Hope’s Space

09/26/2023

Hope’s Space has been in a season of change. This page has been quiet for the past few months because we’ve been going through some staff transitions. Karen Lawler, Founder and Director of Hope’s Space moved on to new ministries in June, but has been supporting the transition to a new team. Now Hope’s Space has a new director! Alexa Mergen stepped into this role in early September. Please join me (Karen) in welcoming Alexa as the new Director of Hope’s Space.

Alexa's experience in healing arts includes leading expressive writing workshops in churches, hospitals, schools, and libraries as well as teaching yoga and meditation in clinical and community settings. Her yoga training includes specializations in breath and movement for grief, pain, anxiety, trauma, and disability, as well as working with older adults who may have underlying health conditions and limited mobility.

I’m thrilled the Spirit has brought her to share her gifts with Hope’s Space.
Under her leadership, we will be continuing some familiar offerings (Sanctified Art, group discussions and soundbath services) and leading some new ones.

Over the next few weeks you’ll see more information about what’s coming. Please stay abreast by checking the St. Paul's Episcopal Church website: http://stpaulssacramento.org/

06/19/2023

For you on Father’s Day

04/14/2023

We’ve come to the end of this series, and our continues.

If you are seeking hope, healing, or a community with whom you can ask hard questions, you’re invited to drop in on our Monday evening book group in the next couple of weeks. We’ll be talking about Justice and Repair as we continue exploring by Cole Arthur Riley. Email contact.hopespace@gmail.com for more information

04/13/2023

What are you looking for?

God of the empty tomb, I know that Easter does not mean the work of seeking stops. Instead, you are now on the loose—out in the world, anywhere and everywhere. So my seeking only continues, as I look for your fingerprints all around me. Give me clarity for the things I seek, and the energy to continue the work. Amen.
A Sanctified Art LLC

04/12/2023

Holy God, I could write a novel about the joys in my life—the things that jumpstart my heart, the things that make me feel most alive. What a gift! Tie a string from the center of my soul to those sources of life-giving energy, that I might never lose my way. Amen. A Sanctified Art LLC

04/11/2023

An invitation for us all to live from our God given wholeness.

“What would it look like for us to see Jesus as he is? Not merely as we want him to be, or even need him to be, but in the fullness of his glory—fully human and fully God? What would it mean for us to love him with our whole hearts, and live for him from that wholeheartedness? This is the question we bring into the next fifty days of Eastertide. May our responses bring glad tidings to all.”
—Rev. Danielle Shroyer, one of our guest writers for Lent

04/10/2023

God meets us where we are.

Mary found you in the garden. I find you in music, in water sparkling over rocks, in the feeling of coming home. I find you in the sunrise, in quiet mornings with the dog stretched over my lap. I find you in the children’s choir, in a warm cup of coffee, in Communion breadcrumbs scattered all around the floor. I find you all over the place, holy God. Keep meeting me there. Amen.
Adapted from A Sanctified Art LLC

04/09/2023

For you, if your heart is grieving.

Stay still.
Keep breathing.
God is closer than you think.
—Rev. Sarah Speed

04/09/2023

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

Risen God, you bring us with you on Easter Sunday, giving us new life—a renewed hunger for faith, a louder curiosity, a more vibrant sense of self. Whatever it is for each of us, help us recognize the holiness in that newness. Help me see the gift in this season. Amen.

04/07/2023

For this whole heart-heavy earth.

04/07/2023

How can you serve the world in love?

“What does it look like for Jesus to wash your feet this Lenten season? Will you let him? And… will you seek to be the kind of person who washes the feet of others, loving one another as Jesus asks?”
—Rev. Danielle Shroyer, one of our guest writers for Lent

04/03/2023

This Monday in Holy Week, spend some time with the Jesus who is turning over tables, challenging power, and sitting with sinners to heal and love.

04/02/2023

God of the parade, when I think about you on Palm Sunday I can’t help but wonder: would I have been there? Would I have been in the crowd? Would I have been waving palm branches? Would I have seen you? I’ll never know, but what I do know is that I can decide what parades and marches I will show up for today. So when I gather with my neighbors, let me catch a glimpse of you. Lead my feet to the march. Amen.

04/01/2023

Triune God, from the very beginning you wired us for friendship, for community, for belonging. And yet, relationships are so hard! Vulnerability and trust can take so long! Give me an open heart to pour into the people in my life that mean the most to me. Do not let me withhold my care, but instead, may the love I feel for those who matter the most to me draw me closer and closer to you. Amen.

03/31/2023

Healthy communities honor the sacredness of all life.

03/25/2023

Jesus of Nazareth, you never said that being a person of faith would be easy. In today’s world, being a person of faith can feel isolating. However, it also ties me to community. Help me remember that in the ups and the downs, and help me always remember that you are with me. I am never alone. Amen.

03/24/2023

Today’s invitation: pay attention to the person right in front of you.

“We do the same thing today when suffering, pain, and affliction are revealed right before us. Empathetic inquiry is set aside and we rush to diagnosis and treatment before we even know the nature and depth of the problem we are trying to address . . . or if it is a problem at all.”
—Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow (), one of our guest writers for Lent

03/21/2023

What are you trying to unlearn?

God, I have stereotypes to unlearn. I have negative self-talk to unlearn. I have to unlearn the societal message that my worth comes from my productivity. There are so many messages floating around in my head that do not come from you. Unravel those messages, and pull me back toward your embrace. Amen.