Category: Our Beliefs
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Our liberation is tied together
by Rachel Sensenig, pastor of Circle of Hope in South Philly The book of Esther – like so many others in the Bible – demonstrates resistance and solidarity against the evil powers of empire, patriarchy, and ethnic nationalism. She and her uncle and the queen before her show that standing up and speaking out make…
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National Coming Out Day
by Julie Hoke, pastor of Circle of Hope in Germantown A note from the Julie to the body: Dear friends, National Coming Out Day was this week and I want to acknowledge and celebrate LGBTQIA+ folks who have come out. Making that decision and living into it is a brave thing to do. For those…
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Hypocrisy, Racism, and Ukraine
by Jonny Rashid, pastor of Circle of Hope in Fishtown Transcript: Hi, I’m Jonny, I use he/him pronouns, and I want to share a message with you that I hope encourages you, convicts you, and inspires you. We’ve been witnessing this terrible invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and seeing the damage and the horror that…
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A church where everyone can thrive
by Rachel Sensenig, pastor of Circle of Hope in South Philly Many folks have asked me recently, where are we going? What kind of church are we trying to be? We’ve gone through some difficult and confusing changes over the past year with the retirement of our founding pastors, in a pandemic with layers of…
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God’s solidarity with us
by Rachel Sensenig, pastor of Circle of Hope in South Philly This season is all about epiphany: the manifestation of God in the world. We’re rediscovering the mystery and miracle of how God became human to join in our struggle and to bring us into the freedom of joy of Beloved connection. Did someone ever…
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Making a way means bearing fruits of repentance
by Jonny Rashid, pastor of Circle of Hope in Fishtown Advent gives us a chance to prepare every year for the birth of the savior, as we await the Lord to return. As we observe the people around us preparing for the holiday, I hope we are moved to prepare ourselves for the coming of…
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All Saints Day Observation
by Jonny Rashid, pastor of Circle of Hope in Fishtown Audio: “Hey friends. Jonny Rashid here, he/him. I want to share one way you can observe Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day, which are happening on October 31st, November 1st, and November 2nd. I want to talk about the dead. Jesus made death…
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When a question opens up something new
by Julie Hoke, Pastor at Circle of Hope’s Germantown congregation. The other week one of the older kids in our congregation asked me, “Why do we take communion, anyway?” What a great question! I said something like, “Jesus was telling his disciples that he would give his own body and blood so there would not…