Backpacking Camp

The Sacrament of Ordination

"The Ordination of priests is celebrated for the sake of all the other sacraments. It is given to those men and women who undertake to become celebrants of the sacraments and preachers of the Gospel. The substance ofa spiritual grace must be given to everyone who is called to become a celebrant. The Service of Ordination is the means by which a candidate for priesthood can be endowed with this grace of God. Upon receiving it, he or she makes a vow to undertake the holy task of celebrating the sacramentsfor the rest of life."

— Evelyn Capel

So much gratitude to all the many helpers from our congregation, to all the Priests, and to all the Hosts who all came together to make the Ordinations Festivities here at our Hillsdale Church and Land possible in such a beautiful way filled with so much life, grace, humor, gratitude, and joy. We were truly blessed with clear weather, warmth, blue skies, and in our work together. It was a mighty experience whose reverberations are sincerely felt.

Thank you to all the Seminary Students; Dhruva Corrigan, Faith DiVecchio, Erica Maclennan, Robert Bower, Tish Pierce, Claire Jerram, Teresa Bogdanovich, and Shannon Young, for their dedication, creative offerings, and service.

Thank you to Emily Watson for all your enthusiasm and photography. Thank You Rev. Carol Kelly for all your organizational warmth, leadership, and song. Thank You Christina Porkert for all the beautiful music, to the Green River Trio, and to musicians Jen Zimberg, on Piano, and Ivilisse, on Violin. Thank You Dorothea Haller for her incredible compositions that enfused our Church.

Thank you to All who came together with Food Contributions and so much more! A warm Thank you Carrie Roe for the delicious cake! Thank you to all. So much gratitude to all the Priests and Speakers who came together from near and far to celebrate the Sacrament of Ordination here in Hillsdale and to all the Speakers who enlivened the Church and its grounds with their words and song. It was a beautiful weekend indeed. It was a blessing for our community to host such an event. And a blessing to the world to celebrate in this way and to celebrate the becoming of these eight new priests together. It was a true wonder to have so many Priests from far and wide here and now for this very special occasion, one could experience the support from so many realms both visible and invisible. We celebrate the lifelong becoming of these eight New Priests, and their work ahead. We celebrate their commitment and dedication to bringing the Sacraments to many congregations and in recognition of all the communities of individuals ignited thru the light of Christ.

—Karin Weinrich

A wonderful announcement!

Dear Members of the Taconic-Berkshire Christian Community,

It is with great joy that I announce that Rev. Mimi Coleman from Devon, PA will be our new second priest!

We will let you know when she and her husband John will move and then we can start planning her welcoming party.

It has been a magnificent time of celebration at our beautiful church, for which everyone attending was so grateful!

Many thanks to all,
Rev. Carol Kelly

Rev. Mimi Coleman

The Sacrament of Ordination

THE SACRAMENT OF ORDINATION

"The Ordination of priests is celebrated for the sake of all the other sacraments. It is given to those men and women who undertake to become
celebrants of the sacraments and preachers of the Gospel. The substance of a spiritual grace must be given to everyone who is called to become a
celebrant. The Service of Ordination is the means by which a candidate for priesthood can be endowed with this grace of God. Upon receiving it, he or she makes a vow to undertake the holy task of celebrating the sacraments for the rest of life."
- Evelyn Capel

The Hillsdale congregation is pleased to be able to host three Ordination Sacraments this year, on May 14th, 15th and 16th. Whether or not you will
be attending physically, you can hold the Ordination in your heart and be a part of carrying this very special event within our midst, for the whole Christian Community.

For more information on the Ordinands & the Seminary Students
Click here: https://www.christiancommunityseminary.ca/blog

Easter Sermon

The sun rose this morning on the sparkling, bejeweled grasses, on the mountainsides and the budding trees, on landfills and broken glass, on broken sidewalks and human beings sleeping on them, on every person on earth with unconditional love. It rises and brings a new day.
It “beholds” the world with unspeakable love and warmth, entering all the broken spaces, right into the center of our hearts.

Today we become truly human again. Today the light penetrates our deepest darkness, our deepest sorrow, our cold, and tired bones and says, “Arise! Behold, I make all things new!”

Christ came to earth, clothed in an earthly body as we are now. Through Him, powerful spiritual forces have been streaming into human beings, into earthly matter. In sacrificing Himself He released his strength and the power of His love into the earth. He is in our breathing and in our blood so that we are constantly being renewed.

