As summer turns to fall in the northern hemisphere, our best offering in my desert home may be the cooler evenings and sunsets. In the Southern Hemisphere, Spring is coming! What will you preach this last day of summer or winter? RCL preachers have scheming managers, famous quotes about “no balm in Gilead” (will anyone… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party: Messy Desk Edition
At the first church I served, the church administrator gave me a sign for my office door: “A clean desk is the sign of a messy mind.” Ahem. Yes, my desk is always always always messy. Let’s hope that means my mind is orderly, because it’s time to get a sermon in order. Preaching friends,… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party: unpacking edition
It’s that time again—time to write a sermon. Sometimes it feels like we just did that… This week the various lectionaries give us a lot to unpack, whether it’s the RCL and Jesus apparently telling us to forsake family ties, or the NL with the 2nd creation story and the difficulty that western culture has… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party: At the banquet table
In the beginning, it was a Saturday. One preacher emailed another, and they realized they were both online, and they kept sending little words of encouragement via the Internets. And it was good. God said so. And it crossed their minds that other RevGal preachers might need the same sort of cheering up as Saturday… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party: Call and Response
I had the privilege of spending last weekend at the Church of Scotland’s National Youth Assembly with around 70 18-25 year olds. Some of the issues we debated were: inclusion, accessibility, hate speech, missional communities, testimony and confirmation. In our worship, we reflected on exclusion, lament and call. It was an inspiring, hope filled time,… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party: What is God asking
This summer my congregation and I have been engaging a sermon dialogue time. We are doing this to help us all listen more deeply for God. To do this I ask them to listen for three things in the readings: What word, image, or phrase stands out for them. I ask them to pay attention… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party: Sure as the Sunrise
Every week, sure as the sunrise, Sunday rolls around and the sermon needs to be prepared. And it’s that time again. If you’re a Revised Common Lectionary preacher, the Tuesday RevGals post may provide some food for thought. Or maybe you’ve jumped off lectionary temporarily, or you’re doing a sermon series, or the Spirit has… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party: Mayhem! edition
This weekend marks the start of my church’s annual holiday club, called Mayhem. It’s aptly named, as we will run around like crazy people for twelve hours a day for the next nine days, hoping that children, young people, adults, and volunteers will experience God in a new way. This year we have written a… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party: Teach us to pray
There are some really interesting options in the RCL passages this week – What’s in a name, in Hosea; Restoration and forgiveness in Psalm 85; What happens when a community forgets God in Genesis; Building on Christ’s foundation in Colossians and Teach us to pray in the gospel. Richness and diversity on a plate. What… Read More
11th Hour Preacher Party: To Do and To Be
Along with a group of clergy colleagues I am reading the book “Down Girl, The Logic of Misogyny” by Kate Manne. The book begins with stories about violence against women but then moves into a philosophical discussion and assessment of sexism and misogyny with some commentary on misogynoir (misogyny directed to women of color). It… Read More
