transition
Saying good-bye to my congregation
I had to make room for conversations of thanks, forgiveness, love, and good-bye.
Learning to embrace the in-between time
Good Friday gives way to Easter. We live our lives on Holy Saturday.
by Debie Thomas
From temple to tabernacle
The point is, I wonder if this might be a time to remember that God was present in the temple and the tabernacle. I love architecture. I love soaring structures and hope we can find uses for them. But I also realize that they have become a tremendous burden for many congregations to do the sort of love-your-neighbor work that they long to do. Are we moving into a moment when we need those tent pegs in order to be led where God wants us?
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The thing about preaching and pastoral care is that we often recognize our own problems in everyone else. I suppose that’s why pastors are so often hypocrites—we’re always preaching about our own issues. Then we have to live with the words that we doled out.
Leaving and grieving
This is the third time I've said goodbye to a congregation. I should know how by now, but I'm still overwhelmed by the emotional awkwardness.