Over the past eight months, I have learned a lot about the people of Immanuel UMC. I had heard you were friendly and welcoming, hospitable and that this was a caring church, but those are really just words until you see them lived out in people’s lives. And having a fresh set of eyes –…
Kenotic Words
worship, sermons, lectionary
Trust, not Unquestioning Belief
In 2012, I took my youth group on a mission trip to Minneapolis. We worked in a number of different sites and one of them was the Emergency Foodshelf Network. This organization helps distribute food items to 70 area food shelves by channeling donations for organizations and large corporations. Most of these are bulk items. …
Rescued
For the first 20 or so years of my life, I understood salvation as one concrete idea: that Jesus died for my sin on the cross. Substitutionary Atonement is what we call it. Jesus took our place. He was our substitute and paid the price for our sins. But before too long, I discovered that…
Ashes and Lattes
In the middle of a public place, a busy coffee shop, surrounded by strangers… people got real. We hosted our first ashes to go in the community and while we didn’t have a large turnout, the conversations were deep and holy. I got to know my parishioners better. I heard what brings they joy and…
Love before Knowledge
There are two things I have come to hope for on Communion Sundays: Welch’s grape juice in the cup, and Hawaiian Sweet Bread on the table. And that’s for a couple of reasons: First, they both taste better than most other options available. Second, the Hawaiian Sweet Bread is the perfect combination of soft…
Them, Too!
When I was looking at seminaries, two of my top schools were in Chicago right across the street from one another in the Hyde Park neighborhood. My mom and I went to visit and we started to imagine what life would be like if I was there. My brother, Tony, was also attending school in…
In the Night
When I was in college, our chaplain encouraged us to go to this event called, “Exploration.” It was a conference for young people who felt like they were hearing a call to ministry – a place to explore what that meant for their lives. I don’t remember a single thing about the conference, except for…
Words and lyrics
Everyone is gone for the day. The church is quiet and still. And here I sit, pouring over the words in the hymnal and songbooks. Looking for just the right combination of joy and reflection. Of longing and praise. Of reality and possibility. Of the familiar and the uncomfortable. Sometimes I forget we also have…