Tag Archives: scott gunn

Forward Today: Our hopes and fears are met in Jesus

December 30, 2020Forward Today, scott gunn

Dear friends in Christ,

I love several lines in Phillips Brooks’ beloved Christmas carol, “O little town of Bethlehem.” The last phrase in the first verse is especially poignant to me this year, “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”

Our God came to dwell among us, and in so doing, our hopes and fears met their redeemer. Ancient people had hopes and fears, and Jesus knew them. Today, we too have hopes and fears, and Jesus knows us and our hearts.

The year that is past certainly brought out many fears. If you’re like me, you are looking ahead in hope right about now. Of course, it’s never that easy. Hope and fear often come together.

At Forward Movement, it’s been a challenging year. We have tried valiantly to offer signs and words of hope. We created new materials to support Christians finding their way at home. We continued to send tens of thousands of copies of Forward Day by Day to people in prison, to nursing homes, to hospitals, and to military bases. We completely shifted how we work so that our ministry could carry on and we could be there when you call or write for help or to place an order.

I haven’t been afraid for Forward Movement’s long-term survival. We will be here for you and the church for decades to come. I’m sure of that. My fears have been simpler: are we really shifting in the best way possible? Are we providing what people need? Can we continue to innovate and create free podcasts and websites during a time of reduced income?

My hopes are much larger than my fears. I hope for a vibrant future for the church, and in some ways this challenging time is pushing all of us in ways we needed to be pushed. I hope the pandemic helps us be more aware of our interconnectedness. I hope when this strange time ends, we live in gratitude for things we might have taken for granted. Of course, I hope suffering is minimal and healing for people and nations comes quickly.

This time of year, you’ll be hearing from a lot of organizations asking for your financial support. At Forward Movement, we always hope you support your local church first and foremost. I also know you might not be in a position to make a financial gift now, and if that’s the case, I’ll ask for your prayers.

If you are able to make a gift to support the ministry of Forward Movement in sharing the love of Jesus Christ who knows all our hopes and fears, I would be most grateful. Your online gift will help us continue to offer what the church needs, even when those needs require us to make something free of charge. Your gift will help us stay strong now, so that we emerge from this pandemic time in good health.

If you have hopes or fears that Forward Movement can address, please let me know. Meanwhile, I wish you every blessing in the year to come.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

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Forward Today: Christmas can’t be canceled

December 23, 2020Christmas, Forward Today, scott gunn

Dear friends in Christ,

This Christmas will be like no other in recent memory. There will be no packed churches, no Christmas carols belted out with brass and choirs, no acres of poinsettias in the chancel, and not even any large family gatherings.

It would be understandable if we focused on our losses this year. Our losses are considerable, both in the thousands and thousands of people who have died in the pandemic and in the loss of familiar habits and rituals.

For Christians there is always Good News, even amidst our struggles and suffering. We know that evil is defeated on the cross, and we know that death is vanquished in the empty tomb. And then there is Christmas.

Some 2,000 years ago, the world suffered mightily under the yoke of oppressors. God’s people yearned for deliverance, ached for a word of hope. That hope came into the world in Bethlehem, an insignificant town in the middle of nowhere, at least according to the powers-that-be. God’s deliverance was born into our world in a birth that was precisely as beautiful and messy as any other.

Of course, not everything was normal about this birth. Sure, it was a human mother giving birth to a human son. But we know it was Mary the God-bearer bringing Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, into the world.

An angel proclaimed glad tidings. The host of heaven praised God. Shepherds hastened to meet their savior.

Nothing can change that story, for that story has changed the world. We would do well to be like those shepherds. Let us hasten to welcome Jesus into our world and into our very lives. And then let us glorify and praise God, for our world yearns for deliverance and aches in hope.

Perhaps with all the habits and rituals pared away, we can find the heart of the Gospel message of Christmas. God never abandons us and always finds us in our struggles. God-among-us is still very much our savior.

May we all, like Mary, treasure the Good News. And may we, like the shepherds, hasten to meet Jesus and proclaim his love to the world. I wish you a blessed Christmas.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

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Forward Today: Oh, it’s time for the O Antiphons

December 16, 2020Advent, Forward Today, O Antiphons, scott gunn

Dear friends in Christ,

One of my favorite liturgical customs comes along every year just before Christmas. In the last days of Advent, there are special prayers to be said during evening prayer starting December 17. They are called the Great O Antiphons, because each of these prayers begins with O. You can find the prayers in the Wikipedia article for the O Antiphons.

