I don’t know about you, but I have been particularly eager for Advent this year. It feels good to have the tree up and the lights lit and the holiday music playing in the background. This year I put together an Advent devotional for my church and will post the pieces each day on the…
Dear Ones, I am struggling to hold so many truths in the aftermath of yesterday’s elections. I hold the truth that no matter who has won and will win, we are still living together in this country and most of us will continue on with our lives in much the same way we have been…
How are you doing? Me? I’m fine. Thanks for asking. Just kidding. Of course I’m not “fine”. Who’s “fine” right now? I have hundreds of nightmare scenarios running through my head about what the new Supreme Court will do to our civil liberties and our democracy. I’m scared that there will not be a peaceful…
Hello, friends! It’s been a minute. (Many, many, minutes actually.) I have been writing over these past months, but haven’t gotten around to posting. So I decided to post links to the sermons I’ve written since my last post. Now that we’re (still) in the midst of a world-wide pandemic, I record and post video…
*This post is excerpted from a sermon on Acts 3:1-12a; 4:1-4. My friend, Jay Yoder, has been supporting Black organizers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and shared a video of what happened when they were filming police badge numbers: as Jay neared the end of the line of officers, one stepped forward and, with no warning…
God, we have questions. Answer us quickly. God, we are overwhelmed. Our spirits fail. Do not hide your face from us. But let us hear. Let us hear. Let us hear of your steadfast love. Let us trust. Let us trust in you. Let us learn. Teach us the way we should go. For to…
This prayer is by my fellow Mennonite pastor, Mark Schloneger. Much thanks for his permission to post it here. Creator of our first breath, Sustainer of our next breath, Redeemer of all deep breath, We remember those who are finding it hard to breathe. We remember those who have died, those who are suffering, and…
We’re all thinking a lot about our breath these days. About whether we’re breathing in COVID-19 virus particles—or, God forbid, unknowingly breathing them out. About where we breathe and how we breathe and whether we should cover our breath with a mask. We’re thinking about who is breathing in the space around us and about…
This is my final week of sabbatical, which means my time of (intense) virtual church visits is coming to an end soon. I’m excited to share with you some more cool things I’ve experienced in worship around the internet. This post is a bit longer than usual because I decided to go ahead and finish…
So far on my mini-May-sabbatical I’ve engaged with about twenty different church worship services: emailed services, live-streamed services, pre-recorded services, Zoom services. Lots of them have been Mennonite, but I’ve also hung out with some Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Disciples of Christ, and non-denominational folks. In my first post about this experience, I suggested some ways to…
