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Sermons and sermon notes from our Sunday evening worship gatherings are now available on line:

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Conversations Over Dinner: Same-sex Marriage

On April 29, 2009 a group gathered at the Spaghetti Warehouse in Toledo, Ohio for "Conversations Over Dinner". Our topic for the evening was "Same-sex Marriage", an issue that has been in the news lately and that is one aspect of a constellation of issues surrounding human sexuality that are the subject of much conversation within the church globally.

We used a handout to guide our conversation and that handout was constructed using information from a variety of sources, including: “Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry”, “Faithful Conversation: Christian Perspectives on Homosexuality”, and conversations with interested parties. In case you are interested in such a conversation, here is the material that we used:

Same-sex Marriage

The Defense of Marriage Act is the abbreviated title of a US federal law passed on September 21, 1996 under the signature of President Bill Clinton. The law has two effects:

1. No state (or other subdivision within the US) needs to treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state.

2. The federal government may not treat same-sex relationships as marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states.

Same-sex marriages are now legal in MA, CT, VT, and IA. Five states recognize some alternative form of same-sex union, twelve states ban any recognition of any form of same-sex union including civil union, twenty-eight states have adopted amendments to their state constitution prohibiting same sex marriage, and another twenty states have enacted statutory “Defense of Marriage Acts”. For example, the Alabama Defense of Marriage Act states, “A marriage contracted between individuals of the same sex is invalid in this state ... The State of Alabama shall not recognize as valid any marriage of parties of the same sex that occurred or was alleged to have occurred as a result of the law of any jurisdiction regardless of whether a marriage license was issued.”

Some questions to ponder about Church and State:

1. What are the State's secular interests in marriage?

2. What are the Church's interests in marriage (for the moment, let us restrict our consideration to the Christian tradition)?

3. Do the interests of the State and the Church need to be the same? How does the concept of the separation of church and state inform our treatment of this subject?


The nature of marriage is not uniform across time and culture. Some cultures forbid, or have in the past forbidden, marriages between (i) people of different tribal groups, (ii) people of different faiths, (iii) people whose skins are different colors, etc. In some societies, polygamy is or was accepted and arranged marriages are practiced in some societies. Age limits on legal marriages have varied enormously over time and culture.

In the Christian tradition, a "one man - one woman" model for marriage was advocated by Augustine (354-439 AD) in The Good of Marriage. He wrote, “[Polygamy] was lawful among the ancient fathers: whether it be lawful now also, I would not hastily pronounce. For there is not now necessity of begetting children, as there then was, when, even when wives bear children, it was allowed, in order to a more numerous posterity, to marry other wives in addition, which now is certainly not lawful." In 534 AD, Emperor Justinian criminalized all but monogamous man/woman sex within the confines of marriage. The Justinian Code was the basis of European law.

Some questions to ponder on the nature of marriage:

4. What are the purposes of marriage?

5. In light of your answer to (4), will same-sex marriage actually change the concept of marriage itself (some would say “change the definition of marriage”)?

6. Why do same-sex couples need the right to marry? Why aren't domestic partnerships or civil unions good enough?


Issues surrounding same-sex relationships are among the most significant that confront the church today. The Anglican Church, for example, is on the brink of fragmenting over this matter.

Some questions to ponder on church and same-sex marriage:

7. How important should concern for the division of the church [i.e., schism] be in deciding about the blessing of same-sex unions?

8. To what extent does the lack of a life-partner [or denial of marriage equality] deprive one of experiencing life in a way that God would call "good"?

9. Can committed and monogamous relationships between homosexual persons [i.e., same sex marriages] in our modern world be distinguished from the homosexual relationships that are denounced in the Bible?

Sources: “Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry”, “Faithful Conversation: Christian Perspectives on Homosexuality”, and my friend, Wade Lee.

