Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Photos from Concert for a Cause

    Photos from Concert for a Cause

  • Christmas Pageant — Sunday Dec. 8, 10:30am Service

    Christmas Pageant — Sunday Dec. 8, 10:30am Service

    Join our kids and their musical mentors for a lighthearted take on the nativity story during the 10:30 service on Sunday, Decmber 8

  • Joining

    Joining

    I always cry during the service when new members join. It happens during the congregational vow at the end: “Joyfully, then, do we, the members of Just North UCC, receive you to our communion….” We go on to promise our support and faith to our newest members. When I joined North Church, it was a…

  • I Wonder About the Godly Play Desert

    I Wonder About the Godly Play Desert

    By Dee Fuerst and Susan Yutzey, Sunday Journey’s Co-Superintendents I love sharing the stories of Godly Play with our North children. My favorite part of the program is how our children creatively reflect on the story using the materials that we provide. One of their favorite choices is retelling the story, especially if it includes…

  • What Keeps Me Going

    What Keeps Me Going

    I was asked to write a blog about what keeps me going. My first reaction was, “I have no idea.” I sat down and did a map of all my roles: wife, mom, teacher, crafter, citizen, friend, accountant, mathematician… I could list more but those are off the top of my head. After listing each…

  • Mirrors

    Mirrors

    I do not know what my face looks like. I do not know what my face looks like without looking in a mirror. And even then, what I see is a flipped image of myself. I cannot see my true form even with a mirror. I cannot see myself as I truly am. I need…

  • Joy

    Joy

    About a year and a half ago, at the suggestion of a wise friend, I began a joy journal. It is a place for me to list each day one or more things that brought me joy. It is a way for me to pay closer attention, to notice the bits of joy already present…

  • The Best I Know

    The Best I Know

    According to my faith: I have done the best that I know. It is not the best that could be done.  It may not be my best ever.  Given the need at hand, the circumstances now, the level of knowledge I possess, and the energy available I have done the best that I know. I…

  • Mercy

    Mercy

    Mercy. I used to think about the kind of mercy that is when one gets a lesser punishment than one deserves. The kind of mercy I’ve been thinking about recently is different. It has nothing to do with deserving or not deserving. It is about the lessening of suffering or distress. The longest day of…

  • Concert for a Cause

    Concert for a Cause

    CONCERT FOR A CAUSE With Sally Fingerett, and Kay Harris, Molly Pauken & Peter Cary of the band, Sirens. Emceed by Eric Gnezda – Songwriter and Speaker Saturday November 9th, 7pmLocation: Just North United Church of Christ2040 W Henderson Rd, Columbus, OH 43220 Tickets Tickets: $20 general admission, $40 per family, and can be purchased…

  • Be Still

    Be Still

    Hands off! Stop! Cease and desist! Be still! Be still and know that I am God. 1 Be still – from the Hebrew root raphah – meaning: to let down the hand (as in stop doing, be lazy) leave off (a work that’s been started) let (any thing) go 2 Stop. Preposterous! God says to…

  • Put on Gentleness

    Put on Gentleness

    Put on gentleness. Put on gentleness like a good pair of boots. Wear the gentleness that is right for you. When it fits properly, it embraces and does not smother you, allowing space for you to find your natural balance. Let gentleness be first for your own sake. Let it be a buffer against potential…

  • How Is God Holding Me?

    How Is God Holding Me?

    Holy transition. The structure of my days is completely different than it was a month ago. Where I go, who I interact with, the activities I am involved in, have shifted. My days look very different. I talked about this the other week with my spiritual director. She asked me how I was experiencing God…

  • Death: A Holy Interruption

    Death: A Holy Interruption

    Death interrupts us. This is what death does. Unafraid to break into our lives, it comes, not when we expect it; it comes when it is ready. And that time may or may not be when we are ready. And yet. Death is a holy interruption. It is holy because it changes our lives and…

  • Weds Evening Book Study: Climate Church, Climate World:  How People of Faith Must Work for Change

    Weds Evening Book Study: Climate Church, Climate World: How People of Faith Must Work for Change

    by Jim Antal will be the book used for WEBS this fall beginning Wednesday, September 18 thru November 13 at 7:00 pm This book is written by UCC minister, Rev. Jim Antal, who has worked in the field of environmentalism for 20 years. “WHY should people of faith engage the moral challenge of climate change…

  • Follow-up to the Refugee Road Concert for a Cause

    Follow-up to the Refugee Road Concert for a Cause

    Over 250 souls gathered to raise $3,000 on behalf of legal defense for the Mauritanian Community. The Christian and Jewish faith communities came together on behalf of our Muslim brothers and sisters.

  • An Updated Look at the Climate Crisis: Where We Are, What Can We Do? Who Is Impacted?

    An Updated Look at the Climate Crisis: Where We Are, What Can We Do? Who Is Impacted?

