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The Rev. Dr.Cynthia Cearley
Lead Pastor of Congregational Life
Friends,
In the mid 1970's a few Montview members hoped for a sacred place to hold the remains of their loved ones who had died. They settled on the possibility of a Church Columbarium, just to the east of our Sanctuary. It was conceived out of a desire for a resting place that reminded the congregation that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses...by those who have loved us and we have loved. They wanted a place where the focus would be on the celebration of faithful lives and comfort for grieving families. They hoped for a place of beauty and simplicity; a sacred resting place.
With hard work and spiritual presence, they brought their idea to the Montview community and it became a reality. Today, we have a beautiful sacred burial ground that is a part of our Montview facility. Through the years there have been dedicated women and men who have planted flowers, managed the finances and overseen the care and maintenance of the Columbarium. Many of our Montview saints are interred there, as well as family members and folks from the Park Hill neighborhood. It is a place of beauty and peace.
This Sunday, the current Columbarium Commission members invite you to join them in the Columbarium, following the service, to remember the saints and enjoy the beauty of the garden. As we look to this Memorial Day weekend, remembering those who have given their lives for our country, let us also celebrate the lives of the saints as we gather in the Columbarium.
In peace,
Cindy
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 The Rev. Ian Gregory CumminsLead Pastor of Spiritual Life
Friends,
"...suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us."
Romans 5: 3-5
The destruction and loss of life suffered in Oklahoma this week challenge any tidy theology we might have about the redemptive value of suffering. When we try too quickly to explain why something bad has happened or try to find the 'lesson' in it all, we are usually doing so for our own sake. The thought that destruction could be so capricious and our lives could be so fragile is almost unbearable to us. And so we look for patterns, meaning, purpose...anything that points to a more ordered and comprehendible cosmos.
The danger is that our need for explanation gives us a picture of the world and of God that is not accurate, not true. And so we must be careful with texts like this one from Romans 5; careful not to make of it something formulaic that minimizes the truth of suffering. Those who are grieving in Oklahoma deserve more from us. They deserve for us to be with them in their suffering, letting our hearts break with theirs at their loss of home, property and life. Only then can we read this passage with the depth of experience they now have and that Paul wrote from. Only then can the passage move from formula to something true.
Grace and goodness,
Ian
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