by MaryAnn McKibben Dana We’ve bought the school clothes… but they have been untouched since the shopping trip, still tucked in the closet, tied securely in plastic bags from Target. School supplies, too—we’ve crossed everything off the list, but the pencils are unsharpened, the erasers still encased in their clear packaging. I’ll deal with it [...]
Christ & Creativity
August 26, 2008 byThe View from Your Ministry
Thanks to everyone who contributed photos for "The View from Your Ministry"! A few of our favorites appear below the fold. Also congratulations to Emily Chapman, who won the drawing for a Young Clergy Women tote bag and other goodies. It is exciting to get a glimpse of the different contexts in which we do [...]
Epiphany
by Michelle Parsons Just out of seminary, I was a little apprehensive about stepping into my call as solo pastor. To be perfectly honest, I was terrified. My biggest fear centered on my ability (or lack thereof!) to preach every week. I tend to be a decent writer, and I did well with my preaching [...]
(Extra)Ordinary Time
For lectionary-followers, this summer has been an unusually long slog through Ordinary Time. Maybe it’s getting a little too ordinary for you by now. Help is on the way, though. For August 31, the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (year A), the lectionary presents us with several stories of people pulled from the ordinary. Laura [...]
Grace at the Graveside
by Kate Hurst Floyd “Be still and know that I am God” the Psalmist instructs us. Be still. Be still. Be still. With varying degrees of success, this has been my mantra as of late. Ministry is quite the opposite of stillness; ministry requires moving—running ahead of deadlines, walking with the hurt, throwing out [...]
A Home of Her Own
by Laurie M. Brock I blamed the puddle on the kitchen floor on my dog Sophie, who sat, wagging her tail and gleefully chewing on her bone as I ranted about her apparent issues with appropriate places to pee. Then I felt the drip on my head. A quick sniff of the liquid I’d just [...]
I do not own a robe
by Stacy Smith Well, perhaps that is not entirely accurate. I did purchase a clerical robe just before Christmas, a woman’s robe off the rack at Cokesbury that doesn’t fit and has blood red piping that prohibits me from wearing it in my church. I only bought it because I needed to spend my professional [...]
The Frozen Chosen
Standing in the narthex of the church on the last summer day of July, Lexi shook hands with the few and the proud that had come to worship that morning. With each handshake, she heard the typical comments. “Nice sermon.” “Thanks for worship today.” Lexi hated these comments. She wanted to know more. She wanted [...]