Over the past several months, we have been introducing four “keys” to nurturing the faith of your children and grandchildren. Experts in the field of faith development have honed in on four practices that, when embedded into your family’s routines, will help parents to notice...
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! We had a glorious celebration of Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday, and I trust yours was, too. The sanctuary was beautifully adorned with Easter lilies, spring bulbs in pink, purple and yellow bloom, and white paraments—cloth coverings for the...
As I sit at my desk writing and working this morning, I hear our church organist in the background practicing for Sunday’s Easter service. If you can’t be inspired by the strains of Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, Thine Is the Glory, and The Hallelujah...
In three days the Church will celebrate Palm Sunday which launches us into Holy Week. Holy Week, in turn, propels us through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday to the pinnacle of the church year, Easter Sunday. I love Easter, and I am particularly...
On Sunday I have the unenviable task of preaching about the torture and humiliation that Jesus endured as he neared his death on the cross. The purpose of crucifixion—Rome’s “go to” method of execution for would-be “messiahs”—wasn’t just to kill the victim. It was to...
One of the most challenging scenes in the passion narrative of Jesus is his trial before the leading religious figures of his day. After his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was led to the residence of the high priest. It was past midnight...
I love snow days, like the one we got earlier this week. I love the beauty of snow-laden tree branches. I love the stillness. I love the soft blanket that wraps the world in pure white. I love that I got to be home an...
Did you know that churches receive a ridiculous amount of marketing phone calls, flyers and junk mail? I suppose I had never thought about it before I actually went to work at a church, but of course, it makes sense, even if it is annoying....
The demands of parenting can be joyful at best – and also incredibly overwhelming. So often we just get by day to day, and we feel like we play a constant game of “catch up.” Often our frenetic lifestyles cause us to miss important opportunities...
I hate death. Let me try to clarify that a bit. I abhor, loathe, detest, despise death. I hate that death separates us from people we love. I despise the fact that death creates a chasm which we have no ability to bridge. I loathe...