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Peace
I’m not sure there is a more foundational element to the Christian faith than peace. We want peace, we crave peace. Peace to us is safety and security. It is silence and quiet. It is solitude in chaos. It is the sound of birds chirping and streams bubbling when we are resting in the grass.…
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Absolution
For some churches, it’s all about sin. For others, it’s all about that grace. And for still others, there is the regular insistence that we don’t talk about one without the other. We don’t talk about Good Friday without Easter. It makes a certain sense, doesn’t it? that we so often tend to focus on the…
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Confession
“We don’t do confession.” I remember the conversations I used to have as a child about church. And it was usually how we do things differently or what is an E-piss-co-palian? Which always was accompanied with laughter. This childhood was in Alpena, a small city in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Alpena was largely Polish, then;…
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Prayers of the People
I try not to be a micromanager. Preparing our worship, inspiring, gathering, inviting into participation is a big part of what I am called to do as a priest. The training we receive in seminary is intended to give us a certain expertise. My writing training has given me certain skills (and ego) to lead…
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Bible Study
It feels like we don’t respect the Bible. We use it as a weapon. As justification. As a tool. We use it as a litmus test and a crutch. We use it as means of separation and as a means of distinction. We use it to gather people to us and to turn them away. Our…
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Adult Formation
A friend recently said that the church is always 10 years behind. When he said this, I nodded as I thought through all the ways we are behind the world. Technology, marketing, human rights, anti-institutionalism, shifting political landscapes, family trends including divorce rates, break-ups, and coupling outside of marriage. I frequently point out that many of…
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Children’s Sermon
I didn’t grow up with a regular children’s sermon. Sometimes, we’d be brought up to the front two pews and there was something, maybe it was a children’s sermon…I know we had picture books. Dad likes to read picture books to the children sometimes. That usually is after finding some new ones at Barnes &…
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Children
Any conversation about children in church must begin with children. I say this knowing that it is rarely the case. Much more likely that we begin with how adults handle children or what adults want for their children or what adults can have without children present. I know that this is a touchy subject. But…