It’s interesting that we celebrate two different seasons as one: Advent and Christmas. Every year the same discussions are had in congregations all over the country, usually between the pastor and the folks who are in charge of music, whether a music director, choir, or a committee. The People: Why can’t we sing the Christmas … Continue reading “But I don’t wanna wait!”
Category: community
…On Gratitude as a Way of Life
As most of you know I have begun studies toward earning a Doctor of Ministry degree through McCormick Theological Seminary. In a little over one week I will be flying to Chicago for my first class (Nov. 11-16) called, “Where Three or More Gather.” The focus of the class is how we live in community: … Continue reading “…On Gratitude as a Way of Life”
Hope for Redemption?
One of the books I’ve been reading for my D.Min. program is by Mary McClintock Fulkerson called Places of Redemption: Theology for a Worldly Church. She follows a southern multiracial congregation through its trials and triumphs as they seek to be multicultural. Her book starts with this small United Methodist congregation as a dying white … Continue reading “Hope for Redemption?”
A Church with Passion
I did an experiment this past Sunday. I shared in the sermon the idea of seizing each moment by trying to be intentional about paying to what God might be doing in that moment. It’s a delicate balance of seeing the past, learning from it, but not getting stuck in it, and looking to the … Continue reading “A Church with Passion”
Death-Throes of a Denomination #pcusa
I read a lot—not as much as I want, but a lot. I love reading as much as I love being in conversation with people. The conversations I have been having lately seem to revolve around a few common threads: our church is not what it used to be the world is not what it … Continue reading “Death-Throes of a Denomination #pcusa”