Posts

Support for Women Who Pastor

Since the highly publicized Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) vote on women being pastors (which wasn’t actually news to many of us female clergy), my social media feed has been flooded with posts from churches, pastors, congregants, etc., condemning the SBC’s decision and proclaiming their support for women in ministry. It never directly says but often […]

Starting a New Call: A Top 10 List of Dos and Don’ts

Pace yourself. You are going to be tempted to go, go, go. Don’t give in to the temptation. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. 

Winter Whether

For the last few years, I have been in an extended period of discernment. For many months, I found myself constantly asking whether I should take on something new, stop doing something else, or change direction entirely. I felt unsettled, no longer at home in certain aspects of my life and work. The winds of […]

Pathfinding

More than five years ago, I came to a junction in my life. My husband and I had to make decisions about where to live, how to proceed on our career paths, and when to have children. I remember the pressure of asking myself really big questions. Who is God calling me to be? What […]

Choosing Between Two Holy Places

It’s Saturday morning. I dig through a clump of pink and green plastic princess necklaces as I search for my dove pendant, an image of the Holy Spirit I ritualistically grab to go with the dress I wear to officiate a funeral. I smile because the plastic necklaces are sure signs that someone else has […]

My Friend, the Mortician

I met Rob Pecht, owner of Bordentown Home for Funerals, in a hearse. At least that’s how I remember it. Our first conversation on a long drive to a cemetery centered around my being relatively new to the area and our mutual love of the HBO show Six Feet Under. I vaguely remembering asking him, […]

Pilgrimage with My Mother

In May 2014, my mother and I walked the last 110km of the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela, in Spain. There have been many wonderful books, blogs and websites published about the pilgrim journey to Santiago, as well as many films, such as The Way with Martin Sheen. I commend all of these resources […]

Job Hunting for the Two Career Couple: When the Right Call Is Not the Church

I sat on the bed, listening to the shower. At my feet there was a massive pile of laundry, mostly my husband’s clothes. He was packing a large suitcase and moving to the East coast for a job. For the second time in 12 months, we were going to be separated. When we first met, we were […]

Two New Hymns: We Have Often Called You “Father” and Christ According To Your Measure

Before I began the ordination process, I wanted to be a writer.  I also come from a musical background and am a life-long choral singer.  So when I discovered the art of hymn-writing, it seemed like the perfect intersection of three things I love: words, music, and worshiping God. I wrote both of these hymn […]

Stepping Out

I came out recently on facebook.  Not as gay.  That would have been no big deal to the vast majority of my friends.  I came out as a religious Christian. I didn’t really mean to come out.  I just got the email saying I was invited to the candidacy site of the General Board of […]