election Time - A Prayer Holy God,  Form us with loving resolve  To bear Your light and hope  Into a season fraught  With fear and despair.   Form our thoughts  With Your alive Word of Love  Able to fashion new creations  Out of every crushing chaos.   Mold our hearts   Into vessels of grace  Sorely needed in every time  But especially needed  In this present moment.   Fashion our words   With a g...

Summer Stillness - A Prayer by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins O Love,  Saturate me  With Your summer stillness  Opening deep within  The space unnameable   Formed by You  For Your mystery  Of unfolding love.   Pause me with scents  Scattered by flowers  Coming into bloom  Fed by Your sun and rain.   Fix my gaze   On your gentle motion  Of morning sun rising  And landing on everything  In joyful a...

Resurrection Stretch - A Prayer, by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins   Blossoming God,   Open the petals   Of my often closed life   With Your irresistible light   Of goodness and grace   Revealing resurrection   Surprises at every turn.   Stretch every petal of me   Too often closed to You   And Your promises   Of possibilities unknown   Except by consent   To Your motion of Love.   By this of You...

Turning Toward the Fire of Love - A Pentecost Prayer  by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins                O Love,   Let me turn   Aside in awe   Of morning’s fire   Rising in silences   That speak a Word   Recreating the world.   Your Holy Presence   Unnameable, yet voicing   A song within uncontainable.   Your “yes” of yearning   Meeting hearts that burn   In hurt and hope   Of all that dares to ri...

Necessary Sabbath Rest - A Prayer by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins   Loving God,   Grant me grace   To receive Your Sabbath   Rest and renewal   So often resisted   In frenzied rush   Toward inertias   Of my own making.   Let breathing space   Awaken me to Your breath   Given as gift in every moment   For a soul sustenance   Often taken for granted   Yet bearing the miracle of life   Into my bod...

The following sermon "The Call of Christ to be Woke" was preached by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins at the MLK Day Worship Celebration at Woodland Christian Disciples of Christ in Columbus, Ohio on January 15, 2024. The text for the sermon was Ephesians 5:1-2 and 6-17. 

In this episode, we hear the Conference Minister Address from the 2023 Heartland Conference Annual Gathering. The Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins shares about the necessary ligamental life of the church in his heart-to-heart reflection with the Heartland Conference. To view this video or other moments from this year's Annual Gathering, go to our YouTube page here: https://www.youtube.com/@HeartlandCon...

United and Uniting - A Prayer for the United Church  of Christ and the World written and read by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins   O Love,   Form us ever anew   United and uniting   Bearing a vision larger   Than we can imagine.    Form the puzzling   Predicaments of our day   Into something precious   And beautiful and good.   Yes, take all that is scattered   Embracing every fragment   And fashi...

Temple Body - A Prayer written and read by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins   O Love,   Bless this temple body   Given as gift by You   Enlivened by Your Spirit   For worship and work   In thanks and praise   Of all You make possible.   Form in me a reverence   For care of this gift   Of body given by You   For the purposes of love   To build Your justice joy   For the full flourishing   Of everybo...

Walking Holy Week’s Road, A Prayer by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Loving God,  Lead me step by step  On this Holy Week road  And form Your will and way  In answer to the weariness  And worry of the world  So easily residing in my soul.   Let the same sustaining spirit  You poured into Christ Jesus  Be poured ever anew into me   Answering every resistance  Begging me to distraction  From Your g...

Oh Snap! A Prayer of Confession, by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Loving God,   O snap!  Said too much. O snap!  Said too little. O snap!  Got distracted O snap!  Ate too much. O snap!  Too little sleep. O snap!  Unexpected turn. O snap!  Cut off. O snap!  Worry day. O snap!  Plans changed. O snap!  Tired of waiting. O snap!  Weary of winter O snap!  Lost my voice. O snap!  Came undone.   O Love...

Transcript: Everyday Thanksgivings, A Prayer by the Rev. Dr. David Long-Higgins Loving God,  For the gift of a new day I give You thanks  For breath of body I give You thanks  For silence of soul I give You thanks  For work that matters I give You thanks  For blessed memories I give You thanks  For little delights I give You thanks  For a family of love I give You thanks  For the gift of differenc...

Beginning Again An Advent Prayer Loving God,  Thank-you for the gift  Of beginning again  When all seems lost  Or weariness wears down  The last inch of hope. Yes, turn the page  Of over-rehearsed despair  Or dread of dullness  Formed by too much  Of just about everything.  Form instead Your promise  When night’s weight  Seems too heavy for   Dawn’s readiness to rise   In surprises unlikely  To be...

The Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr., Installation Service Preacher: The Reverend Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr., is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) US and Canada. He serves as executive director of the Columbus-based Ohio Council of Churches. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Sullivan is an internationally-known leader, ecumenist, preacher, justice advocate, and death penalty...

During the 2022 Heartland Conference (UCC) Annual Gathering, we had the joy of hearing from Rev. Joanna D'Agostino in an Opening Worship Sermon. The Rev. Joanna D’Agostino has been the Senior Pastor of Lakewood Congregational Church since June 2018. Joanna has a passion for Restorative Justice, which she learned as a Restorative Justice facilitator in Wisconsin state correctional institutions. Now...

This brand new episode features an introduction from Communications Director, Cassidy Hall, who shares a brief overview of Annual Gathering dates and deadlines. She reminds us this year's Annual Gathering is September 22-23 at Westerville UCC and the deadline to register is Monday, September 19th at 5:00 EST! Then we hear a message from others who will be in attendance including the Rev. Dr. Jack...