Dear Clergy Colleagues, It’s rough out there! Between a worldwide pandemic, the attempted overthrow of democracy in the United States, and the projected beer and Spam shortages, 2021 isn’t looking much better than 2020. In the current reality, our jobs are incredibly difficult—emotionally, spiritually, and practically. So here are some helpful things to keep in… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: When the Bible Gets You in Trouble (Luke 4:14-30)
Reflection Many of the people who raided the United States capitol building last Wednesday were wearing “Jesus” t-shirts and waving Christian flags. And it is pretty obvious those people have listened to a lot of unfaithful preaching and read very little of the actual Bible. We’re in the season of Epiphany now which is when… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: Luke 1:26-56
As the Narrative Lectionary moves into the Gospel of Luke, most of the people in the (virtual) pews will find themselves in more familiar territory. Mary, Gabriel, Elizabeth, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” Ahhhh. There is, I think, a temptation to relish the familiarity; to let out a deep sigh of relief: “Thank goodness we’re… Read More
Wit’s End: Weekend Edition
With thanks to all of you who have shared your ideas and stories of pastoring during a pandemic. Rev. Joanna Harader serves as pastor of Peace Mennonite Church in Lawrence, KS. You can read some of her more serious thoughts about Advent on her blog, Spacious Faith. RevGalBlogPals encourages you to share our blog posts… Read More
Wit’s End Day: What Pastors have learned during COVID
Sure, 2020 has been a rough year with lots of adjustments and some difficult losses. But just think of all the stuff we’ve learned along the way! Talk about “things they didn’t teach us in seminary”! (Except #5. Dr. Graves tried very hard to teach me #5.) So here are The Top 10 Things I’ve… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: Isaiah 6:1-8
Those of us preaching the Narrative Lectionary get to hang out with the prophets for a few weeks. We’ve already encountered Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, and the “how not to be a prophet” story of Jonah. This week we come to Isaiah, whose prophetic voice echoes in much of Jesus’ teachings about the Kingdom of God.… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: Hannah’s Prayers (1 Sam 1:9-11; 19-20; 2:1-10)
Narrative Lectionary Companions, The first thing to note this week is that we are a long way from the golden calf! If you are using this Narrative Lectionary cycle to help people gain a better understanding of the full sweep of the biblical narrative, it might be worth mentioning that we’ve skipped over six books… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: God’s Promise to Abraham (Genesis 15:1-6)
Hello, friends! I am excited to begin the Narrative Lectionary with my congregation and to share my first Narrative Lectionary post with the Rev. Gals community. I love that the NL allows us to follow the narrative arc of scripture from beginning to end—to engage with the Bible as a whole rather than just dipping… Read More
Wits’ End Day: COVID Hymns
In these days of COVID, I find that some of our beloved hymns are troubling–all of that breathing and touching and singing. So I’ve re-written a few favorites to be more appropriate for our physically-distanced, virus-conscious lives. (You really should sing them to get the full effect.) (But don’t sing them while you’re in a… Read More
Friday Prayer: Have mercy
God of peace, God of justice, God who makes swords to plowshares And leads slaves to freedom: Kyrie eleison. Christ of compassion, Christ of confrontation, Jesus who healed the sick And overturned tables: Christe eleison. Comfort us. Shelter us. Empower us. Transform us. Have mercy on us, O Holy One. Amen. Rev. Joanna Harader… Read More
