Rev. Cari Copeman-Haynes

On this 17th Sunday after Pentecost, Rev. Cari preached on Mark 8:27-38, which includes the question of Jesus to the disciples, “But who do you say I am?” It’s a timely question, which Rev. Cari pointed out in her introduction, referring to the political debate between the two contenders on the Tuesday before. It’s also…

Today, Rev. Cari preached in response to a request posed in this way: “What would Jesus say about MAID?” She chose texts from Job 19 and Matthew 22:23-33, a response of Job to his “comforting” friend, and a controversy story of Jesus being tested by the Sadducees. She begins with a description of the “air…

This morning’s Stump the Preacher topic was a request to understand mysticism in Christianity. So Rev. Cari pulled out Genesis 28 and 2 Corinthians 12, and reflected on them both. She also leaned on Richard Rohr a bit: he spent a week recently opening up the experience of Julian of Norwich, a 14th century female…

Jesus had some surprising things to say about family in Matthew 10 and 12. Things that contradict the usual “family values” kinds of assumptions that regular folks have about him. This sermon is Rev. Cari’s attempt to make sense of the strange things he sometimes said, as well as help us in our relationships with…

Rev. Cari received a request to preach on Jesus’ words about “new wine in old wine skins” from Mark 2, and to specifically preach on the life of the church as institution. The requester said, “We worship this polyamorous God who desires justice for ALL people and who will not be contained. No matter how…

For the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, Rev. Cari preached on Mark’s story of Jesus asleep in the boat while a storm rages around him (Mark 4:35-41). The disciples, frightened by the storm, wake him up and ask him, “Don’t you care that we’re about to be killed?” And he stills the storm. Rev. Cari’s take…

This sermon for the fourth Sunday after Pentecost is on the pair of parables found in Mark 4:26-34. Both concern the Reign of God, and both feature green growing things. The question in Rev. Cari’s mind as she begins to look at these parables, is “What is the role of the human?” And by the…

For the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost, Rev. Cari tackled quite a challenging text: Mark 3:20-35. A combination of narrative about Jesus’ family making an “intervention” in his life because they are concerned for him, and Jesus tangling with the Scribes, who say he is possessed of an evil spirit, it’s a thorny text to untangle….

On Trinity Sunday, Rev. Cari dives in with two texts: Isaiah 6:1-8, and John 3:1-8. Both texts invite a “more than literal” understanding of who God is and how God invites humans to be in relationship to the Holy. The sermon opens with a quote from theologian and psychologist Richard Beck, who speaks about “the…

Pentecost Sunday, often referred to as the “Birthday of the Church” is a story of a radical reset for the followers of Jesus. This morning, we heard two texts: the Valley of the Dry bones in Ezekiel 37 and the story of the Day of Pentecost from Acts 2. We began in dryness, “doom” and…