Forward, Back, Forward Again: A Sermon for Advent 1C

by Jennifer Deaton Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25:1-9; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36 How do we know when the big day is drawing near? We look for the signs. They are unmistakable. 15% off all holiday candles. Trees for sale. Red bows appear along fenceposts, polar bears drink Coca-cola, and Rudolph, Frosty, and Charlie Brown make […]

Church Women

by Lee Hull Moses Last Friday, I spent the morning drinking really bad coffee from a Styrofoam cup with fifty women who are older than me by at least 25 years. I’d been invited to present the Bible lesson to a meeting of Church Women United, an ecumenical group that has been gathering “church women” […]

Mid-Life Crisis

by Jennifer Anderson When I told my Mom that I had bought myself a Mini Cooper for my birthday she joked that it was my “mid-life crisis”.  Excuse me?  Mid-life?  Crisis?!?!  I don’t know about you, but when I think of that phrase I picture a 55-year old man driving a red Ferrari with the […]

And the giveaways go to…

In October, the Fidelia’s turned two! To celebrate, we had three giveaways. The giveaway winners were picked randomly, by assigning each comment or person a number, using random.org. Below the fold, you’ll see the giveaway recipients. A huge thanks goes out to Russ White at Chalice Press and Anna Gordy Montgomery at Gloria Vestments.

In Sickness and in Health…

by Lara Blackwood Pickrel Typically, ministers and military personnel have at least one thing in common: we know how to move, and we know that it is likely we will move several times during our careers. In some ways, these moves are similar. Our families are uprooted (or they are forced to change our entry […]

A Concert as Worship Experience

By Deborah L. Matthews My husband surprised me for our September birthdays with tickets to U2 at Soldier Field in Chicago, our new hometown and the first stop in the 2009 360 tour. On Sunday, September 13, we trekked into the stadium with thousands of other fans, expecting quite a show. I’ve heard others talk […]

Joined and Knit Together

It was the second time I learned to knit that stuck. The first time, my grandmother taught me during a summer vacation; I remember struggling with the yarn and needles, wondering if this would even turn into something usable. The second time was when I was in seminary. My sister had started knitting, and over one Christmas break I re-learned. This […]

The Day I Met Her

by Susan Olson Editor’s note: In September of this year, Moms in Ministry editor Alex Hendrickson traveled to Ethiopia with Susan Olson, the founder of the Young Clergy Women Project. On this trip, Susan met and finalized the adoption of her daughter. For the second anniversary of Fidelia’s Sisters, it seemed that sharing the story […]

Be Careful What You Wish For

by Erica Schemper In worship, be careful what you ask for. Because you just might get it. I suppose there are a few ministers out there who have the kind of artsy, game-for-anything congregations that immediately warm to any kind of creative, interactive moment in worship. You know who you are! But most of us, […]

Loving the Herods

by Elsa A. Peters There’s this guy, a member of a church. He’s not fictional. He’s real. He makes my friend cry in her office after he’s made her feel less than human. It happened like this: he came into her office. To me, her friend, it sounds like he barged into her office and […]