Elegy for a quiet man
A poem commemorating the life of President Jimmy Carter by Paul Hooker.
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Do away with blind readers for PC(USA) ordination exams
Looking at the Book of Order, Paul Hooker argues that the PC(USA) over-emphasizes written ordination exams. His solution? Localize and personalize the grading.
The Tree at the Edge of the World
A poem by Paul Hooker.
Hero worship
Guest commentary by Paul Hooker As I write these words, the news is coursing around the internet that Simone Biles, American gymnast..
Living in tension: Polarities in Presbyterian polity — Ordination and ministry
Ordination and ministry may seem like a strange tension — one not really “tense” at all. After all, isn’t “ministry” what those..
Living in tension: Polarities in Presbyterian polity — Orthodoxy and forbearance
Most of us who have lived through the ordination and sexuality wars of past decades know the phrase “mutual forbearance.” Fewer..
Living in tension: Polarities in Presbyterian polity — Unity and particularity
I teach polity at Austin Seminary, and I try to convey to my students two core truths. First, that the Book of..
Passing Things
A generation goes, a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. Ecclesiastes 1:4 The sun rises against its will would choose the..
Love in the Time of Corona
Raise the yellow flag that marks disease. This lonely ship will not soon come to rest in port of comforting communion, or..
Like the Son
Like the son who takes his share, and wanders from his place, so we your wandering children here would yearn to sing..
Doe
Susan Baller-Shepard Finishing Line Press, 102 pages Susan Baller-Shepard’s “Doe” is a striking poetry collection. I was captured by this slender (66..
Apophasis
Nothing happens in this room. That is why we come. Pews have ceased to creak beneath their burden. Elders summing up..
Joseph’s Bones
The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the portion of the land..
Blue-eyed Snake
What in the world is a blue-eyed snake? A sign that things are surely changing, that what is old is sloughing off,..
Drift
For the 2018 graduating class of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Three hundred fifty million years ago an urge so deep no tongue..
Inferno
Blood runs in the streets. Where shall we place the blame when blood is blood, and death is death? We descend into..
Woodwork
It’s about the blood — joining boards at angles, edges are negotiations, prone to pinch, and nails pierce like talking points, splinters..
Silence Falls – Advent hymn
A new hymn for Advent by Paul Hooker. Your hymn purchase includes downloads of a PDF of the lyrics scored with the..
A prayer before Advent (hymn)
This hymn is free for congregations to use to support recovery efforts for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria in Texas, Florida, and Puerto..
The thirty-two-foot principal
When called for, or at the organist’s discretion, at the end of lines, or when otherwise the melody pauses, as though gathering..
The Space Between
There is a space between one word and another, a gap that yawns between truth and truth, between hands reached out to..
Hard rain
The people of South Carolina October 2015 A hard rain on dry ground, grief in torrents whelms and washes away all..
At the font
poetry by Paul Hooker In memoriam, Rev. O. Floyd Hooker (1922–2014) We sat for ninety minutes in the room where he lay..
Some conclusions about ordination
Can you capture what it means to be a deacon, ruling elder, or teaching elder in a short article that would serve..