Cultivating Love (Cultivating Hope in the Climate Crisis- Advent 4)

Prayer O God, show us your steadfast love. In a changing world speak your word of eternal Love which does not change. Hear our cries, from the depths of our longing. Bring us mercy and compassion, tenderness and commitment, all that we need to carry us through. Be born in us this day. As we […]

Cultivating Joy (Cultivating Hope in the Climate Crisis- Advent 3)

Prayer of the Day Creator God, so often we look around us and see only the changes that need to be made. We look past what you are doing in the lives of the children who surround us. Open our eyes to the joy of the world they are creating alongside you. Amen. 

Cultivating Peace (Cultivating Hope in the Climate Crisis- Advent 2)

Prayer of the Day Maker of All That Is, thank you. You are our Source of life and hope. Forgive us for all the ways we sin against you and the Earth. Restore our connection to you and all of Creation, that we might be a part of your great Restoration of the world. Reconnect […]

Cultivating Hope (Cultivating Hope in the Climate Crisis- Advent 1)

Prayer Eternal God, gift us the hope we need to keep awake and watch for your amazing works. Help us participate in the upending of the world as we know it so we will know the world of your loving grace. We pray all this and more in your most Holy Name. Amen. Commentary on […]

Dear Askie: I Need to Hire!

Dear Askie, It’s been a wild couple of months at my call; two staff members have taken new jobs, leaving me (as lead pastor) to fill their roles. I don’t know where to start, as I’ve never had to hire anyone before! Any tips or tricks to help make this process a little smoother?  Sincerely, […]

Book Review: Rest is Resistance

Tricia Hersey didn’t discover rest as resistance when she had the time or the money to rest. She began resting as resistance in the midst of one of the busiest times in her own life while she was a seminarian and a single working mom. This she says is what we must all do in […]

Layers: Responding to Comments Pastorally

Susan is a pastor transitioning to a new call. While introducing herself to the congregations, she engaged in conversation that one would expect around ministry, such as balancing time. But when a question came up about whether she was even trying to date or was just a workaholic, it gave her more pause. The process […]

The Heroine’s Journey, Part Ten: Heroine Integrates the Masculine and Feminine

This devotional is the final installment in a series exploring the kinship between the Heroine’s Journey as established by Maureen Murdock, my lived experience of ministry as a female clergy person, and a few familiar fictional characters. Each devotional ends with a blessing for the Heroine at that stage of the journey. In the previous […]

Pastoral Care with Persons with Narcissistic and Antisocial Personality Disorder: An Interview with The Rev. MaryJane Inman

Although I work in a specialized setting of a state psychiatric hospital, when speaking to church pastors I sometimes recognize behaviors and problems they describe as having similarities to those I witness in the psych hospital. Some of those are similar to people with Borderline Personality Disorder, some bring to mind folks who have experienced […]

Keeping It Real: Friends Who Ask the Right Questions

“Would you be asked to do that if you were married?” My friend Catherine always cuts to the heart of the matter, not mincing words. She is the person who calls out the disparity in expectations that congregations hold, either explicitly or implicitly, between single and married clergywomen. She is the voice that calls me […]