I feel that my meeting with the Leadership Commission went well on Friday. I was able to be heard and to listen. Each person from my congregation had a chance to speak as well. The commission began its discernment on Friday and will continue discussing my situation at their next meeting in February. I am…
This might fall into the category of “too much information,” but I will be wearing my pretty panties tomorrow. They are bright pink with black polka dots, a couple of cute bows, some lace. Tomorrow morning I will leave home at 6:15 and travel with five other people from my church to our conference headquarters—about…
This would probably be a good time to say that the views expressed in this blog are my personal views. They do not necessarily reflect the perspective of my congregation or denomination. (To put it mildly.)
In response to several high profile cases of suicide by teenagers who were—or were perceived to be—gay, advice columnist Dan Savage posted a video on YouTube that he made with his husband. They wanted gay teens to know that It Gets Better. Within a month, over 800 videos were posted by a wide range of…
You might say I’m a bit of a prayerbook junkie–a free-church pastor who loves deep liturgy. Also, I should add, an embarrassingly undisciplined person who needs all the help I can get when it comes to the spiritual essentials of daily prayer and Bible-reading. Just before Thanksgiving I received my pre-ordered copy of a new…
It’s probably bad form for a pastor to post her “first thoughts” about Sunday’s scripture passages on Thursday night. I know I should be well past the “first thoughts” stage by now . . . but it’s been one of those weeks. Here’s part of what we read this Sunday from Isaiah: “He will strike…
Awhile back I heard a piece on NPR about the Harry Potter Alliance. It’s a group of fans who come together around various philanthropic and social justice issues. They sent five cargo planes full of supplies to Haiti after the earthquake. They’ve campaigned on behalf of marriage equality and genocide prevention. They’ve stocked libraries in…
(with apologies–make that “thanks”–to Robert Fulghum) 1. Car trips go much faster if you take a nap. 2. Genetics has little to do with family; if you’re at the table, you’re in. 3. Even if someone’s politics and theology are completely screwed up, you still have to say “please” when you ask them to pass…
I was a creative writing major in college. I chose my major by going through the course catalog and circling all of the classes I wanted to take. (Emory & Henry is a small school.) Then I figured out which major I would end up with if I took them. And it wasn’t just about…
The New International Version is the Bible translation of choice for English-speaking evangelicals. So you might be surprised to learn that the 2002 “update” of the translation chose to use gender-neutral language for humanity. And you might not be surprised to learn that this proved to be a marketing disaster. The translation committee will not…
Spacious Faith 