Do you hear it? The cry of the oppressed? It would be easy to miss in our rush to get to the story of the call of Moses, but we must ensure that, first of all, we hear the cry of the suffering Hebrew people kept as slaves by the Egyptian Pharaoh (Exodus 2:23). The… Read More
Ordiversary Party — September!
Happy Ordiversary, September-ordained friends! It’s a time for new beginnings in many northern-hemisphere churches, so what a great time for ordinations. (okay, anytime is a good time for an ordination, and for a party!) We celebrate your ministry, whether it’s been one year or forty since that first step! Today I’m so excited that the… Read More
Narrative Lectionary: O joy! A meeting! (Acts 15:1-18)
I must say that my first reaction to the inclusion of this reading in the Narrative Lectionary was one of doubt and trepidation. Would Sunday’s sermon turn out to be little more than an intellectual exercise lacking any application to the life and faith of my congregation? However, thanks be to God, some thoughts are… Read More
Saturday Prayer, September 19, 2020
God, I need a bigger bra. I actually have wanted to say those words all my life. I lost (most) of my lockdown pounds, so I was not expecting changes of that kind this late in life (snow-kissed hair, quilted face), and I wasn’t going to risk trying bras on. I took the __… Read More
Friday Prayer: When We See the Lord
Oh, Lord, how do we see you and minister to you? When you do not hoard resources, but make sure the enough that exists is shared- you minister to me. When you spoke the truth about what is and remained calm about what could be- you minister to me. When you prepare food for those… Read More
Wednesday Prayer
Earthquakes Firestorms Missile strikes Plane crashes City-wide gun violence Is this how we are starting 2020, God? Help us to stop. Now! Stop our pillaging of the earth for our comfort Stop our polluting the air with our poison Stop our scapegoating and warmongering Stop our putting profit before people Stop our othering Stop our… Read More
Friday Festival: Taking Notice
Living in a manse across from the church my wife serves, on a corner where both streets are well-traveled, and given that we spend a fair amount of time outside with our two dogs, and some of those times one is less willing than the other to embark on a walk, we feel noticed —… Read More
Friday Festival: Connections, Broken and Whole
Our bloggers are guiding our minds to the connections of the heart this week. Turning from weariness to gratitude, Kristin Berkey-Abbott notices a parallel between herself and the living things in the garden, “The milkweed is blooming this week–these are plants that have been eaten back to bare stalks several times since I bought them… Read More
Wits-Ends-Day: Sharpie-Enhanced-Ministry Edition
While altering a National Weather Service hurricane map is . . . not cool, . . . the incident did get me thinking about how useful it could be in our ministry settings if we could, in fact, alter reality with a Sharpie. So here are some Sharpie edits you could make to enhance your… Read More
Saturday Prayer: September sky blue
We are out in our yard, the yard of the manse, across the street from the church, Presbyterian, and we see the cars leaving the Catholic church, just down the block, and our lot, too, the overflow. We recognize the black Suburban, and the old school station wagon, and the hearse with the logo on… Read More
