Rev. Cari Copeman-Haynes

For Shepherding Sunday, the fourth Sunday of the season of Easter,  Rev. Cari preached on John 10:1-10. (The congregation also sang a musical setting of Psalm 23.) Though apparently a bucolic image, and a  soothing idea, Rev. Cari got underneath the metaphor of the Good Shepherd and talked about leadership – and fear. She referred…

For the third Sunday after Easter, Rev. Cari preached a sermon in which she held two stories side by side: the Biblical story of the “Road to Emmaus” from Luke 24: 13-35, and the story of a cold-water swimmer named Lynne Cox. The connection between the two stories is the “more than” quality of presence…

Rev. Cari’s Easter morning sermon was based on the story of the Resurrection morning, as told in John’s Gospel (John 20:1-18). It’s a complex and meaning-laden story, as John’s gospel always is, and gives us an Easter “pattern” or “rhythm” rather than a happy ending. Easter is a moment when God reveals God’s great love…

For Palm Sunday, Rev. Cari preached on Matthew 21:1-11, referring also to the quoted material in that text from Zechariah 9:9-10. The sermon launched from the all-too-familiar feeling of dread that humans of every age feel … whether related to personal circumstances, or social or political ones. She then spent some time in the text…

For the 5th Sunday in Lent, Rev. Cari returned to the pulpit to preach on the 11th chapter of John’s Gospel. This traditional Lenten narrative about the raising of Lazarus has long lived in the hearts and imaginations of Christians as we prepare for the mystery of Easter. Not the least of which because it…

Is it a universal tendency to resist change as we age? What’s the difference between “comfort” and “salvation?” What does Jesus say when my “comfort” gets in the way of someone else’s (or the whole world’s) salvation? These are all questions that weave in this morning’s sermon from Rev. Cari for Lent 2, on John…

Preaching on Matthew 4:1-11 for the first Sunday of Lent, Rev. Cari started by acknowledging the announcement this past Tuesday from the Tseshaht Nation. She invited the congregation to pause, to hold the reality with respect and sorrow. She then proceeded to lift up the voices of Judith Sayers, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council president, the Rt….

For the 6th Sunday after Epiphany, Rev. Cari preached on I Corinthians 3:1-9. In this text, Paul takes the Corinthians to task for being “ordinary humans!” Since “ordinary humanity” has been visited by divinity in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, and the people in Corinth belong to God, Paul has hope of them eventually becoming…

For the 5th Sunday after Epiphany, Rev. Cari preached a sermon that jumped from the prophetic text, Isaiah 58:1-12, to the Gospel, Matthew 5:13-20. The prophet poses the question “Why should we practice our faith, if God doesn’t seem to be paying attention and everything remains the same?” And though Rev. Cari spent a bit…

For the third Sunday after Epiphany, Rev. Cari preached on another call story, this time from the Gospel of Matthew (4:12-23). Before diving into the story itself, which actually contains three calls, she took a short detour. She had read a news piece on the Harvard Study of Adult Development, a research project that has been going…