713-528-6665   ---   1805 W ALABAMA, HOUSTON, TX 77098 --- SUNDAY WORSHIP AT 8:30 AM & 10:30 AM    --- info@ststephenshouston.org

People of God,

On the morning after the election, I sat on the floor in the Nave leading Chapel with our students. I wasn’t sure what I would say to them. So we lit our candles, watched its light move and change, and we sang the songs about peace and community we sing every week. Sometimes it feels like going through the motions, and somehow the motions keep our frayed edges woven together.

The way here has been perilously fraught. The loss and pain of what has been and the fear of things to come, is credible and heavy. God, who knows and bears these depths too, does not ask us to hurry them along or tidy them up.

I do not have any secret sacred remedy for heartache or humanity. Some things can not be solved, but they can be shared. Jesus has shown us the way of clinging to people over pundits and platitudes. We gather and hold one another as church because God welcomes us as raw and beloved. This church welcomes you without asking you to tuck in your feelings at the door.

We may not know what to do with what lies ahead, but we can sing and breathe and cry and light candles and tell our stories. We come to be together in worship and prayer and God feeds us. It helps us hold what we don’t know how to carry.

May the God of all our tomorrows be as near to you as your own heart. May we be drawn to care in one another. And may resurrection unbind us from the grave. Amen.

In Christ,

Rev. Ashley Dellagiacoma