Pilgrimage has been our theme this year at the Memorial Church. We have asked ourselves: what difference might it make to think of our movement through the world as a pilgrimage? Would it awaken us to the sacred within us and around us? Would it bring us into new relationships that help us imagine new forms of community? Would it help us feel the claim the journeys of others make on our own? Would it deepen our awareness of God’s presence?
Our pilgrimage has taken an unexpected turn. But as we struggle to find our way in a suddenly changed world in which the good of all depends upon our willingness to distance ourselves from each other, our questions about pilgrimage remain urgent. They guide us as we feel our way into new forms of living and new ways of accompanying each other.
To support our community along the way, the Memorial Church will reach out every morning over email (sign up here). On Mondays, we will send out a musical offering; on Tuesdays and Thursdays, brief meditations by our student leaders, clergy, affiliated ministers and others; on Wednesdays, we will invite you into a spiritual practice that we hope can be a resource in the coming weeks; and on Fridays, we will offer a prayer that gathers up the needs and longings of our far-flung community. There’s a new “Prayer Request” button on the top right-hand corner of our homepage. Please add your prayer request by 2 pm each Tuesday to have it included in our Friday Prayers of the People. On Saturday mornings, we will continue sending our usual email, including the most recent Sunday sermon.
With the help of WHRB 95.3 FM and Harvard’s Media Services Department, we continue to broadcast a full worship service on Sundays at 11 am, and we hope you will tune in and worship with us wherever you are. Our pilgrimage together continues with new challenges—but perhaps also with new opportunities for connection. Please be in touch as you continue your journey. And keep washing those hands! We are holding you each day in our prayers.
Stephanie Paulsell
Interim Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church
Susan Shallcross Swartz Professor of the Practice of Christian Studies, Harvard Divinity School