Hyde Park Speaks

Dear Hyde Park Family, In his biography of St. Francis, the great theologian and author G. K. Chesterton described the venerable saint as “the mirror of Christ rather as the moon is the mirror of the sun. The moon is much smaller than the sun, but it is also much...

Dear Hyde Park Family, It is with great joy that the Staff-Parish Relations Committee welcomes back the Rev. Bernie Lieving to our staff, beginning August 1. For many in this church, Bernie is no stranger, having served here as an Associate Pastor from 1994 to 2013....

Dear Hyde Park Family, In 1952, Encyclopedia Britannica published one of the most ambitious publishing projects in the 20th Century. It put out a series of 52-volumes called The Great Books of the Western World. Every important work from Western Civilization is in...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Last Sunday we began our new worship series, “Hard to Believe,” which explores essential tenets of the Christian faith that are difficult to fully comprehend. You can watch last week’s sermon here.  My hope is that this series will give you the...

Dear Hyde Park Family, We can freely admit that there are some aspects of the Christian faith that are simply hard to believe. It’s not that we don’t believe them. It’s just hard to fully comprehend them. There is a whole category of essential concepts to the faith...

Dear Hyde Park Family, The greatest Pentecost hymn you may never have heard of was written by Dr. Henry More, an 18th century British theologian and philosopher that one contemporary called “the most holy man he ever knew.” Despite his zealous study and prolific...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Thank you for the prayers and encouragement over these last two weeks as the General Conference of the United Methodist Church gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina. I felt honored to serve as one of the clergy delegates, along with Clarke...

Dear Easter People, We are currently in our worship series “Life’s Highs and Lows,” based on the Psalms. Each week, we explore a different landscape image from a psalm and how it connects to God and the human experience. Last week’s service was about the mountains in...

Dear Hyde Park Family, Less than three weeks from now, 862 United Methodist delegates from around the world will gather in Charlotte, North Carolina for the General Conference of the United Methodist Church. It will be the fourteenth time that our denomination has...

Dear Lenten Pilgrims, One of the oldest hymns in our hymnal was written in the year 818 A.D., by a man named Theodulf, the Bishop of Orleans. He was a noted poet who wrote a refrain that would become part of our standard Palm Sunday celebrations: All glory, laud and...