28 of us were driving up the North Carolina coast in two large vans. I was a youth minister and Habitat for Humanity was moving our youth group from one work Habitat site to another. Our two vans stopped at a drawbridge that had been raised to let a boat through…we were in a line of … More The Things That Unite
Pastor Amy Starr Redwine, a pastor in Richmond, Virginia, tells a story about a class she took while a student at the seminary. The class was called: Confession and Forgiveness from a Pastoral Perspective. Pastor Redwine wrote that the class was incredibly popular, and the 45 slots filled up as soon as registration opened. On the first … More Drawn into Community
In my stack of summer sabbatical book reading, the next book on my list was “A Church Beyond Belief” by William Sachs and Michael Bos. Flipping the pages of the book, now that I’ve read it, I noticed that I have far fewer highlighted sections than I have in previous books. I think in this … More Sabbatical Reading: “A Church Beyond Belief”
So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 We live in a transactional world. We do things because we receive things. We go to work, so that we earn a living We loan someone money, expecting repayment … More What’s Right
This morning I finished the next in my series of sabbatical books to read. Beyond Church Walls: Cultivating a Culture of Care by Rick Rouse. Trinity has worked hard in the last couple of years to think about how we connect and serve within our community. We were working to connect individuals to serve at … More Beyond Church Walls
One of the books on my sabbatical reading list is “Not In It to Win it” by Andy Stanley. Stanley is the pastor of NorthPoint Church in Atlanta Georgia, a large mega-church with multiple campuses around the southeastern United States. Stanley is an author and hosts “The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast.” I am planning on … More “Not In It To Win It”
On Wednesday of this week, I had the opportunity to spend time and draw wisdom from two different ELCA congregations in the Los Angeles area. Both congregations were suggested to me as sites to visit because they are known for thinking creatively about how these churches connect with their community. Salem Lutheran Church in Glendale … More Meeting the Community Where It’s At
On Tuesday, our friend and colleague, Pastor Manuel Retamoza, took Lori and me to spend time at Chicano Park, in San Diego. Following World War II, the interstate freeway system was built, and I-5, running up and down the California coast, cut through a Latino neighborhood in San Diego. Homes and neighborhoods were destroyed. To … More Chicano Park
Have you ever experienced really, really, really amazing hospitality? The kind of hospitality where you knowdeep in your soul, that you are welcome? The kind of hospitality where you don’t have to worry about a thing. The kind of hospitality where you know that the person who is hosting you, cares about who you are, and is glad that you are … More A Place at the Table
Our community is built on trust. We trust that our neighbors are going to look out for us. We trust that when our light at the intersection turns green, the light for the cross-street will turn red. We trust that our educators have nothing but the best interest of our kids in mind. We trust … More Choose to Trust
Test Driving Theology 