By Starlette McNeill Rainer Maria Rilke, the Austrian-German poet and novelist, said of his work Stories of God that he was “busied with transferring God from the sphere of rumor into the realm of direct and daily experiencing.” His words…
Love already won
My grandmother, Eva Mae Thomas, was my first catechizer and theologian. At the age of 12, she put a pen and notepad in my hand and asked me to “write down all the Scriptures that the preacher says.” There were…
Larger than the Church
By Starlette McNeill “If you are without a church home, then we invite you to come forward at this time.” This is the invitation that is extended in most, if not all, congregations after the delivery of the sermon. Having…
Preaching like a girl
By Starlette McNeill “You hit like a girl. “ “You throw like a girl.” Once upon a time, someone decided that being a girl meant lacking strength and ability. Sure, there are implied and direct references to the gullibility and…
Losing Sunday
By Starlette McNeill I have served as an associate minister at a handfull of churches in the District of Columbia. All were unpaid and offered too few opportunities for mentoring, leadership development, preaching and the ecclesiastical practice of one’s gifts…
MACBF’s ‘net’ widens to include a full- time coordinator
By Starlette McNeill Members of the Mid-Atlantic Cooperative Baptist Fellowship gathered at Seven Locks Baptist Church in Potomac, Md., for a meeting with Suzii Paynter, the executive coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. It began like any other meeting —…
The busybody of Christ
By Starlette McNeill So, it appears that I have slipped into a series and that this is now one of three parts on the body of Christ. I assure you that this reality was not planned. Maybe I should call…
Christ’s body camera
By Starlette McNeill The season of Lent is over, but I am still thinking about Christ’s body. In last month’s column, I considered “Christ’s Body image” and thanks to a 24-hour news cycle and minute-by-minute social media updates, we are…
Christ’s body image
By Starlette McNeill For the past three years, I have led a young adult women’s group. It is comprised of 18 to 35 year olds, that mysterious group and magical age range that we know exists but can’t seem to…