Category: Church
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Not Exploited, But Emptied
Today I woke up thinking, “Who really knows how to do Palm Sunday?” After my mind ran through various possibilities, I ended up worshiping with the Episcopalians. When I arrived, an usher standing at the door of the sanctuary handed me a thick pile of paper and directed me to the courtyard. People smiled politely…
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Africa 10 Years Hence
I took my last sabbatical in 2012, while serving as the Lead Minister at The First Congregational United Church of Christ of Colorado Springs. I had applied for a Clergy Renewal grant through the Lilly Foundation and received it. An exciting day when a check for $40,000 arrived at the church office! The driving question…
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A Singing Sermon
Last Sunday, I went to church. Well, truth be told, it was online, but I showed up nonetheless and felt like I had been there. I had intended to attend in person, but I got the time wrong and by the time I figured it out it was too late to get dressed and make…
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Percolating Coffee
Writing Prompt: “Tell me about your relationship with coffee.” Coffee has been there my entire life. I have a scar from when I was age 3 or 4 and I reached across the breakfast table to take something from my sister and I knocked the percolator pot onto my left forearm. My mom rushed in…
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The Wellspring
If you’ve been following my posts, you know that during sabbatical I’ve been visiting various worshiping communities on Sundays. Last week I went to a church near my home, but today I went to the church closest to where we live. Wellspring Church, also known as the First Samoan Congregational Christian Church, happens to be…
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Close Proximity
As a pastor on sabbatical, one of my practices has been to visit churches and other spiritual communities. This week I decided to look and see what were the closest churches to my home in Santa Rosa. One of them is a non-denominational Evangelical church and I rode my bike there for the 10:00 a.m.…
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Be Who You Be
When I was 26 and fresh out of graduate school, I began the process of beginning my career. In the ministry, it’s called searching for a call. My first interview was at a congregation in Long Beach, so I drove from San Jose down to Southern California and stayed the night at the home of…
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Why I Prefer Funerals
Today I officiated at a graveside funeral for the mom of a friend. As I drove home afterwards, I thought about why I prefer funerals to weddings. As a pastor for the past 22 years, I have learned to enjoy weddings, but there is something about funerals that feels more real and I think I…
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Adventures in Preaching 2.0
I’ve blogged before but it’s been awhile. When I was in my doctoral program I created a blog called “Adventures in Preaching.” I created 4 posts: https://adventuresinpreaching.blogspot.com The idea behind “Adventures in Preaching” was to reflect on the process of preaching and sermon preparation. When I returned from my residency to the parish, I did…