Rev. Val Ohle

“Remember how God became one of us? Remember how God ate with us and drank with us, laughed with us and cried with us? Remember how God suffered for us, and died for us, and gave his life for the life of the world? Remember? Remember?”
― Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church

“Authentic religion is not a theology test. It's a love test.”
― Oliver Thomas, 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You: But Can't, Because He Needs the Job

“Much in the contemporary church reflects the idolatry of consumerism. Many people join the church simply because of what it has to offer them. A “gospel of prosperity” replaces the radical and costly good news of God’s new creation in Jesus Christ. Churches become competitors vying for a greater share of the religious market. Evangelism is reduced to a marketing strategy”
― Kenneth L. Carder, Living Our Beliefs: The United Methodist Way

“Though I have never been part of a church that hosts an open table, I’m with Sara on this one. I don’t know exactly how Jesus is present in the bread and wine, but I believe Jesus is present, so it seems counterintuitive to tell people they have to wait and meet him someplace else before they meet him at the table. If people are hungry, let them come and eat. If they are thirsty, let them come and drink. It’s not my table anyway. It’s not my denomination’s table or my church’s table. It’s Christ’s table. Christ sends out the invitations, and if he has to run through the streets gathering up the riffraff to fill up his house, then that’s exactly what he’ll do. Who am I to try and block the door? Long”
― Rachel Held Evans, Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church