The “faith of our fathers” offers a nice American ideal, but it also has become one of the key reasons adults fail to respond to the work of the Holy Spirit in their own lives. Those are likely startling words…
Empowering youth to speak when racism, discrimination loom
One of the lessons I learned this week is that most of our youth are way ahead of us adults on this stuff. They are aware of what’s going on, they are passionate about it, but they often haven’t felt empowered to speak.
Separating the weapons of truth from truthiness
There’s truth, and then there’s truthiness. At least that’s what we learned from Stephen Colbert in the days of yore when he came to us on TV via “The Colbert Report.” “Truthiness” is that kind of information that sounds like…
Painful lessons from a pastor’s viral transgender post
“Does God still love me?” That is one of the most painful questions I have been asked in the past two weeks after writing a commentary that went viral and made me a most unlikely spokesperson for the transgender community…
Seven things I’m learning about transgender persons
I don’t know much about transgender issues, but I’m trying to learn. How about you? How much do you really know about this subject beyond all the screaming headlines and concerns about who goes to the bathroom where? The truth…
What Prince did before he died — and 5 reasons it matters
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from the radio. It was so shocking that I wanted to pull the car to the side of the road to take it all in. This was not the news that Prince, the…
Are you a first responder?
“Do you consider yourself a first responder?” The question seemed odd at first, but it was sincere. The person who asked had not mistaken me for a firefighter or a police officer or a paramedic. Something different was meant. Not…
Face up to these five realities of church life today
Could we just get a few things straight about the state of the church in America today? There are some myths and misunderstandings floating around that seem plausible but upon further scrutiny just don’t hold up. Let’s name some of…
Church leadership lessons from Disney World
Sometimes as church leaders we run across ideas that, once heard, seem so self-evident that we wonder why we never thought of that before. One of those “aha!” moments appeared on a recent visit to Walt Disney World. Yes, there…
Addicted to fear
By Mark Wingfield Americans these days are addicted to fear. Fear, of course, is a natural emotional response that God has given us for good reason. It is fear that helps us not put a hand in the fire or…
When you stop coming to church
By Mark Wingfield As a pastor, I try not to take it personally when you stop coming to church. Most of the time, I understand that it’s not about me and that it’s not even about the church. It’s about…
Why I pray for Christmas miracles
By Mark Wingfield On most Christmas Eves, it becomes my opportunity to voice for our congregation a prayer at the candlelight services. And most years, I pray for Christmas miracles. Just in case you’re not savvy to these finer theological…