Posts
Pastoring Faithfully in Divisive Times
The day after the 2016 presidential election, the seniors group at the church I serve was scheduled to gather. When I arrived, they told me that they’d agreed not to talk about the election. Emotions were too raw. So instead they shared stories about their grandchildren’s latest adventures or their day-to-day health challenges. Maybe that’s […]
Midrash on the Beach
One of the things I love most about preaching is the opportunity to imagine between the lines of a story. I can’t resist a chance to illuminate the scene and characters from my own imagination. The Bible is often sparse in its literary detail, to put it lightly – I mean, come on, parchment is […]
How to Talk About Abortion in Church
Abortion. Does the word stir up emotions? Does it cause you unease, even anger? You’re not alone. Say “abortion” in a public setting, and undoubtedly the reaction will be strong and visceral. Say it in the pulpit? The idea is enough to make even the most prophetic among us quake and quiver. Our discomfort with discussing […]
#BelovedCommunity
Hashtag my trauma Publicize my drama Go ahead, paparazzi me and my mama. Don’t understand The supply and demand For our vulnerable blogs And sensational vlogs Voyerism or loneliness? My addiction to the blue screen My thumb scrolling fast and mean, A desire to know and be known Yet the tandem desire to be left […]
Bringing Up the Rear
I Corinthians 15:1-11 1-2 Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time— this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand and by which your life has been saved. (I’m assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and […]
What’s News? Young Clergy Women Share Their News Sources
A favorite line of shop talk among preachers is that we must preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. (This quote is frequently attributed to 20th-century theologian Karl Barth, although trustworthy sources, like Princeton Seminary’s Barth Center, say there’s no proof of this exact quote, just similar statements by […]
Careful
When they came to the threshing-floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. The anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there because he reached out his hand to the ark; and he died there […]
Pastor and Preacher as Artist
“Becoming an artist consists of learning to accept yourself, which makes your work personal, and in following your own voice, which makes your work distinctive” -Art & Fear: Observations on The Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles & Ted Orland To be an artist one must be true to the voice that God […]
Preaching Poetry
Special thanks to managing editor Ann Bonner-Stewart, who brought to our attention this poem, which illustrates the power of words and the ways that words interact with one another in different contexts. Preaching Poetry There isn’t much that makes me think that writing in free form short sentences deep indents staggered lines of thought will […]
