by Stacey Midge That's my picture in the Fidelia's Sisters header.  The one with the pink hair and the guitar; that's me, or it was at the first conference of the Young Clergy Women Project.  A few years later, my hair is a bit more normal looking, although I suppose not everyone would consider near-platimum [...]

by Jenn Moland-Kovash Collection  Deep purple, nearly black splotchesMottle her arms and hands:She laughs and tells me it took the nursesNine tries before getting the needleRight in her small, wobbly veins.She remembers when her doctortook two samples from her husbandinstead of trying to get one from her. She’s amused by her veins.The stories make me [...]

by Jes Kast-Keat “Becoming an artist consists of learning to accept yourself, which makes your work personal, and in following your own voice, which makes your work distinctive” -Art & Fear: Observations on The Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles & Ted Orland To be an artist one must be true to the [...]

by Stacey Midge The smell of incense hit them first, wafting out of the darkness inside the chapel doors.  Then they met a cacophony of voices shouting, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Hosts!”  A large chair draped in white cloth sat in the center of the room, surrounded by dozens of candles, [...]

By Elsa A. Peters I always thought I would be an artist.  When I dreamed of who I would be when I grew up, it was always with a set of paints.  It was always in some smock and a beret.  Yes, it really was that cliché.   And so, I painted.  I drew.  I [...]

By Mary Beth McSwain It was a standard day at Clover Bottom Developmental Center, a state-run institution for developmentally disabled adults.  I was a few months into my pastoral internship at Studio 1, an art studio which encourages the adults to create visual art as a form of pastoral care.  Nancy arrived at 10 am [...]

by Ashley Goff Worship planning is an art. It’s a discipline. It must be done over and over and over again in order to get worship “under our skin.” How we plan worship reflects what we believe worship should be — a transformative, communal experience of observing, trusting, trying, reflecting, and taking chances for the [...]

by Stacey Midge NaNoWriMo is eating my soul. This is how it happened: On the first day of this month, I saw a Facebook post about NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.  I had not intended to do this.  I had not premeditated my plan of attack.  I hadn't even heard of it.  But something [...]

by Amy Summers-Minette Since becoming a minister, one of my Christmas traditions has been to drag my sister Beth with me on my hospital rounds.  My sister is a trained opera singer whose voice makes people weep with both release and joy.  When I first began in ministry I heard folks stuck in a hospital [...]

by Elsa A. Peters I like words. I like to use words. I like to listen to words. I like to roll them off mytongue. I like to read them on a page. I really like words. I don’t like words in my prayers.