June 25, 2023 | The Original Handmaid’s Tale

This Sunday in worship Pastor Julie preached the message “The Original Handmaid’s Tale,” focusing on the painful story of Hagar and Ishmael in Genesis 21:8-21. The Bible is full of powerful stories about problematic people in messy, complicated situations. The story of Hagar and Ishmael is what Bible scholar Phyllis Trible calls a "text of terror." Womanist theologian Delores Williams says Hagar’s story is a story of "slavery, surrogacy, poverty, rape, exploitation, desperation, homelessness, single parenting, and radical encounters with God."

And...Hagar also is the only person in the Hebrew Bible to give God a name: El Roi—"the God who sees me."

Accompanying Lectionary passages are Romans 6:1b-11 and Matthew 10:26-31. The choir sings the anthem “With a Voice of Singing,” and we commission and bless Education for Ministry graduates.