By Laura-Lee Kidwell Jones As a hospice chaplain, I am regularly asked, “Why do you visit with Alzheimer’s patients?” My standard answer includes, “Because perhaps they will know that someone is there and they will, possibly, for even a moment…
A lavish welcome to the table
By Amy Butler I’ve always been a little sensitive about being left out, and I don’t even need a therapy session to tell you why. When I was a little kid we would visit my grandparents every summer, and during…
Tasting the Kingdom
Weekly communion heals, unites N.C. church and community
By Jeff Brumley It was back around 2008, during a monthly Friday Lenten service at First Baptist Church on Highland Avenue in Winston-Salem, N.C., that Pastor Darryl Aaron made an unsettling observation. “The economy was real bad, tilting into the…
World Communion Sunday leads across the divide
By Terry Maples Last Sunday, I worshipped at Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) where my wife, Joan, serves as minister of music. All worship elements focused on and celebrated World Communion Sunday. Music included Love in Any Language, He’s…
At the Table of Christ
Two rituals, sacraments or ordinances lie near the heart of the faith: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism marks the start of one’s journey with Christ and one’s welcome into the great family of Christ followers. The Lord’s Supper reconnects…
Historian seeks return to communion wine
By Jeff Brumley Jason Coker says most members of his Connecticut Baptist church are social drinkers in a culture where alcohol consumption is expected. “I tell interns who come up here if you are in a social setting and you…
Election day communion
With the Presidential debates well over, millions of people are heading to the polls. One of the key voting blocks will have an opportunity to make their vote a spiritual act. My church, The First Baptist Church of Ballston Spa,…
Rachel’s coat
When I lived in NYC I worked at an Episcopal church overseeing their programs for the homeless – an overnight shelter, a lunch program, a food pantry. One day, Tom, the rector, came to talk to me. I could see a…