In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 A new year can be a time for new beginnings, but we are also still in the season of Christmas, perhaps with these very words about beginning from the Gospel of John fresh in our hearts. […]
I believe I received a wonderful theological education at the two Baptist seminaries I attended (Eastern–now Palmer, and Central). I can decline Greek verbs (OK, I could at one time), put Paul in his historical context, explain the prophetic tradition and even address difficult biblical texts. I can do crisis counseling, pre-marital counseling, spiritual counseling, […]
Over 70 young clergy women from all over the world gathered in Nashville last week for the sixth Young Clergywomen Conference. Highlights include our wonderful speaker, Dr. Nyasha Junior; worship that was at turns beautiful, real, well-planned, and spontaneous; our first time providing on-site childcare; and, of course, fun and bonding with fellow young clergywomen. […]
July 4 strikes fear into the hearts of many young American pastors. Often, our seminary training included some cautionary tales about taking care to make sure that a secular holiday not overtake worship and and blur the lines between love of God and love of country. Some congregations agree with this idea. Others do not. […]
There’s no way around it: ministry is a career and calling that involves a strange assortment of skills, not the least of which is the logistics of baptism. Whether your tradition baptizes infants, young children, teens, or adults; whether you sprinkle, pour, or immerse; the practical implications are mind boggling. Even if you had a […]
On one recent Tuesday, these are the things people gave me: one bag of figs, one homemade toy tractor, one piece of chocolate cake, and one giant box of saltine crackers. The figs were from some church members with a tree in their yard. Turns out my daughter loves figs. The toy tractor was a […]
Kassie The Church has always been central to my relationship with my husband, Travis. We were both in seminary when we met at the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) General Assembly in 2009. We immediately clicked over our similar theologies and love of church camp. When we started dating in the fall of 2010, we […]
Churches are full of people who behave badly and make poor choices and screw things up for themselves and for the whole community. There. The cat’s out of the bag, right? I knew this going into ministry. I learned all sorts of helpful stuff in seminary and field education about family systems, healthy communication, and […]
“Wait, you mean you still haven’t fired him yet?” I burst out at my colleague. She was having a meeting with her music director. The same music director. The same director, who, over a year before, she’d told me was impossible to work with and so she was forming a plan to ask him to resign. […]
I’m not a seasoned pastor by any means, but this list is full of what I’ve learned at the beginning of my career in ministry. The lessons, both painful and enlightening, are still fresh in my mind, so here they are, written as for a new pastor: 1. Network. Having a group of other pastors […]
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