Sunday Worship with Rev. Dr. Lydia Muñoz

SUNDAY | MARCH 5, 2023

Join Rev. Dr. Lydia Muñoz here at Foundry and online for the second Sunday of the Lenten season.

Holy Darkness: Lent and Easter at Foundry 

I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places so that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. — Isaiah 45:3

Most of us have learned to be afraid of the dark. To fear the things we cannot see or the less lit road. In fact, without realizing it, we have become victims of what some environmentalists have coined "light pollution." From the street lamp to the light of our computers, we are inundated with light.

What is it about the darkness that turns us away? What metaphors have we used to describe the dark as a sinister place of evil and danger? These and other questions are part of a new preaching series based on Barbara Brown Taylor's book "Learning to Walk in the Dark" for the season of Lent. The dark can be a place where our biggest fears lie, but it can also be a place of sacred discovery if we are willing to learn to embrace it as holy. 

About Rev. Dr. Lydia Muñoz

Rev. Dr. Lydia Esther Muñoz is an Ordained Elder in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church and currently serves as Executive Director of the National Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry, one of six ethnic minority plans of the United Methodist Church. She is a graduate of Wesley Theological Seminary and holds a Doctor of Ministry from Drew Theological School in Public Theology.

Dr. Muñoz has long experience developing ministries of justice among marginalized and multicultural communities and has been involved in leading worship for 20+ years in varied and diverse settings, both locally and nationally, including for the World Council of Churches Assembly in South Korea 2013 and the United Methodist General Conference in 2012 and the Festival of Sacred Arts in Falstbo, Sweden.

She is a published author and contributor Abingdon Preacher’s Manual 2019 and 2020 and a variety of journals of Christian liturgy and worship and other advocacy journals. Her passion is leading worship that is incarnational so that we may embody the work we engage in throughout our worship experience and transform us into disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world.

Prior to full time ministry, Dr. Muñoz has worked as a mental health therapist working primarily with adjudicated young people in the school system dealing with emotional and physical trauma. During that time, she began her work as a strong activist for social justice in a variety of platform including gun reform, LGBTQ rights, racial justice and immigration rights.  She has been a long-time member of La Raza and MARCHA both Latinx social political caucuses as well as in-volved in local BLM actions in Philadelphia and suburb areas. Rev. Muñoz lives in Hanover with her 20-year-old, trans daughter Willow and her 5-year-old dog, Max.