“So, Joanna, what do you do?” My comfort level with this question depends on the context. In this case, I was at a neighborhood get-together with several new neighbors I didn’t know very well. The 79-year-old man asking the question is active in a local conservative independent evangelical church. The 60ish-year-old man also listening in…
Lately, I’ve kinda felt like Jesus. Not Jesus when he was kind-hearted and compassionate–blessing the children and touching the lepers. Not Jesus when he was in the miracle groove–oozing healing power onto everyone who touched him or turning a few iffy fish into the best potluck meal ever. Not Jesus when he was impressing (and…
A few weeks ago I was a guest in a church. A church of kind-hearted, hospitable people, I’m sure. At some point, as is to be expected, my tiny bladder and I needed to use the bathroom. I did not use the main bathroom with stalls and fake flowers and smelly lotion. I used the…
I am grateful to Rachel Held Evans for taking up the topic of egalitarianism this week and instigating (inciting?) a synchroblog on various aspects of gender equality within a Christian context. I encourage you to go to Rachel’s blog and check out #mutuality2012 on twitter. Good stuff. As you might imagine, some of the stories…
Today is my first official day of sabbatical! I have four months to read and pray and write, to rejuvenate and refresh, to deepen my pastoral identity and hone my pastoral skills. And it all starts today! According to “The Plan,” I was supposed to be on retreat today and tomorrow. Then I looked at…
Last week I took a couple of sick days off of work. This may sound like sad news, but I was actually quite thrilled. Because in my five years of being a pastor, I’ve never been able to take an actual sick day. Sure, I’ve been sick. And my kids have been sick (though thankfully,…
I’m not preaching this Sunday morning. I had no committee meetings this week. No crises. Well, not major, time-consuming crises. And so, during this anomalous week of few pressing tasks, I had time to think. (Yes, Peace Mennonite folks should be getting worried right about now.) I’ve primarily been thinking about (and googling) adult spiritual…
This past Sunday during worship, a young mother stood up during announcement time. She said, “We came to church this morning with invitations to M’s birthday party. I told her to give them to her friends. I was thinking of the other kids, but she’s just been handing them out randomly to anyone. So if…
I just read a very good post on the perils of “children’s time” over at Carolyn’s wonderful blog, “Worshiping with Children.” Her post has inspired me to share a bit about how our church worked to include children in the Lent and Easter worship this year. Our Lenten theme this year was “Make Space for…
I love to plan worship services. I love to arrange for the participants, select the hymns, write the prayers, choose the readings . . . I love every part. And I want it all to be perfect. I had this problem even before I was a pastor. My wedding, for example. I didn’t spend much…
Spacious Faith 