School’s (almost) out
School’s out tomorrow! – at least if you’re a second or third grader in Columbus City Schools. Schools in the area are letting out, and many graduations have already happened. Students are about to skip into the glory of summer, parents are about to adjust their routines, and teachers, God…
Faithful dissent
At the beginning of this year our congregation officially joined the Supportive Communities Network and this Sunday SCN Coordinator Carol Wise will be a guest speaker during worship, the Sunday school hour, and at a luncheon held at the church (open invitation, food provided). Carol is also the Executive Director…
Forgiving debt
I don’t usually draw attention to the sermon from the previous Sunday and advise folks who weren’t present to definitely read or hear it online – but that’s what I’m doing here. If you weren’t in church on Sunday, you should catch the sermon. The reason isn’t so much that…
Spirited community
The CMC Annual Report landed in your email inbox last Friday, April 17 – and I know you’ve all read it multiple times. I read through it this morning, noting the happy coincidence of it being Earth Day. Although congregations are organizations, some folks suggest it’s more helpful to think…
Phloem and Xylem: Being resurrected
Three things for this week’s blog: 1) A brief reflection on spring/resurrection. 2) CMC in the news. 3) Quarterly Sabbath Weekend note. ———————————– When spring is, finally, in full motion, one might be tempted to panic. Life is pushing out everywhere, some grand revelation is underway, and my blurred eyes…
Being resurrected
Three things for this week’s blog: 1) A brief reflection on spring/resurrection. 2) CMC in the news. 3) Quarterly Sabbath Weekend note. ———————————– When spring is, finally, in full motion, one might be tempted to panic. Life is pushing out everywhere, some grand revelation is underway, and my blurred eyes…
Practice Resurrection
Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection. Last year about this time I had a conversation with a pastor friend from Virginia. He noted that his congregation had decided to carry the theme of resurrection all the way through…
Faces and names
So you’ve been talking with or saying hello to that person at church for months, or years, and you appreciate the relationship. There’s just one thing slightly uncomfortable about it. You have no clue what their name is, and now it’s to the point where it’s embarrassing to ask. I…
Saint Patrick
Yesterday was St. Patrick’s day. I forgot to wear green, but no one pinched me. Like St. Valentine’s Day, or Christmas and Saint Nicholas, the lives of these saints are something akin to the background radiation from the big bang – still there if you really look for it, but…
No future tense = a better future?
Today I am in the Bluffton/Pandora area for a CDC pastors meeting and some work with the Ministerial Committee. On the drive up here I listened to the TED Radio Hour episode “The Money Paradox.” One of the featured speakers, Keith Chen, talked about his research on the relationship between…
