Table talk amongst PC(USA) family members often devolves into a discussion about our differences. Yes, our churches and their members have different..
Letters levitate above any expanse of air — like this paper version of clouds: misted vision with you flying through. Gravity holds..
New seminary graduates serving their first calls often exclaim, “Seminary didn’t prepare me for this!” When I first entered ministry, my things-I-wasn’t-prepared-for..
Our world is covered in change. At present, it feels like the whole world is changing at once. If I am honest,..
Like many of my clergy colleagues, my “terms of call” (a very Presbyterian term that essentially means compensation package) sets aside two..
This image of my ancestors returns to mind now that I am a pastor hoping to connect men of all ages to..
Well, season two of “Ted Lasso” has ended, and those of us who are fans of the show are left to unpack..
On Saturday afternoons in fall, I can be found wearing my clerical collar and tartan kilt. For most Alma College football games..
As a new pastor, one of my first homebound Communion visits took me and a deacon to a long-term care facility. We..
Recently on my way home from work, my wife asked me to stop at the grocery store to pick up a few..
“Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything." —"The Wisdom of the Desert: Sayings from the Desert Fathers..
In 1729, French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor broached the question of safety and reliability in engineering projects. The result of his..
Seventeen high school students and their four counselors looked at me with some skepticism as they disembarked their yellow school bus into..
As the little girl peeked around the door of the Esquire Hotel, I recognized her. I hadn’t met her before, but I..
When he was younger, I sent my son on quick jaunts with his mini grocery cart down the supermarket aisles while I..
A history of confirmation In the early church, adult converts entered the catechumenate, a sometimes-three-year period of instruction. The culmination of this..
I spent January 1995 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with Uncle Jim, who was dying of AIDS. He was my mother’s younger..
I have a reputation among a certain crowd of students who have nicknamed me the “Condom Chaplain.” This name comes from the..
On Sundays, we always have a section of the worship entitled “Joys and Concerns and Prayers of the People.” It’s a time..
During my first day in the physical office of the Presbyterian Outlook in Richmond, Virginia, George Whipple assured me of his support...
As a hospice chaplain, I provide emotional and spiritual support to patients and loved ones as they approach an end-of-life event. We..
I grew up around campfires, whether I was tent camping with my family or staying at sleep-away camp. I love roasting marshmallows;..
It was September 2020. I had just ended a five-year stretch as a solo pastor, having ushered my small rural congregation through..
This was what I was trained for in seminary and clinical pastoral education, but I was young and inexperienced and my life..
My kids love the Disney movie “Moana.” Here’s my summary of the movie: Mother goddess Te Fiti’s heart is stolen causing the..
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