The Rumor Mill

by Young Clergy Women For those who have not yet taken the plunge and joined the Young Clergy Women Project, our Ning group for YCW members allows for a confidential, password protected space to discuss issues and receive feedback from other YCW. The following article, very appropriate for waiting mothers on this last day of […]

A Potpourri of Holiday Cheer

Last month we invited YCWs to share their favorite traditions, recipes and practices that help make Advent and Christmas special (and in some cases, a little less hectic). When it comes to December, what I call Clergy Superbowl, our very lives are acts of creativity: how will we balance activity and reflection? home stuff with church stuff? […]

Parishioner-Proofing the Pad

by Nicole Lamarche In this season of Christmas parties and celebrations, Nicole offers some thoughts on balancing the need to gather with parishioners and the need for personal space. I suppose the jury is out about whether it is uncouth or inappropriate to ever have parishioners over at a pastor’s house. But I have never […]

Advent Is Here?

by Susan A. Sytsma Bratt Advent began for me in September with an Excel spreadsheet left in my in-box by our worship committee moderator. Looking at the grid of tasks, staff person assigned, and estimated timetable sucked whatever joy and wonder I was beginning to muster for the season. Last year I was blissfully ignorant […]

Sabbath on the Golden Staircase

by Molly Vetter Athletic ability has never been one of my defining identities. By the end of my 8th grade track season, I did make it over all the hurdles and finish ahead of someone else, but this is hardly triumph. During college, I managed to ride my bicycle nearly the whole way across Nebraska, […]

It Is Not Good…

by Stacey Midge "It is not good that the man should be alone…" (Genesis 2:18) At the beginning of all things, there came a time – very quickly, it seems – when God decided that it was no longer good for Adam to live alone.  Such a time also came for me not long ago. […]

A Room of My Own

by Katherine M. Bush “Women, then, have not had a dog’s chance of writing poetry. That is why I have laid so much stress on money and a room of one’s own.” – Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own One of the perks of being an Episcopal priest is being invited to participate in […]

Where are the Wild Things? Chances Are, You’ve Met Them Before…

by Lara Blackwood Pickrel If you are anything like me, you remember the gritty pastel and grey drawings from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are with a certain warm and fuzzy sense of nostalgia. I loved every bit of those monsters – beaks, horns, hooves, human feet, fur, feathers and roars – and I […]

A Taste of Grace

by Joanna Harader In my small Mennonite congregation, when the worship leader says, “Go in peace,” the children go directly to the snack counter. Sure it's almost lunch time, but we will eat something anyway—for the sake of Christian fellowship. Some parents quietly request healthy snacks; but, nevertheless, cookies and brownies often appear on the […]

Blessed Are the Kitties

by Vicki Flippin As we prepare for Thanksgiving, Vicki reflects on her thankfulness for the feline beings that truly make her house a home and fill it with love and laughter. When I was little, I had an intense passion for doggies. I felt a burning desire like none I had ever felt before to […]