John 20: 19-31
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

I remember when I graduated from seminary. I couldn’t believe that all the work was done and that I was actually going to graduate. During my first year, I had had a couple significant family illnesses and deaths that unfortunately coincided with the end of the semesters and finals. So, I had taken a lot of incompletes and I never thought I was going to get caught up. So when the day of graduation came, I had a sinking feeling that it wasn’t real. I wondered if at some embarrassing moment a professor or dean was going to walk up to me and say, “I’m sorry, but you haven’t quite graduated yet.” (more…)

If you are in your 20′s or 30′s (or just feel young), join our new Young Adult Group. The group will be gathering regularly for fun and fellowship. Events will be announced here and in the newsletters. You can also email Pastor Bryan to be added to the Young Adult e-mail list. Pastor Bryan Hooper, himself a young adult, is a member of the new group and will often be in attendance. Please speak with Pastor Bryan if you have any questions.

John 20:1-18
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

Mary arrives at the tomb of Jesus expecting to make final preparations for his body. Instead, she finds the tomb desecrated – opened up, and the body taken. A final insult to Jesus, who just days ago had died a most humiliating death. Frightened, perhaps, or just angry, she runs off and tells the other disciples of her discovery. Peter and the other disciple come running. They enter the tomb and confirm what Mary had told them. Then the disciples leave. (more…)

Matthew 21: 1-11
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

I was reminded that this week is the fifth anniversary of our nation’s war in Iraq. I don’t use this pulpit to talk about politics very often, and I know that sometimes political discourse from the pulpit makes some people uncomfortable, and I don’t ever want crazy, ranting videotapes of myself to play on the television should one of you wind up running for president some day.
But I also must admit that I am too aware that as a church we have not been brave enough, we have not been frank enough, we have not been bold enough to speak clearly about our fundamental opposition to war. To be honest with you, on this day, a few days before the 5th year anniversary of this war in Iraq, it makes me uncomfortable, as a religious leader, to think that most of us just carry on without much notice, that for most of us this milestone is of little consequence, that for most of us the primary effect we have experienced is the increased cost of gasoline, and that modest discomfort seems to be our primary complaint. (more…)

John 11:1-45
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

I remember standing next to my mother’s dead body. Her body had gone through a terrible regimen of medical marvels in a doomed attempt to save her from leukemia. Her body had been ravaged by both the disease and the treatment. And I remember standing next to her, her skin pulled back and her chest sunken. She had lost her hair, and they had put her wig on her, but her head was too small and the wig looked out of place. They had put her in a dress that she often wore, but her body was so dissipated that the dress just sorta laid there, wrapping gently around her bones. Thanks to the elaborate embalming process, she didn’t stink, but she was very clearly dead. (more…)

John 9: 1-41
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

Recently I have been hanging out with some unsavory characters here in Hartford. I’ve made friends with some of my neighbors who live near me, but none of them are church-going people. In fact, most of them define themselves as atheists. They don’t believe. But they are in my demographic categories, so even though they don’t share my faith, we have other things in common, and we enjoy each other’s company. (more…)