    Please join us on Sunday, August 25, 2019, immediately following the 10:30 service when Just North member Mary DeLamatre will present what she learned through the Climate Reality Project Leadership Training. Childcare will be available and lunch will be provided. We do request that you RSVP to Susan Kinzer at 614-451-1835 by Wednesday August 21.…

  • CONCERT FOR A CAUSE: Refugee Road

    CONCERT FOR A CAUSE: Refugee Road

    REFUGEE ROAD: A Concert that Crosses Every Divide Starring Shaun Booker Featuring Starlit Ways, the Ghanaian Youth Choir and Sojourners Quintet Saturday, August 24, 7 pm (Picnic on lawn, 5 pm) Just North United Church of Christ and Temple Israel invite you to an interfaith celebration in support of the Mauritanian community. Proceeds for the…

  • Save the Date!

    Save the Date!

    A Summer Concert For A Cause That Crosses Every Divide! by Joyce Phelps and Leslie Kern Please be sure to SAVE THE DATE for our next Concert For A Cause: SATURDAY, AUGUST 24th. Picnic: 5-7:00 pm Concert: 7:00 pm. We are living in a time of unprecedented division and this concert will be a music-filled,…

  • Honduran Family Lives At Just North UCC Awaiting Asylum

    Honduran Family Lives At Just North UCC Awaiting Asylum

    Click Here to Donate to Help Support the Family Update: The Nov 9 Concert for a Cause featuring Sally Fingerett and Sirens will raise funds to support the family. Get your tickets today! Just North has taken in a family of four from Honduras: Mom, Dad, toddler and brand-new baby seeking to make Columbus their…

  • Mary Magdalene Celebration

    Mary Magdalene Celebration

    Mary Magdalene Celebration Saturday, July 277:00 pmFellowship Hall2040 Henderson Rd, Columbus 43220 This year Dances of Universal Peace are joining us, with opportunities for us to sing and dance to beautiful music. Associate Pastor Joanna Samuelson is our worship leader. The service honoring Mary Magdalene includes We’ll have music, dance, and song interspersed. A tribute…

  • Pride 2019

    Pride 2019

    JustNorth will celebrate the 2019 Pride Festival downtown on Saturday! Join North Church members and continue the tradition! We love to CELEBRATE our diversity and extravagant welcome. Join us this Saturday, June 15 on High Street in Short North. Step off is at 10:30. I have pulled some pictures from over the last 10 years…

  • Wednesday Evening Book Study:  Grounded

    Wednesday Evening Book Study: Grounded

    Grounded: Finding God in the World. A Spiritual Revolution The headlines are clear: religion is on the decline in America as many people leave behind traditional religious practices. Diana Butler Bass, leading commentator on religion, politics, and culture, follows up her acclaimed book Christianity After Religion by arguing that what appears to be a decline…

  • Climate Crisis: Where We Are, What Can We Do?

    Climate Crisis: Where We Are, What Can We Do?

    Mary DeLamatre is back from the Climate Reality Project Leadership Training she attended in Atlanta and will be sharing what she learned on Sunday, May 19, 2019, immediately following the 10:30 service in Fellowship Hall. The Climate Reality Project was started in 2006 by Al Gore just after he released his movie “An Inconvenient Truth,”…

  • Family Board Games Night May 17

    Family Board Games Night May 17

    Games night is a week early this month (moved for Memorial Day weekend.) Join us at 6:30pm to play family board games. All ages and all kinds of games. Bring a game to share, we’ll have light snacks available.

  • Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus Illuminati Choir Sunday May 19th

    Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus Illuminati Choir Sunday May 19th

    Referring to the Latin phrase meaning “the Enlightened Ones,” Illuminati was created to respond to the community’s expressed desire for musical performances of a sacred or spiritual nature. Its mission is to increase the Chorus’ outreach performances, particularly to religious organizations, while respecting our members’ spiritual beliefs. Illuminati performs monthly at various religious institutions and…

  • Holy Week

    Holy Week

    April 14 Palm Sunday 8:15/10:30am in the Sanctuary April 18 Maundy Thursday 7:00pm in the Fellowship Hall April 19 Good Friday 7:00pm in the Sanctuary April 21 Easter 7:00/8:15/10:30am in the Sanctuary April 21 Easter Breakfast and Easter Egg Hunt 9:00am in the Fellowship Hall

  • Concert for a Cause Featuring RJ Cowdery and Cantor Bat-Ami Moses, Hosted by Eric Gnezda

    Concert for a Cause Featuring RJ Cowdery and Cantor Bat-Ami Moses, Hosted by Eric Gnezda

    Saturday April 27, 8:00 pm Just North United Church of Christ is proud to present our third Concert for a Cause, headlined by national touring singer-songwriter RJ Cowdery. In partnership with Temple Israel, this concert will benefit The Women’s Center, a local residential treatment program providing addiction recovery for women and their children, with priority…

  • Family Board Games Night Friday March 22

    Family Board Games Night Friday March 22

    6:30pm Friday February 22nd Family Board Games Night Join us to play family board games. All ages and all kinds of games. Bring a game to share, we’ll have light snacks available.

  • The Faces and Faiths of Sanctuary

    The Faces and Faiths of Sanctuary

    On March 10 we hosted a public forum to share our experiences  in providing Sanctuary to undocumented persons who are under threat of deportation and family separation due to our broken and unjust immigration system. We partnered with three other faith communities: Columbus Mennonite Church (hosting Edith Espinal in Sanctuary) First English Lutheran Church (housing…

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