No one has risen to fame and garnered more respect, attention, hatred, followership and love than Pope Francis (with the possible exception of Lady Gaga). He’s been on the cover of Time Magazine and Rolling Stone. He’s re-authoring the public’s…
I’m a Christian minister
“Well it was nice to meet you, but I’ve go to go. Maybe I’ll see you around.” That’s what he said after we’d been talking for almost 15 minutes. Who knows, we could’ve become pretty good friends, but he had…
Birthday offerings
What is your earliest memory of giving or receiving? That was the first of a set of prompts given to a small discussion group this week at a class I attended on religious fundraising. My mind immediately pictured a small…
Learning from experience
According to the story, a young person asked an older, wiser person, “How do I avoid mistakes?” The mentor said, “Get experience.” The young person rejoined, “Then how do I get experience?” The reply: “Make mistakes.” Of course, this assumes…
Does God promise you a spouse?
As couples begin to plan for summer weddings, I’m starting to receive “save the date” reminders. I received one and started thinking back to my youth. I grew up going to southern Baptist youth camps where preachers would proclaim that God…
Finding our way home
Two seemingly unrelated stories recently captured my attention. One came my way while on an afternoon date with my wife. The other arrived the same night, as I sat down and read a book written by a long-term friend. By…
What Battlestar Galactica taught me about faith
For the past two weeks, my wife and I have been on maternity leave. To help pass the time, we signed up for a free, one-month subscription to Netflix and started watching (of all things) Battlestar Galactica. If you were…
My Christmas Eve epiphany
I have been driven to a startling conclusion: the God who burns with compassion for the outcast is our salvation. That simple message fueled the ministry of Jesus. Jesus’ solidarity with the poor wasn’t stressed much in the churches I…
The gift of uncertainty
I’m kind of a sucker for New Year’s. I love the idea that there is, built into our calendar, an annual “reset.” Even if I’ve had a pretty good year the year before, I always enjoy the idea of setting…
The niche word
Current wisdom for many professions is to find a niche market and focus. You can’t just write about travel. You have to write about gay travel or traveling as a handicapped person or travel in the Florida Keys or travel…
A pioneering spirit
The church in America was built by men (and some women) who were itinerant preachers. Some followed the example of John Wesley and were circuit riders, traveling from church to church or gathering to gathering on horseback or foot to…
Oh yeah, I’m a woman pastor
When you are in a community of faith in which you are supported and affirmed as woman pastor, it is easy to forget that the concept of a woman as the pastor of a church is foreign and unusual to…