In my denomination all pastors are encouraged to be part of a clergy group. There are no guidelines about the groups—who or how many can be in them, how they are structured, what the group focuses on, etc. So, there are some all-female groups, some...
Last week I wrote briefly about the six “Great Ends of the Church.” The third Great End is “the maintenance of divine worship.” I am a pastor, so worship is in many respects my “job.” But, worship is much more than a job to me....
Who am I? Why am I here? What gives life meaning? What is my purpose? These are the sorts of existential questions that sooner or later, we all ask. We want to know that our life has meaning, that it makes a difference that we...
There is a magnet on my refrigerator that says, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” I’ve been thinking a lot about that message lately, because in my little corner of the universe, it’s not just...
Somehow it is August. I do not know how this happened. My dad told me it would be this way: that as I got older time would begin to speed up, with months flying by like days and years flying by like months. As usual,...
For those of us living in the metropolitan Washington D.C. area, politics is inescapable. It is, quite simply, part of the air we breathe. So over the past two weeks, unless you have been marooned on a desert island (hopefully not) or been on a...
I just returned from a vacation to the Canadian province of Quebec. It was a spectacular nine days—a river cruise on the Saguenay Fjord, whale watching (we spotted Minke, humpback and fin whales!), croissants and chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) in quantities that should be illegal,...
Institutions are indispensable. We cannot get along in our complex world without the order, stability and benefits supplied by our governmental, religious, educational, financial and social institutions. But as we all know, institutions are a mixed bag. They are necessary and they do much good,...
My church is getting a new organ. It’s not a “new-new” organ, but it’s new to us. Another church in our area is being torn down to make way for affordable housing. That church’s congregation will move back in to the new high rise once...
Dear Friends, I was on vacation and “off the grid,” so to speak, when the tragic events of Orlando unfolded eleven days ago. Like many of you, the more I heard the more horrified I became, and because I was away I did not have my...