Revealing the Face of Christ

On December 21, 2008 we held our Christmas gathering and celebrated the birth of Christ. As we began to tell the Christmas story, our worship arts associate, Matt Cook, began to illustrate the Nativity, starting with a blank canvas:



As we read about the angels appearing at the birth of Jesus, so they appeared on the canvas:



And then shepherds appeared:



And the Magi:



And as Julian began to preach, the Nativity scene was completed:



But as we talked about the birth of Jesus, we came to realize that he was born into a period of darkness among his people. The covenant people of God were living under the oppression of the Roman Empire. It seemed to them as if God had abandoned them, and that all was darkness and despair. We saw that Matt's beautiful Nativity scene, full of bright colors, perhaps didn't reflect this initial darkness and despair and so Matt chose to take his work and begin to cover it with black paint:



We saw the bright colors start to vanish as darkness covered the canvas:



And finally we saw how dark it must have been when Jesus was born:



The coming of Christ is the event that began to chip away at this darkness and reveal the light, and so Matt took his tools and began to chip away the black paint on his canvas:



As Matt worked, we talked about how it is that each time we reach out as a community by serving a meal at a soup kitchen, we chip away at the darkness, and how the light is revealed when we work at our local food bank. Each act chips away at the darkness in the world, and we begin to see what the light reveals:



And what is revealed as the light breaks through the darkness is the face of Christ, the one who came into the world at Christmas:



And all that remained was for Matt to put down his paintbrush, pick up his guitar, and together with Ashley to lead us in singing "Silent Night":



And so Christ came and the darkness was defeated, and that's why we celebrate Christmas:



And we give thanks for Matt, who shared his many gifts with us that night.

More About The University Church

If you'd like to learn a little more about The University Church, please watch our video:

Table Talk - Theology Discussion Group

We are starting a new discussion series during our Table Talk gatherings. We will be looking at the lives and works of three groups of people who were instrumental in shaping the early church. First, there are the early church fathers:


Then there are the desert mothers:


And the desert fathers:



Come and join us on Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. at "The Ark" (2080 Brookdale Road, Toledo, Ohio 43606) for coffee and cookies and to talk about these interesting characters from the history of Christianity.

War and Peace

On November 12, 2008, The University Church hosted "Conversations Over Dinner" with a focus on "War and Peace - What Are The Options?" We had a lively conversation around the varied positions on this topic, which we categorized for the purposes of conversation as (i) pacifism, (ii) nonviolent resistance, (iii) "just war", (iv) war in the national interest, and (v) preemptive strike. As we waited for everyone to arrive, the group looked at a "matching game" and paired up sayings about war and peace with the names of the people who first said these words.

Here are the names:

Dalai Lama, John-Paul Sartre, George W. Bush, Ecclesiastes, Aristotle, Benjamin Franklin, General Douglas MacArthur, John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln

And here are the sayings:

We make war that we may live in peace.

There never was a good war or a bad peace.

For everything there is a season … … A time for war, and a time for peace.

I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing to me is more revolting.

I've been to war. I've raised twins. If I had a choice, I'd rather go to war.

Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.

When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

All forms of violence, especially war, are totally unacceptable as means to settle disputes between and among nations, groups and persons.

Give it a try! The answers are below the photograph that follows. Amazingly, one person in the group got all of these correctly paired!!



And so here are the names and sayings paired together:

Aristotle: We make war that we may live in peace.

Benjamin Franklin: There never was a good war or a bad peace.

Ecclesiastes: For everything there is a season … … A time for war, and a time for peace.

General Douglas MacArthur: I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing to me is more revolting

George W. Bush: I've been to war. I've raised twins. If I had a choice, I'd rather go to war.

John F. Kennedy: Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.

John-Paul Sartre: When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.

Abraham Lincoln: America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

Dalai Lama: All forms of violence, especially war, are totally unacceptable as means to settle disputes between and among nations, groups and persons.

Join us for our next "Conversations Over Dinner" on December 10th at a friend's home in Lambertville, Michigan (directions available from the church office; 419-534-3080). Cost: $5.00 donation; bring an appetizer to share, drinks provided. Topic for the evening: Healthcare in the US – How Shall We Cope?

