The strange and frustrating thing about the lectionary – the three year cycle of readings that is used in many churches in the world – including ours… the strange and frustrating thing about the lectionary is that sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. Each week we have a reading from the Old Testament, the New…
FF: Touching Holiness
From Rev Gals: Yesterday I was privileged to join the thousands of pilgrims who had flocked to York Minster to see the casket containing the bones of St Therese of Lisieux. People came from miles around, some with deep faith came to venerate the Saint, others with none came out of curiosity. The Christians who…
what I love… part 1
1) I love having someone (or some cat) to cuddle with. My cat curled up under the covers with me and I felt so loved2) I love watching television and looking for the humanity and redemption in the characters.3) I love it when someone cooks for me4) I love eating dinner with friends/family around a…
seasons of change
Photo by Fred KuipersIt’s only sixty degrees outside – the coldest day of September so far. There is a bite to the air. The wind whips between the trees and the leaves that have started to turn are ripped off of their branches. Fall may have officially begun a week ago – but today is…
Can you be Christian outside the church?
Can you be a Christian outside of the church? Depending on how you hear that question, two different things might be arising to your mind. On one hand, Can someone who doesn’t come to church be a Christian? Can you be a Christian outside of the church? Or on the other hand, Can you and…
the limitations of congregations
The following is something that Taylor Burton-Edwards presented at our School For Ministry here in Iowa this spring, and I was reminded of it again through a series of posts about how we nurture disciples and can we do it in the church. What really strikes me is that we use the same words to describe a…
love list
Kristin T. over on Halfway to Normal has been talking a lot about love lists lately. a list that you make over time detailing the things you love most in life—the things that make you feel most content in the world, and most like you. She goes on to say that while this is very…
cold calls aren’t just for telemarketers
I had a good talk the other day with my CS (Conference Superintendent) about my hesitations around visiting. He was very surprised that I find it to be such a scary task because I appear to be so outgoing and extroverted. As he put it, he was morbidly curious to find out what was so…