The Risen One walks among us, homeless because so many people have decided that He is not important. Many do not believe in the Christ Mystery. But for those who do believe, for those who are able to give Him a dwelling in their heart, He becomes alive again.

The beautiful thing about coming to know the Being of Christ is that the more we try to do that, the more we enter into His way of Being, the more He enters into ours. We do not know where we end and He begins. In Paul’s words, “Not I, but Christ in me.” Paradoxically, we become more of who we truly are.

Christ has given us of His very Being, which allows us to find meaning in everything: both good and evil, success and failure, life and death.

Many people are worried and troubled about the tremendous challenges we are facing in the world today, as well they should be. There is great cause for concern. All the more reason we have to call upon forces greater than ourselves! We cannot transform the world without supernatural intervention!
How disarming for the Adversary, that we lay down our weapons and dare to walk in the world with an open heart and with faith!

The one thing that the Risen One reprimanded the disciples about was their “hardness of heart.” Should that not be a message for us?
We are called to rise up this morning to what we are not yet.

To bring to life all that had died in us.

Rev. Carol Kelly • April 4, 2021

Holy Week & Artistic Activity

Dear Friends,

In preparation for our Holy Week study, I wanted to send you a few additional details.

Our schedule:
9-10:00 is the Act of Consecration of Man
10:00-10:45 • Community potluck breakfast
10:45-11:00 • Contemplation for the day
11:00-12:30 • Artistic workshop with Ingrid Hass

Community potluck in this case means that almost everyone brings something. For many of us, this will be our first meal of the day and all there is until dinner.

Some examples when we break our fast – not all for every day, but examples of what works:
About 18 eggs/day, which we will scramble (Vermont farm eggs provided)
Some appropriate meat like bacon or sausage. (Veggie version of same can be purchased for vegetarians).
Yogurt
Berries or other fruit
Granola
Oatmeal, or other hot cereal
Stewed apples
Bread and other baked goods

Suggested donation for the workshop is $15/day or $75 for entire 6 days

Please register for the breakfast/contemplation/workshop so that we can adequately prepare (if you plan on attending only the Act of Consecration, there is no need to register) to carolkelly.cc@gmail.com

Thank you,
Rev. Carol Kelly

What is the "real question"?

Dear Friends,
We are preparing ourselves for a more courageous road. One in which, as the poet David Whyte says:

“ …a previously defended identity might not only be shorn away, but be seen to be irrelevant, a distraction, a working delusion that kept us busy over the years and held us unaccountable to the real question.”

The “real question” being, “What must I do to attain eternal life?” (Luke 18)

What do we have to do to see the truth of our own being? What hinders us? Once these questions begin to stir within us, then we can decide to change. We have to be able to recognize the spirits of darkness which would keep us attached to the material world only. We will receive help in this but we have to be willing to change significantly.

We will have to give up the way we think about and work with money. This will be a great challenge. To go from personal wealth to the “commonwealth” will be a great learning experience but we are drawn to it. Many people have lost everything they had to floods and fires. We have to reconsider where everything comes from and where it is going. We have to consider the earth as a living being. When people say, “ I am going out into nature” one wonders where they think they have been all this time. We are nature. We are in her and a part of her.

It is snowing again in February and the forecast shows us that there will be more. It is not as “exciting” as it was in December. We are weary of it. The snow merely slows us down, gets in our way. But what is it “saying” to us? Perhaps the message is to go deeper. Whatever it was you gained from the Holy Nights, whatever you decided to do in January, go back, try harder, renew your intentions, go into that holy place in the center of your heart, and find your true being. Improve the quality of your attention. Make sure that your roots are grounded in the spiritual world and that they are deep and unshakeable.

If you feel lonely and depressed at this time of year, that is like the breaking up of the ice on the river. It has to happen. But spring will come and the water will flow again. It will never be the same water! There will be a new story, a new garden, a new beginning.

The seeds we will plant will be born of suffering. They are the seeds that survived the difficult times. These are the best seeds for gardens because they have made it through the drought, the blight, the scorching heat. These are the best seeds because they are resilient! We can plant them and know that we will receive the help we need. The Spirit will step in where our strength fails.

-Rev. Carol Kelly