In June, we moved to San Diego, and I stepped away from being a pastor. I’ve still built connections with clergy, and a recent meeting with one pastor stuck out. We talked about following up, and he said, “Reach back out in January.” It was December 1. Caught off guard
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In a multitude of faith traditions, the body is seen as bearing the mark and the image of the Divine. And as more and more legislation is aimed at the control over our bodies and our autonomy, it is crucial that faith communities speak up and act out in solidarity
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Auld Lang Syne literally translates to “old long since.” This poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 questions the listener to reflect upon days gone by. It seems appropriate to name that very familiar tune in light of the viral response to the resignation of Rev. Alexander Lang from church
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I was diagnosed with ADHD less than a week after graduating from seminary. The diagnosis was a kind of grace, permission to forgive myself for what I’d thought were moral failures. That’s why my room and desk were a perpetual mess. That’s why I’d started writing my forty-page thesis three
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Our church is thriving at nearly 200 members. We have a talented youth ministries director, a fun and inspiring, multiage Sunday School class during worship, snappy contemporary praise music once a month, a food pantry, and a weeknight dinner church for young children and their families. It’s a transformative community,
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We’ve seen throughout the centuries and with the advancement of technologies like radio, then TV, then streaming, cable, podcasts, etc. that someone, a person or people, drives the motivation and the charisma of a faith space. They may be preachers, directors, musicians, televangelists, or lay leaders. There is something about
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In the wake of mass shooting tragedies that have become all too frequent in our country, a familiar echo emerges — thoughts and prayers. We see them directed toward the grieving families of victims, and the survivors who will live with the impact of gun violence for the rest of
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That’s when the name-badge on the chaplain’s neatly pressed shirt triggered a flashback to a conversation I’d shared with another chaplain some 20 years before. You see, this wasn’t my first stent in a psychiatric hospital, so much as a replay of a residential eating disorder program I'd undertaken my
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“Advent is a season of waiting.” This is what we say every year, acknowledging the significance of this time before Christmas. As we wait for the birth of our savior, we consider the world we live in. We study Scripture. We prepare our surroundings and ourselves for what is to
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In ten years of ministry and nearly 40 years of church attendance (with a loving reminder that we Millennials are, in fact, middle aged), I’ve heard plenty of angles on the Christmas story. The funny. The saccharine. The mysterious. Preached by folks of a variety of races, ages, theological frameworks,
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