Rev. Cari Copeman-Haynes

In her final sermon as Minister of Crossroads United Church, Rev. Cari opens up John 20:19-31 with the congregation. Appropriate to the moment in the life of the congregation, she notes that the fear of the disciples in the beginning of the text (despite the testimony they have received from the women) is familiar: they…

For the 5th Sunday of the season of Lent, Rev. Cari preached on the story of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume, and wiping them with her hair. It’s John’s telling of the story, found in chapter 12: 1-8. As part of the retelling of the story, she framed the actors as per the…

For the second Sunday in the season of Lent, Rev. Cari preached on an ancient text, the story of Abram (and Sarai’s) covenant with the Holy One from Genesis 15. As she mentions at the start, there is a part of her that wonders just “what to do” with a text like this one that…

Every year, on the first Sunday in Lent, we move into the wilderness with Jesus, to contend with the Adversary, and this year is no exception. Our text is Luke 4:1-13, and it is relevant. On the surface it looks like a conversation between Jesus and the Devil. A series of “temptations” (as the Bible…

On this 6th Sunday after Epiphany, Rev. Cari unpacked Luke’s version of The Beatitudes (found at Luke 6:17-26) which she renamed the “you who’s.” She began with the assertion (borrowed from Robert Reich) that greatness is a moral category, and that power is more than just being able to compel other people to do what…

For the fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Rev. Cari continued with her focus on God’s call, and preached on Isaiah 6:1-13 and Luke 5:1-11. In this sermon, she promised to share the story of her call to the Office of Vocation of The United Church of Canada, the ministry role she will move full-time to on…

Rev. Cari played a bit with the lectionary texts this week, combining the two gospel readings (which are actually one story) from last week and this, to focus in the sermon on Luke 4:14-30. Rarely does a Scripture passage leap off the page in real life like this one did, last week. It was irresistible….

Or… What does Love look like? (part 2). For this sermon on the 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany, Rev. Cari took up two texts referencing weddings… Isaiah 62:1-5 and John 2:1-11. She dove right into the deep end with the temporary cease-fire called in Israel/Palestine and the fact that it was the day before the…

On this “Twelfth Night” Sunday, the eve of Epiphany itself, Crossroads hosted the story of the travellers from the East who visited the Christ child, found in Matthew 2:1-12. Rev. Cari set the scene as a time of intrigue and danger thanks to King Herod. She then introduced the Magi as “complex characters” — the…

On Christmas Eve, Rev. Cari preached on the Luke 2:1-20 narrative of Mary & Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, the angels and the shepherds. Her sermon focussed on some of the lesser-known parts of the story, and gave us a window into God’s Christmas project. The kataluma (the Greek word translated “inn” in most versions) is her…