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Nothing is lost
Several weeks ago our friend and pastor lost her first pregnancy to a miscarriage. It had been a difficult pregnancy up to that point already, and so the entire community was walking closely with her and her husband expectantly towards the birth of their son.
It continues to be incredibly sad for them and their family as they grieve not just for the life of the child, but for all of the potential and promise that the child held within him.
Shepherd: A Memoir, by Richard Gilbert
Ever since his father lost the family farm when he was a child, Gilbert dreamed of owning his own farm....
Awaiting Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling, public favors contraception mandate
c. 2014 Religion News Service...
Sunday, July 6, 2014: Romans 7:15-25a
We learn to be Christian not when we succeed at perfection but when we realize that we will always fail.
United Methodist pastor reinstated on appeal
In a surprising reversal, a Pennsylvania pastor who was defrocked last year after he officiated at his son’s same-sex wedding has been reinstated....
Moravians in 13 states to ordain gay clergy
The Northern Province of the Moravian Church in North America approved a proposal allowing the ordination of gay and lesbian people—whether single, married, or in covenanted relationships—and calli...
Good news verbatim: Why we need clinical evangelistic education
Imagine having a conversation about the gospel, and then bringing an account of this conversation to a group led by an experienced supervisor.
What I am and am not reading this summer
Three things I am reading this summer, and three that I am not.
Please explain when exactly you were and were not a Christian
A pet topic of mine is the tendency of some Christians to fixate on belief and its boundaries. You can't just state why you think belief in x, y, and z is important to Christian faith and life; you have to claim that those who believe x and y but not so much z are not real Christians. You can't just disagree with someone with a different view from yours; you have to stage an inquisition.
It frustrates me to see this all-belief-all-the-time orientation used to frame things as us real Christians vs. them fake ones. When people take a similar approach in drawing themselves outside the circle, it just makes me sad.
Being a missionary church in the early church
In the gospels, Jesus is recorded as doing many miracles. What did those who were healed do after they had encountered Jesus? While some followed, many returned to their homes and lives. What did they do as a result of their Jesus encounter?
A Fighting Chance, by Elizabeth Warren
Warren weaves together her life story with an analysis of what is wrong with the country’s economic system....
Presbyterians narrowly vote to divest from 3 companies involved in Israeli/Palestinian conflict
c. 2014 Religion News Service...
Growing coalition presses Obama to end policy on religious discrimination in hiring
c. 2014 Religion News Service...
Two Reformed churches agree to work more closely
In a historic joint session following decades of division and rancor, delegates of the Reformed Church in America and the Christian Reformed Church buried the hatchet....
Never forget, never tell: An Armenian Americans dilemma of memory
My first trip to Turkey, the place where so many Armenian Christians were killed, found me in a land both strange to me and known in my bones.
Sometimes I don't want the church to change, either
Years ago, when I was pastor of a smallish, "pastor-sized" church, it became clear that our chancel choir was not going to last very much longer.
By the point I had arrived, it was down to a half dozen older women and a director who hadn't meant to be in that role for as long as she was. So when she announced that she was stepping down, there began some conversation first about a replacement, which then became a conversation about whether the choir was a viable ministry at this point in the church's life. Maybe it was time to give thanks for what it had been for the church for so long, and let it go.