Mark 9: 38-50
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

One of the things that has kind of surprised me since coming to Hartford as your pastor is the lack of coordination among the churches in our community. That is changing a bit, I think, but it remains a bit troubling to me. Churches have so much in common – so much that we can share and do together – that it really is a shame that we don’t work more in harmony with those congregations who share our commitments. (more…)

The Greater Hartford Interfaith Coalition for Equity & Justice is recruiting tutors at the Noah Webster MicroSociety Magnet School and Rawson School, both k-8 schools located in Hartford. Tutors are needed for reading and math at both schools. Commitment is typically for one day a week, usually in the morning, for about 1 to 1.5 hours. Tutors are given all the information and support they need by school staff. You will join a team of other tutors and be kept informed as to your student’s results on intermittent reading or math progress tests. If you are interested and want more information, please call Shai Cassell at 860-930-4278 or email at scassell54@comcast.net. Call – you won’t regret it! Our church has members working with this tutoring program who can attest to the rewards.

Mark 9: 30-37
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

I remember when I took my first class in seminary. I remember it because I was not quite getting it. It turned out that my college degree in computer science was not the best preparation for seminary. Typically, a seminary student will have a reading load of between 400 to 500 pages a week. It usually took me a month to read that much stuff. And to make matters worse, some of my fellow students were obviously more prepared than I was. Seminary required me to adjust, to adapt, to overcome my limitations. For me, it was mostly an expansive experience, that really helped me to grow and learn and develop. I am grateful now, that I was fortunate enough to be able to learn so much in such a focused environment. (more…)

Mark 8: 27-38
Rev. Bryan Travis Hooper

Happy Rally Day! I’ve often wondered about that term – “rally day.” Some churches call today “homecoming.” Both terms kinda suggest that we have been on break all summer long, that nothing has been going on here. But that is far from the truth for us – by any measure we have remained a very active and engaged congregation all summer long. So for us, today really isn’t so much a rally day or a homecoming day as it as day of renewal. I’d like for us to think of today as a day to renew our commitments to our faith life – to renew our commitment to our spiritual growth, to our study of our faith, to our practice of our faith. Today we rally together to renew ourselves and our community and our commitment. (more…)