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Deliver us from the presumption of pardon and not renewal
a Homily for Proper 11B Text: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 [Sunday I preached without a script. This is an approximation of what I preached.] Sabbath Coming back from vacation, it is appropriate to get this gospel pericope about rest. Or lack there of it. It was just two weeks ago when we covered the story of…
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A Pastor’s Response to General Convention #77
We aren’t the Rotary. We aren’t a country club. We aren’t civil society. We aren’t a local government. We aren’t a Lodge or an Order or anything like that. We are the church and the church is different. We forget that sometimes. And in many ways. When we get together to set up the…
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Best Response to Doubters Yet
Tom Ehrich has written the best response yet to the anti-mainline and doom-and-gloom forecasts. Conservative commentators like Rupert Murdoch’s stable and Ross Douthat of The New York Times are feasting on what they perceive as the “death” of “liberal Christianity.” They add two and two and get eight. They see decisions they don’t like — such…
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CNN Asks Real Episcopalian to Debate Outsider
No sooner had I written my little rant about the media then did I stumble upon the Rev. Susan Russell’s conversation Sunday morning on CNN. She was invited to talk about The Episcopal Church’s decision at General Convention to confirm for trial use the liturgy produced for the blessing of same-gendered unions. Speaking opposite her…
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Bad Coverage of Good News
After a week of incredible, humbling work, the 77th General Convention of The Episcopal Church closed last week with a flurry of activity. A week of prayer, worship, discernment, and decision found the church wrestling with serious and substantive questions. More importantly, it appears, finding its voice. A new group of people I deeply respect…
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The Start of Brickation!
The Downs family have been having a great time on vacation. And as it nears its endpoint, I thought I’d put together a few pictures of one of our fun stops. In downtown Traverse City, they had a special Lego storefront setup for the National Cherry Festival. There was no entrance fee, and kids were…
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Stopping for WiFi
Being without 4G or WiFi has meant virtually no updates. But we have pictures to share. This is Rose enjoying the wifi from a McDonald’s parking lot. Over the next few days, check out my tumblr stream or join me on Instagram. By next week, We should be back online. Enjoy yourself!
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On Vacation
The family has gone on vacation for the first time in two years. It really is a much-needed respite. My plan was to send all sorts of goofy and sweet pictures from the road; however, the 4G service has been entirely absent from much of our voyage to the north. So postings will be slim.…
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