Virtual Sunday service with guest speaker Rev. Dr. Carolyn Helsel

Looking at the two New Testament texts for the Revised Common Lectionary for today, Acts 3:12-19 and Luke 24:36b-48, we will consider together Christianity’s long history of wounding others, even while it worships a Christ risen with his wounds. Tracing in particular the legacy of Anti-Judaism in early church texts, we will consider how Christianity’s rise meant a deepening of anti-Jewish sentiment that had existed prior to the Common Era (BCE), and that led to more organized violence against Jewish communities in the Middle Ages. Jumping forward from history into today, we will consider how persons wounded by Christianity (and other forms of religion) are still able to find a meaningful connection to a worshipping community—often in places like PCUUC!

Reverend Dr. Helsel joined the faculty of Austin Seminary in 2015. Prior to her appointment she was a transitional pastor for The Presbyterian Church in Sudbury (Massachusetts), as well as visiting professor…