Sunday 8 AM, 9 AM, 11 AM and 5 PM

  2944 Erie Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45208  ·   (513) 321-6700  ·         Give

The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
  • Welcome
    • Children
    • Service Times
  • About
    • What We Believe
    • Vision Statement
    • Community Covenant
    • The Way of Love
    • Our Clergy & Staff
    • Vestry
    • Calendar
    • Latest News
    • Wedding Guidelines
    • Contact Us
  • Worship
    • Our Worship
    • Worship Online
    • Worship Weekdays
    • Bulletins
    • Music
    • Families in Worship
    • Children's Liturgy
    • Sermons
    • Prayers of the People
    • Ministry Scheduler
  • Serve
    • Mission Ministries
    • Mission Minded Forum
    • Reconcilers
    • Ministry Discernment
  • Care
    • Healthy Church
    • Stephen Ministry
    • Creation Care
    • Dementia Inclusive Cincinnati Initiative
    • Obituaries
  • Learn
    • Family Ministry
    • Redeemer Preschool
    • Book Group
    • Downtown Bible Study
    • Library
    • Theology Circle
    • Thursday Morning Bible Study
    • CoR After School
  • Connect
    • Holy Week 2023
    • Events
    • Church Directory
    • StorySharers
    • Becoming Beloved Community
    • Scotland Pilgrimage and Choir Residency
    • Second Half Ministry
    • Young Adults
    • Membership
    • Calendar
    • Contact Us
    • Giving
    • Planned Giving
    • CoR Portal
  • Media
    • Redeemer Online
    • Rector's Blog
    • Podcasts
    • Annual Report
  • Give
    • Commitment 2022
    • Stewardship
    • Endowment Fund

Rector's Blog: Uncurated Love

This blog is also available as a podcast

I remember watching TV when I was a kid and waiting for those commercial breaks. This was when you got a refill of your drink, or grabbed a snack or, in the most dire of situations, went to the bathroom. I say dire because of course we didn’t have any way to pause whatever we were watching, so every time we left the room, we were risking missing part of the show forever. Bathroom trips during commercial breaks were risky. How many times did I almost break a leg trying to get past the ottoman in a mad dash for the kitchen, pantry, or bathroom during those precious minutes? Sometimes I was the one stationed in front of the TV while a friend made a break for it, and I had to yell out, “Quick it’s back on! Get here! GET HERE!”

This sounds like the distant past. It’s certainly a reality my children have never known. They don’t know what it’s like to thumb through a TV Guide and find out which shows were new, and which were reruns, and they can’t even fathom the idea of having two shows they like on at the same time and having to choose.

Our lives are so curated now. We consume what we want when we want it, TV, music, food, news, friendship, community – it’s all carefully chosen at our convenience and in a way that suits our tastes best. This has been a particular double-edged blade of the pandemic. On one hand, the sheer magnitude of content at our fingertips, and the convenience of digital connection has made so much of this time manageable, hasn’t it? Tuning into podcasts and jumping onto livestreams (or recordings of live events) at my convenience and in my pajamas has been pretty lovely. Zoom Bible Study has been pretty fantastic. On the other hand, I have retreated more fully into myself, and in this time of loneliness I have been able to make my little world more of what I want it to be. I have also had to deal with the inconvenience of other people less. No more mad dashes for the pantry during the commercial break.

Let me be clear, I’m not here to write wistfully about the “good old days”. I mostly like my curated life. I am, however, noticing something about how God works. God seems to do the most work with me in the spaces where I have less control, where I’m inconvenienced, where I have done the least curating. God is at work in the most dark and difficult recesses of my life. I can sense God in the places of difficulty more obviously than those spaces where I have it how I want it.

At the church where I became Episcopalian a man named Mark taught a class on what it meant to be part of the Church. He talked about walking along the beach when he was young and collecting rocks, going back to his home and sticking the rocks into a rock tumbler. The rocks would go into the tumbler all dull and jagged. They’d come out smooth, shiny, and beautiful. What caused the transformation? What happened while they were in the tumbler? Well, they tumbled against each other. They were forced to bump up against each other again and again, and in that process, they were transformed into something beautiful.

This was a tidy metaphor, to be sure, but one that has stuck with me for almost 20 years now: The Church is a community that defies perfect curation. We have certain similarities, some shared values, and common beliefs – but so much of our strength is in the simple fact that we are thrown together and told to hold on. The friction matters. It changes us whether we ask it to or not.

Of course, we don’t want to be thrown together, and in this time, we don’t have to be. We can live so much of our lives on our terms – even in the face of a worldwide pandemic we find a way to navigate so much of our lives in the manner of our choosing. But the church seeks to inconvenience us by giving us to one another. The church is an agent of transformation, and the primary method of transformation is the relationships of unconditional love that are forged within the rock tumbler community of our congregation.

Our lives are changing so much right now. Our church is changing so much right now. It’s inconvenient. Period. Doubly so if we were looking forward to things getting back to normal after the pandemic. First because we don’t even know when the end of the pandemic will be, and second because we are seeing more clearly that there will be no going back to normal. We are forging a new normal. We are moving forward into the dark that comes right before the dawn not knowing what the new day will bring. Knowing only that whatever comes our way, we will have God and we will have each other.

