Belonging to God’s Good

A Church Anew Study on Genesis

Episode 5: See & Be Seen (Genesis 16 and 21:8-21)

Rev. Jenny Sung is a dancing pastor and teacher of love. She is an ordained minister with the ELCA, as well as the founder and co-director of One Dance Company, giving women a space to create and move that recognizes the space they hold as holy.

Did you know that Hagar’s name in Hebrew means ‘Other’? Being ‘othered’ by those around her is part of her story. Sarah and Abraham treat Hagar so poorly she flees to the desert, leaving Hagar to feel disposable, abandoned, and forgotten. Jenny will help us understand feelings of abandonment and being ‘othered,’ while also showing that God claims Hagar as His beloved and seeks to co-create with her.

”Many people have narratives of loss, feeling forgotten or thrown away. And I realized that although that is the story the world tells us, I have faith in a God who does not believe humans are disposable. As that narrative took hold I began to realize my story isn’t one of being thrown away but delivered!”