In the summer of 2016, I was serving on staff at a large United Methodist Church in downtown Raleigh, N.C., while attending Duke University Divinity School. One day I walked into the senior pastor’s office to speak to him on…
No room in the inn: The story revisited
In July 2021, when we adopted our daughters, I left my pastorate to focus on their transition into our family. I took a job that following August as a night auditor at the local Hilton property. This has been a…
What Kenobi has taught me about God
Spoiler alert: This article includes important plot information about the new series Kenobi. I’ve always considered myself a pop culture theologian. Since my earliest writings for my hometown newspaper, I would take the recent blockbuster film and compare it to…
This Christmas, don’t be so hard on the innkeeper
Although Luke’s Gospel does not mention the innkeeper in Luke 2, the notion that Joseph and Mary are turned away from the inn implies that someone did the turning away — and that person goes down as the reason the…
How our family is celebrating Christmas in July
Christmas is a mere six months away. Many churches, like my first church in West Jefferson, N.C., where I was an associate pastor, have Christmas in July celebrations and festivities that often coincide with the community’s own festival to prepare…
The pastor as chief encourager
Clergy have been called many things through the ages. We are the “chief among sinners,” after all. In some ways my own ordained ministry has been guided by the wisdom of my graduate advisor at Duke Divinity School, Bishop Will…
Toward a deeper understanding of Baptist ordination
The first thing I learned walking into a job at a Baptist church in West Jefferson, North Carolina was that the frontier of freedom in the Church is found in Baptist life. I was raised United Methodist and pursued ordination…
What ‘Wagon Wheel’ taught me about the kingdom of God
This past Monday, I went to a Memorial Day concert at Pisgah Brewery in Black Mountain. Old Crow Medicine Show, an old time bluegrass band was playing, and I accompanied my friend Natalie who happens to be one of their…
How pastors should act during election season
Recently a certain candidate for the office of president announced her campaign and plans to attain our nation’s highest office. Immediately after her announcement via social media there was a flurry of responses and reactions. Naturally, being a minister, I…