As I try to process my experience at the Future Church Summit in Orlando—and especially as I think about the events of the delegate session—scenes from my son’s teen years keep coming to mind. Our son, who has multiple mental health and developmental struggles, often expressed feelings that made no sense to me. If I…
Last week I participated in the Mennonite Church USA Future Church Summit. It was a structured conversation about who we want to be as Mennonites and what we hope for our church. Here is a summary of what I heard: “Jesus” this and “Jesus” that. Mennonites love Jesus. We want to follow Jesus. Everything else…
Call to Worship (based on Psalm 89 and Matthew 13:31-32): We sing of God’s steadfast love, And proclaim God’s faithfulness to all generations: The faithfulness that grows a seed into a great shrub; the faithfulness that welcomes birds of the air. The faithfulness that provides sturdy branches for the nests that are built. God’s faithfulness…
I’ve been told to come to the Mennonite Church USA Future Church Summit with a smile, ready to make new friends. And I will. I basically smile all the time anyway;that’s just how my face looks. Honestly, I have to try hard to not smile at inappropriate times like funerals or public scoldings. Also, I…
Father’s Day is coming up, and I’ve been thinking about the particular person who is the father of my particular children. I realize that many of you are not married to people who are dads—some of you are single, some of you do not have children, some of you are married to other moms. Still,…
I am a total sucker for those articles people sometimes post on Facebook about Meyers-Briggs types—the personality test. You know, “Where you should live based on your Myers-Briggs type” or “What famous person shares your type?” This week, a friend posted “The definition of hell for different Myers-Briggs types.” My friend shared this post to…
This call to worship is based on Jeremiah 1:4-10, with a touch of Psalm 71 thrown in for good measure. The word of God comes to us: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” The word of God comes to us: “I appointed you to speak my word.” We may believe we…
This is the time of year that I have a mild longing for my alternative life as a college professor. “No matter how obnoxious a student was, I always knew that I only had to put up with them for one semester. The church, though, doesn’t seem to work that way. The same people tend…
O.K. folks. I finally got tired of changing all the pronouns as we went through our morning prayer service every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So I’m putting together new morning prayer liturgies. (Which may sound like a lot of work, but mostly I just plagiarize the Bible.) You can find the liturgies on my new…
If you have done any kind of work for justice in this world, you have likely heard something along these lines: “Why are you always so critical? Can’t you see the [insert people in appropriate power position] are trying? Why don’t you give credit where credit it due?” “Sure, he committed ‘non-consensual vaginal intercourse,’ but…
Spacious Faith 