You probably know these antiphons without knowing it. The hymn “O come, O come Emmanuel” is a paraphrase of these ancient prayers. If you open The Hymnal 1982 and turn to hymn 56, you’ll see this beloved hymn. At the start of each verse, there’s a date telling you on which day of Advent this verse is appropriately sung.

If you’re like me, this a chaotic time of year. There are tasks to be finished by Christmas, there are tasks to be finished by the end of the calendar year, and there is the overall misery of this lousy year. For all those reasons, I’m especially looking forward to adding a ray of hope and light to my evening prayers over the next few days.

I’ll probably just say the prayers at the end of evening prayer where additional prayers may be added. But it would also be appropriate to sing a verse of “O come, O come, Emmanuel.”

Whatever you do, I encourage you to stick with Advent to the end. Our hearts and our lives need the full measure of this season to prepare ourselves to adore God-among-us.

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.

Let us all pray for prudence. Advent blessings to one and all.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

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Photo: Wikipedia

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Forward Today: Looking toward Christmas

December 9, 2020Advent, Christmas, Forward Today, scott gunn

Dear friends in Christ,

I hope you’ll forgive this intrusion into Advent, but we need to talk about Christmas for a minute. It’s coming. Part of our hope-filled Advent is attending to the logistics of Christmas celebration, and we want to be ready to do whatever we can to receive again the gift of God-with-us.

Not long ago, I read a wonderful blog post about Christmas, churches, and the pandemic.

The pandemic makes connecting with new people this Christmas more important than ever. But the pandemic also has given rise to new ways of being and doing church that present new opportunities for reaching people. Christmas 2020 calls us to meet new people in new ways. Don’t miss this moment.

This blog post, “Reaching New People this Christmas is More Important than Ever”, is worth reading carefully. There are some good ideas of how we can reach people with the Good News they need in the midst of a difficult time.

You may be too exhausted to do more than you’re doing now. And if that’s the case, take care of yourself and know that it’s more than enough.

If, however, you can muster the energy, you and your church can offer a tangible manifestation of Christ’s presence in the coming Christmas season. We can’t have our familiar, beloved Christmas services. Family gatherings must be scaled back. But still we can celebrate the Good News and the glory that the angels celebrated when Jesus was born. Christmas 2020 will be unlike any in recent memory, but it will still be Christmas.

I don’t know what your church should do, and I don’t know what you can do. But I do know that all around there are people yearning for a word of hope, mercy, and grace. This is our moment to reach out with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Pray for strength and courage to answer the call. Pray for our whole church—weary though we may be—to proclaim glad tidings of God’s great love for us.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

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Photo: Pixabay

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Forward Today: It’s not too late for Advent!

December 2, 2020Forward Today, scott gunn

Dear friends,

I’m here to say it’s not too late to enter into the fullness of Advent! Maybe because of the strange Thanksgiving holiday or just the general weirdness of this year, the start of our liturgical year snuck up on you.

As I wrote before, I’m especially grateful for Advent this year. In a year that has seemed chaotic and which has often not pushed me toward my better self, I look forward to this season devoted to repentance and preparation—getting my life and my heart ready to worship Jesus.

There are lots of ways to observe the season. Your church may have suggestions or resources or programs. If not, I have a few suggestions.

Get yourself four candles and make an Advent wreath. The candles don’t have to be any certain color, but many people like to get candles that match the vestment colors of the four Sundays (some combination of purpose, rose, and blue). Light your wreath in the evening, perhaps as you say grace and eat dinner.
Take on an extra prayer practice. You can pray evening prayer or compline or maybe just spend a few minutes each day telling God what’s on your heart.
Savor some silence! It’s a rarity in our culture. Take a few minutes each day. Turn off your electronics. Ignore the phone. Just listen. Listen for the still, small voice of God.
Read some scripture. You might want to read the daily lessons. Or ready a book of the Bible such as Isaiah or maybe one of the Gospels.
In the opposite of silence, fill your ears with Advent song! My friend Kristen Fout made a fantastic playlist of Advent hymns, and they’re not all organ and choir. Enjoy the variety of musical styles with traditional Advent texts from The Hymnal 1982. Her Advent list is on Spotify. Because I’m an Apple person, I recreated (with a few adjustments because of availability) her Advent list on Apple Music.
Take part in Advent Word. Each day of Advent, ponder the assigned word. Share a thought or an image on social media with hashtag #adventword.

