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My Advent Resolution
I love both Advent and Christmas. I love preparing, anticipating, waiting for what is to come. It makes the arrival of Christmas all the sweeter. Like waiting all summer for a resolution to the cliffhanger, all year for the next book in a series, the next chance to have candy corn, peppermint mochas, or cream…
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Religion as Community or There’s more to religion than we think
A more honest understanding of religion then is something involving tradition, community, and commitment. It expects more out of us and a commitment to be with one another. It is connection, not only to GOD and other people, but to the many people who came before. Religion and belief aren’t the same thing. Many of us…
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Personal Religion
The new American definition of religious freedom, and therefore religion itself, is total, personal faith. No one in their right mind would say that Kim Davis defines Christianity. They are, however, eager to say that she is practicing her faith. She is being a Christian. Yesterday I wrote about what we should mean when we talk about religion. Today I…
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A Postscript on Starting to Deconstruct Church
My favorite part of exploring ideas is seeing how ideas affect other people. The other day I shared an article suggesting that instead of tinkering with Daylight Savings Time or opting out of it, what if we adopted it all year round? It is not as novel a concept as one would think and has far…
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Liturgy & the Event
The earliest rule I remember about church was my Mom telling me when I was 4 or 5, sitting in the balcony at the back of Trinity, Alpena and she pointed to the Lord’s Prayer and said to me that this is the one thing she expected me to memorize. The rest of the service,…
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Membership
When I used to walk into a church for the first time, I’d show up within 5 minutes of the start of worship. I’d try to find a seat in the back, and I would just sort of find my way in. I didn’t really want to be shown how to worship there. I knew…
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Announcements
I truly value communication. It has always been one of my top priorities. For a church, I’ve built a website, set up social media pages, published a weekly email newsletter, not to mention planned the weekly liturgy, written letters, visited with people, and made the obligatory announcements on Sunday morning. And strangely, one thing has…
