I Take the Saints With Me
Growing up, church was… interminably slow. Not bad, just slow. Like the waving of a cardboard fan in the hands of a church mother, it was steady and sure, and […]
The Bricks and Mortar of Family
I have seen various versions of this meme going around Facebook, and while I don’t necessarily disagree with the sentiment, I generally just glanced past the posts without much thought. […]
My Grandpa, Our Advocate
I don’t belong to the same faith tradition as my grandfather did. Our denominations are cousins (mine the liberal cousin) that emerged out of the Stone Campbell movement of the […]
On Catherine of Siena: An Interview with Shelley Emling, Author of Setting the World on Fire
You’re not a Roman Catholic, but you just wrote a book on one of the church’s most beloved saints. Why did you choose to write about a saint, and why […]
A New Home In A New Land
Fifty-one years ago my maternal grandmother was sitting on a suitcase in Grand Central Station, crowds pressing in, sounds swirling around, smells lingering. Her new husband had gone off in […]
It Mattered: A Lesson in Gender and Ministry
Most of 2009 is an ugly blur to me, but one weekend in October stands out in my memory. My mother, godmother, and aunt drove up from North Carolina to […]
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 […]
Wonder Bread
In seminary, I learned all about the right and proper celebrating of the Lord’s Supper. Like any good Presbyterian, I could quote the appropriate passages in our Book of Order […]
Boundary-Breaking Witness
It may seem strange that a group of women opposed to my calling as a priest would be an inspiration to me, but picturing those Armenian nuns, especially when I […]
An Interview with Tamara Nichols Rodenberg
The Rev. Dr. Tamara Nichols Rodenberg was recently named as the 20th president of Bethany College, a private liberal arts college of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Bethany, […]