Table talk - Theology Discussion Group

Join us for coffee and cookies on Thursdays from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. in “The Ark” (2080 Brookdale Road, Toledo, Ohio 43606) to talk about your theological questions in a friendly and accepting environment.



All opinions are valued and all voices heard. Everyone is welcome! Topics for the upcoming sessions are:

September 11 – War – pre-emptive war, just war, nonviolent resistance and pacifism.

September 18 – The Justice System in the US – Does it work?

September 25 – Nationalism and patriotism; border control and xenophobia.

October 2 – Rights and privileges – what are “rights” and what are “privileges” in the US?

October 9 – Distributive Justice – the problem of healthcare.

October 16 – Political activism and the church.

October 23 – Pornography and sexual ethics.

Our gatherings include people with a wide range of theological positions and church backgrounds, yet we manage to converse in a friendly and respectful way even when we disagree! Come and share your thoughts.

Conversations over Dinner

Join us each month between now and Christmas for “Conversations over Dinner “ as friends and family of The University Church gather to eat together and to talk through important issues. Gatherings are on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is invited and reservations in advance are needed (contact the church office at 419-534-3080)

September 24th at Jing Chuan Restaurant, 5147 Secor Road (419-472-9612). Cost: $13.00 including tax and gratuity, excluding beverages. Topic for the evening: The US Justice System – Is It Working?

October 22nd at Spaghetti Warehouse, 42 South Superior Street (419-255-5038). Cost: $8.00 for spaghetti, choice of sauce, salad and bread, including tax and gratuity, excluding beverages. Topic for the evening: Voting for a President – Sorting Through the Issues.

November 12th at Webber’s Waterfront, 6339 Edgewater Drive, Point Place (734-723-7411). Cost: $18.00 for buffet, including tax and gratuity, excluding beverages. Topic for the evening: War and Peace – What Are the Options?

December 10th at a friend's home in Lambertville, Michigan (directions available from the church office; 419-534-3080). Cost: $5.00 donation; bring an appetizer to share, drinks provided. Topic for the evening: Healthcare in the US – How Shall We Cope?

We hope to see you and to hear your thoughts on these important issues.

Community Outreach: Cherry Street Mission

September 2, 2008

The first Tuesday of every month is "Community Outreach Day" for the friends and family of The University Church. In September, we visited Cherry Street Mission in Toledo and helped to sweep and mop floors after dinner, and to clean up the exterior of the property. Cherry Street Mission has been active in Toledo since 1947 and the mission "is to serve all who come to us in need, and to provide purposeful discipleship by rescuing the downtrodden, restoring hope to the hopeless and releasing God's greatness to those we serve." You can find out more about Cherry Street Mission at their web site.

Some of us our evening was spent sweeping floors:



Others were moving furniture:



And some people got to use a mop and bucket to get the floors sparkling once again:



The group worked to restore the dining area to a clean and tidy condition, ready for the next meal:



And along the way, some new friends were made:



Outside the facility we worked to clean up the sidewalks and the neighboring lot:



Our group, which included friends from New Hope United Methodist Church in Toledo, gathered for one last photograph before we went on our way:



On October 7, 2008 we will be visiting St. Paul's Community Center in Toledo to serve a meal and clean up afterward. We hope you'll join us in carrying the good news into the community in tangible ways.

Community Outreach: The Friendly Center

August 5, 2008

On the first Tuesday of each month, the friends and family of The University Church reach out into our community and find tangible ways to carry the good new to our neighbors. In August we arranged to visit The Friendly Center in Toledo; an organization whose vision is that “No neighbor will go hungry, feel alienated, alone or powerless”.

Our group gathered at the office building of The Friendly Center to learn more about its programs and activities before we began our evening’s work.



Much of our evening was given over to scraping paint off the ground floor window frames.



We managed to get primer down on all the windows that we scraped.



And some of the adventurous members of the group tackled some windows on the upper level of the building.



As our time drew to a close we cleaned up and packed everything away.



Those who had time then gathered for supper at a local restaurant. Next month we are hoping to visit Cherry Street Mission in Toledo to help with the clothing center there. We hope you can join us!