So much of our world pulls us away from Jesus. I hope you’ll join me this Advent in letting the season pull us toward Jesus, who is our way, our truth, and our life.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

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Photo by Scott Gunn

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Forward Today: Thanks a million

November 25, 2020Forward Today, scott gunn

Dear friends in Christ,

Thank you. In fact, thanks a million. I recently learned that in the last ten years, Forward Movement has given away 1,050,016 copies of Forward Day by Day. That’s more than a million dollars’ worth of free, inspirational material that we’ve sent to prisons, hospitals, nursing homes, and military bases.

Most of our free materials are sent to prisons, and we get letters of gratitude from chaplains and incarcerated people all the time. Especially during the pandemic when visits are curtailed, words of hope matter more than ever.

Every one of those million free copies of Forward Day by Day was made possible by your gifts. We simply could not send this material out for free without donor support.

Thank you. And I am joined in my thanks by hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have been blessed with a message of compassion, hope, mercy, and grace. People are receiving reminders that Jesus loves them, and you made it happen.

The pandemic has brought plenty of challenges, but it has also brought us many blessings at Forward Movement. We know that many of you pray for us and our work regularly. We hear from you about how Christ’s love has been made real to you by Grow Christians, or Forward Day by Day, or courses, or videos, or books, or apps, or any of the other ways we reach people.

Today I have given our whole staff an extra day off to rest, to savor a nice, long Thanksgiving weekend. So you won’t find us answering the phone or processing orders today. You’ll find us all saying prayers of gratitude though, for our work, for donor support, for prayers, and for all the blessings of this life, even in tough times.

If you are grateful for Forward Movement’s ministry, I invite you to do two things. First, offer to God a word of thanksgiving. Second, if you are able to do so, consider making a financial gift to support our ongoing work. The work we are doing is needed now more than ever, and that means your gifts are critical at this moment. If you can’t make a financial gift, it’s OK. I know that people of all circumstances read Forward Today, and I am grateful for each and every one of you.

Let us know if we can do anything for you. And, above all, over this weekend, give thanks for whatever blessings you have received in this earthly life, filled as it is with delights and difficulties.

Blessings to you. And thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

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Photo by Courtney Hedger on Unsplash

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Forward Today: What does it mean to say, “Jesus is Lord”?

November 18, 2020Forward Today, scott gunn

Dear friends in Christ,

This coming Sunday we celebrate the kingship of Christ, as we always do on the Last Sunday after Pentecost. But what does that mean for us modern Christians?

To celebrate Jesus as our king and our Lord is to reject all others who might try to lay claim on us as our Lord. Many of the earliest Christians died for professing, “Jesus is Lord” rather than saying that Caesar was Lord. This is perhaps a poignant and necessary reminder for us coming in a time of intense political wrangling.

Neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump has claim on us, ultimately. We belong to Jesus. We are not first Republicans or Democrats, but people who worship a savior who asks us to take up our cross and follow him, turning away from all others who might beckon us to follow.

And what kind of king is Jesus, anyway? The Gospel reading for this Sunday brings us the parable of the sheep and the goats. In the parable, the king tells us what is important and what matters in the end.

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

Jesus shows us the way. He is a king of compassion, mercy, grace, and sacrifice. His most kingly act is his free offering of himself for our salvation on the cross.

I don’t know about you, but after listening to blustery politicians, I need to listen to another voice proclaiming a message of mercy and grace. Coming up on a pre-Christmas season when consumer spending will run amok, I need to be reminded that sacrifice rather than possessions is where we find our meaning. When our allegiance is demanded by political parties, nations, and corporations, I need to be reminded that my first and most precious allegiance is to Jesus Christ.