We will have God and we will have each other. One thing that has become so apparent during this time is just how much we need community. But not just any community: Our hearts yearn for community that is rooted and grounded in Love, in helping us to be loved and to love in real and practical ways. This kind of community helps us see God here and now, in our midst. I encourage you, my beloved siblings in Christ Jesus, to look for God in your midst. I ask you to see how God is meeting you in the discomfort and inconvenience, in the uncertainty and newness. The God who defies curation is drawing you deeper into a community that is rooted and grounded in Love. Real and true and unconditional and transformational Love.


Tags: Rector's Blog

Sermons

  • Mar 20 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    The Present Past
  • Mar 12 | Tym House
    Direct Access to Grace
  • Mar 6 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Being Righteous
  • Feb 27 | The Rev. Melanie W. J. Slane
    Two Sides of the Same Coin
  • Feb 20 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Superman Transfigured

Rector's Blog

  • Mar 24 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Rector's Blog, When God Feels Like It
  • Mar 17 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Rector's Blog, But Through Me
  • Mar 10 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Rector's Blog, Conversions - Part 2
  • Mar 3 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Rector's Blog, Conversions - Part 1
  • Feb 24 | The Rev. Philip DeVaul
    Rector's Blog, Better Not Easier

© 2023 The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
2944 Erie Ave. · Cincinnati, OH 45208
(513) 321-6700
Privacy Policy · Powered by Membership Vision

  View Entire Post

Service Times

We welcome you to join us at the church building or online.

Learn more about our worship services using the button below.

Our Worship

Please join us online by using the button below!

Online Worship

Location

The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
2944 Erie Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45208

Contact Us
(513) 321-6700

Newsletter Signup

Welcome Children Service Times Membership Contact Us

Welcome to Church of the Redeemer! We invite and welcome ALL to join us in worship and community. In addition to worship, we have a vibrant music community, a fun and welcoming community for children and youth, plus offerings for everyone from young adults to seniors, covering many varied interests.

The Rev. Philip DeVaul, Rector

WHAT WE BELIEVE

We love children, and children love Church of the Redeemer!

Children are at the heart of life at Church of the Redeemer. Children learn about the word of God through our Children's Christian Education programs; they are involved in worship services, they play music in our services, and they form lifelong friendships with each other through their experiences.

LEARN MORE

On Sundays we have an 8:00 am Holy Eucharist, Rite I service, a 9:00 am Holy Eucharist, Rite II service (which is also livestreamed), an 11:00 am Banquet Eucharist service and a 5:00 pm Celtic Eucharist service.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we offer Morning Prayer on our Online Worship Podcast.

On Wednesdays, we offer Holy Eucharist, Rite II at 6:00 pm in the Chapel.

LEARN MORE

The community of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer welcomes you! We are glad that you have chosen to explore your faith here and hope that this document can answer some of the questions you may have about Church of the Redeemer. We seek to be an open, inviting community. Our invitation to you is to join us as we grow in faith and reach out in love to others. At Church of the Redeemer we are always seeking to know Jesus and grow in love. We hope that in whatever ministries you undertake will strengthen your relationship with him through your ministry and fellowship here.

LEARN MORE

PARKING: Parking is on the street. Please pay attention to the signs indicating proper parking zones. Handicapped parking is available in the front on Erie, in the back parking lot, and on the south side of Raymar.

ACCESSIBLE REDEEMER: The front entrance has a ramp and there is an elevator inside the back door and to the left. Accessible restrooms are located in the Lobby inside the front entrance.


CONTACT US
Make a Donation Altar Flowers Endowment Fund Commitment 2023 Planned Giving

Thank you for supporting the mission and ministry of Church of the Redeemer!

To give a one time gift, click the button below. To make a financial commitment for 2023, use the Commitment 2023 tab above.

Donate

Flowers in our holy worship spaces are a beautiful gift to God and those who attend services at Church of the Redeemer as well as those being honored or remembered. A contribution to the Flower Fund is a meaningful way to honor or remember a loved one for special life events such as birthdays, anniversaries, baptisms, confirmations, thanksgivings, or in memory of a loved one.

Donate

The Church of the Redeemer is blessed to have received special gifts from parishioners who wanted Redeemer to have permanent savings to care for our facilities and to supplement our pledge income.

Such permanent savings are often called an “endowment.” The endowed funds are permanently set aside by donors or by the Vestry. Some of our donors have specified uses for their endowment gifts. A limited portion of the funds is distributed each year to supplement our general budget. All funds are invested with professional advice.

LEARN MORE

What about your connection to Redeemer changes the way you live in this world? Your financial commitment is a response to the work that God is doing with you here. It is a practical way to ensure that others are able to experience the relationships of holy connection and communion that are shaping your life.

For 2023, we ask that you make your commitment through regular scheduled electronic giving, if possible. Whether it be weekly or annually, giving electronically is a safe and sustainable way to ensure your continued financial support.

MAKE YOUR COMMITMENT NOW

Your planned legacy gift to the Church of the Redeemer is a practical way for you to empower generations to come. It is a powerful witness of faith, love, and gratitude. This type of gift recognizes the heritage left by those who came before us and acknowledges that we bear a responsibility to the future faithful - to insure the continuation of God’s work within and beyond Church of the Redeemer.

Read More