This Sunday is Homecoming Sunday. Our Jazz Sunday will welcome Katherine and Kompanie, the jazz trio of Katherine Hedlund at the Bosendorfer piano, Nick Trautman on bass, and Willie Bruno on drums. A picnic will then spread out upon our lawn with fried chicken and macaroni and cheese. We hope you plan to be with […]
YES, HON, YOU COULD GROW UP TO BE A…
Of course, we utter words like above to our children about becoming a professor, a doctor, or a pilot. Why do we never say it about becoming a pastor? I wonder. This matters more than we think. With two other pastors, I am helping a 2,400-member Florida UCC church seeking a new senior pastor. Even […]
CLINGING TO THE ROCK OF OUR SALVATION
We’ve traveled many and various directions this summer seeking the rest, renewal and repose of vacation. Has anyone recently visited New Mexico? It is one of my favorite states, especially northern New Mexico where my seminary classmate, the Rev. Talitha Arnold, is at the United Church of Santa Fe. Her words made an impression on […]
WHITE SUPREMACY AND MASS KILLINGS
Our nation is in crisis. In the first 219 days of this year, we’ve had 255 mass killings. In the wake of the 9/11 international terrorism crisis, we didn’t say, “Hey, there’s nothing we can do about this. We must resign ourselves to accept getting bombed.” No, we launched new preparedness. And as a result […]
TRUTHINESS
As far back as the 1950s, tobacco companies knew full well that research had linked their products to diseases which sickened and killed their customers. What was the industry response? Deny and discredit real science. Peddle alternative facts. Undermine the findings and reassure the public their products were safe. I still remember the ads for […]
SUMMER SABBATH REST
When we hear the word Sabbath, it is not just about Sunday. Sabbat(ical) is not just about what clergy or professors do for a few months after years of service. It is about who God is and what God did. Remember, after six days of creation, on the seventh day, God rested. Genesis describes the […]