May we all profess Jesus as Lord, and may our lives show forth what we profess with our lips.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

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Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash

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Forward Today: Advent is almost here, just when we need it

November 11, 2020Advent, adventword, Forward Today, scott gunn

Dear friends in Christ,

Advent is coming up, and I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to it more than this year. This has been such a challenging year in many ways, and Advent brings just the blessing I need. I look forward to Advent’s invitation to repent and to focus on Jesus. And I look forward to some of my favorite hymns and scripture readings.

I hope you’ll find Advent as life-giving as I expect it will be for me. But this doesn’t just happen. We have to make time in a chaotic world for the peace and the reflection of Advent to work in us. Perhaps you’ll join me in setting aside some time each day. Perhaps you’ll pray the daily office (online or via our morning prayer or evening prayer podcasts).

Advent Word is a global movement, a way to pray through the season online and offline. Some suggestions for how to use #AdventWord are available on the Advent Word website. You’ll see the links to follow Advent Word on social media and to add your own voice to the conversation there. This year, we have a podcast. And Forward Movement has published a wonderful book of Advent meditations keyed to the words of #AdventWord. In case you still want a creative outlet, there are posters you can buy to color your way through the season. We have Advent Word posters and the ever-popular “Slow Down. Quiet. It’s Advent” calendar poster by Jay Sidebotham.

Over the years, Forward Movement has offered many different Advent reflections. You can peruse our books, pamphlets, online courses, and more using our interactive Advent/Christmas eCatalog. (Order by November 16 for standard shipping.)

Of course, you don’t need to spend a penny to savor the blessing of Advent. The scriptures are free. Advent Word is free. Quiet is free. And, more important, the grace of Jesus is free.

I do encourage you to make some space in your life for Advent. And let us welcome this blessing we so sorely need.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

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Forward Today: Work for the common good

November 4, 2020Forward Today, scott gunn, season of prayer

Dear friends in Christ,

I am writing this the day before the US presidential election, because I don’t want my own personal thoughts to color what I might say about the results and our going work. Suffice it to say, some people will be pleased by the final results of local, state, and federal elections, and others will not be. And yet, we Americans need to find a way to live together.

As I have said many times, the Gospel is political, but it is not partisan. Regardless of which political party is ascendant, our Christian work remains the same. We are meant to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit prisoners (Matthew 25). We must pray for our enemies and work for peace. We must love one another as Christ has loved us.

Not knowing what the news brings on the morning you read this, I do know that prayer is never the wrong answer. I invite you to join me in the final prayer of our nine-day cycle of prayers for the election.

Almighty God our heavenly Father, you declare your glory and show forth your handiwork in the heavens and in the earth: Deliver us in our various occupations from the service of self alone, that we may do the work you give us to do in truth and beauty and for the common good; for the sake of him who came among us as one who serves, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

And I close with the lovely and challenging benediction from the fifth chapter of 1 Thessalonians.

Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil. May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

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Forward Today: Move every human heart

October 28, 2020a season of prayer, Forward Today, Prayer, scott gunn

Dear friends in Christ,

As the US election draws nearer, each day’s news seems to bring more stress. Regardless of our political views, we can agree that our leaders could do better. Poverty is on the rise. Disease runs rampant. Violence seems endemic. I could go on.

So what are we Christians to do? I’ve written about this quite a bit, and with good reason. This topic comes up again and again in conversations, online and in person.

First, we can pray. Prayer is not the only thing we should do, but it is an essential practice for every Christian. We can pray for our own strength and courage. We can pray for the needs of the world. And we can pray for our political leaders and candidates, especially the ones more repugnant to us.

Second, we can speak out. If the church and its members stay silent, we leave the moral voice of the public square to others. It is crucial for people to hear a word of hope, mercy, compassion, justice, love, and grace. Where else will people hear this, if not from the church. Deafening silence changes nothing. A voice crying out in the wilderness might make all the difference in the world.

Third, we can get involved. Vote! If you are worried about free and fair elections, volunteer as a poll worker. If you are concerned about the plight of the poor, contact local non-profits and ask what they need. And so on.

But it all begins with prayer. Today is the second day of a nine-day season of prayer for an election. I invite you to join me and Episcopalians all over the world in praying.

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

What a prayer! May every human heart be moved.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

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