Welcome

Welcome to the blog of Ed Horstmann, Senior Pastor of Immanuel Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. My hope is that these reflections might help in some way to encourage your faith, center you in the Spirit, and invite you to engage the stories of our faith for personal and social transformation.

Some readers of this blog have asked me how I make choices about which stories upon which to focus my attention. I would say that my current writing is focused in three areas. First, I have been intrigued for many years by the biblical stories about the prophet, Elijah, so many of the upcoming meditations will focus on his ministry. I am interested in this figure not only because of his prominence in the Hebrew Bible, and the fascinating nature of the stories about him, but because I think there was something about this prophet that was enormously formative for the work of Jesus of Nazareth.

A second theme that seems to demand my attention concerns the primary focus of Jesus’ ministry: the kingdom of God. This phrase appears frequently in the New Testament, though it is rarely defined. More often than not, Jesus invites his listeners into this reality through the use of parables and stories.

Finally, there will always be reflections that emerge from my personal life, the reading that I do, daily experiences of ministry, or an event in the life of our nation or the wider world that invites deeper exploration.

My prayer is that all who read these meditations may find them a way in which to become more conscious of the movement and direction of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Through that deepening awareness, may we know ourselves to be loved by God, and called upon to be as compassionate as God.