December 20 — Joy to the world: Family faith formation @ home
Welcome Bring your family’s Advent wreath to the center of your gathering. Make sure you have matches or a lighter. One: ..
Latest Posts
O God, We Long for Better Days (hymn)
A new hymn for Advent-Christmas during the COVID-19 pandemic “O God, We Long for Better Days” is a new hymn for use before..
Always a Guest: Speaking of Faith Far from Home
Barbara Brown Taylor Westminster John Knox Press, 242 pages Reviewed by Anne H.K. Apple Serving as a pastor of a church in..
Expecting in the unexpected: Learning in darkness
When did we learn to be afraid of the dark? This is the question I’ve been pondering this week as we continue..
New PC(USA) Coordinating Table continues discussions of denominational structure amid concerns
How shall the denomination move forward with hard conversations about possible merger of top agencies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and about..
Yes, and — Christian education at home
There’s a concept in improvisational theatre referred to as “yes, and.” It goes something like this: When an actor in an improvised..
Regarding Ruling Elders: New worshipping communities
(OGA) A group of women gather within the walls of a state penitentiary to move through prayer stations, sing about hope, and..
A prayer of thanksgiving for the COVID-19 vaccines
Merciful God, hear our prayers for a world that continues to grapple with a relentless virus, and our gratitude for the light..
Shifting gears: RV life, RV ministry
Stephanie and Bryan Fritz, Colorado natives, were a bit ahead of the curve when they sold their home and belongings three years..
More US churches commit to racism-linked reparations
NEW YORK (AP) — The Episcopal Diocese of Texas acknowledges that its first bishop in 1859 was a slaveholder. An Episcopal church..
Battery-operated Christmas
Our congregation returned to limited in-person worship in October. One service takes place in the sanctuary and is broadcasted over Zoom,..
A Weary World: Reflections for a Blue Christmas
Lynne Clements reviews Kathy Escobar's book.
Order of worship — December 20, 2020
You are welcome to use this liturgy in your online worship services and distribute it to your congregation. It is free for..
We need a little Christmas, right this COVID-19 minute
In September I had an awful thought: Even if we are back in the church on Christmas Eve, we won’t be able..
From Judgment to Hope
Walter Brueggemann WJK, 115 pages Pastors and teachers looking for resources for a Christian education series will welcome this book. It is..
The least of these: The congregation who loved a stranger
Pretty much every Wednesday, James T. Burns calls his friends at Second Presbyterian Church in Portsmouth, Ohio, from jail. They’re the ones..
3rd Sunday of Advent — December 13, 2020
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11; Luke 1:46b-55 Advent 3B Isaiah 61 provides an inspiring vision for profoundly disorienting, destabilizing times — such as the..
The wait changes us
Guest commentary by Lee Ann M. Pomrenke Waiting is not wasting time. Or at least it does not need to be. When..
Do the next right thing
In a year of surpassing disruption, discord, dishonesty and disease, many good-hearted people have stepped up and done the next right thing...
Jesus and poverty
“For you will always have the poor with you.” The words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 26:11 have reverberated throughout the ages...
December 13 — Hope of Advent: Family faith formation @ home
Welcome Bring your family’s Advent wreath to the center of your gathering. Make sure you have matches or a lighter. One:..
Church pageants go virtual amid a COVID-19 Christmas
(RNS) — The New Testament’s Christmas story doesn’t say where Mary was exactly when the angel appeared to tell her about the..
Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath looks beyond statistics
LEXINGTON, Kentucky (PNS) — The statistics for gun violence jump off the page: 40,614 gun violence deaths in the United States this..
Expecting during the unexpected: A name next to ours
I’ve gotten into the strange habit of reading the first few pages of books at the bookstore downtown. I don’t read the..
Winter books
Right now, I am packing lots and lots of books as I prepare to move to North Carolina. The process should..
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