Dear Countryside Community, What a wonderful year it has been! As we approach the close of this year and prepare to celebrate the joy of Christmas together, I want to […]
Anybody can be bright. Anybody can learn to shine and sparkle and make the people ooh and ahh. Being shiny, even blindingly so, is a parlor trick. And it sure doesn’t mean you’re […]
How do we rejoice in a weary world? We make room. This Christmas Eve, we invite you to celebrate the wonder and joy of the season with us at Countryside […]
For many, the holiday season is not always bright and joyful. If you are feeling weary, grieving, or simply need a moment of peace, join us for our Longest Night […]
In the perfect Christmas Eve scene, the candles are all lit and haven’t started dripping on the tablecloth yet. My makeup is perfect, and I haven’t teared up yet. The […]
Our games of chess played out the same way, over and over again: the opening moves; the hope by the sister that her little brother wouldn’t do the same thing […]
Legend has it that once upon a time, in 300-something-CE Gaul, the unwilling soldier who would later become Martin of Tours was riding along in his Roman military outfit. Seeing […]
In a pastoral letter years ago, an Episcopal bishop told this story: A man was caught in an earthquake. Terrified, he tried to pray but couldn’t find any words. He’d […]
This holiday season, help Countryside protect the environment by recycling heavy white expanded polystyrene (EPS). From Dec. 15, 2024, through Jan. 12, 2025, our Social Justice and Outreach Board will […]
Hanging of the Greens is a long-established Christian tradition of decorating worship and other spaces for the season of Advent. For me, it is an outward, visible, and physical way […]