Several people have contacted me asking for more details about the family-friendly Ash Wednesday service we did a few years back. This year I revised the service to go along with the wonderful “Lenten Practices Calendar for Families” that Traci Marie Smith has made available. Ash Wednesday Family Worship Station 1: Introduction Open with prayer.…
I’ve posted this before, and I offer it again. At our house we worship together before the present-opening begins. (You will note that it is a short service.) May you know the deep peace of Christ during this holy season. – – – – – Scripture: from Isaiah 9 The people who walked in darkness…
If you know me, my church, or my blog well at all, you know that I support gay rights. I think God supports gay rights. I think the sacredness of marriage is about mutual love, commitment, and respect. Period. And if you have had the opportunity (or misfortune?) to talk with me about “the issue”…
I recently saw an article about artist Brent Christensen and the amazing ice sculptures that he creates. Sparkling walls of ice, up to twenty-five feet tall–the sculptures are beautiful. But it wasn’t the sculptures themselves that most impressed me. It was this little bit of information from the beginning of the article: “The hobby first…
(So my creative Monday post is showing up on Tuesday this week due to general laziness and technical difficulties.) As part of my rule of life, we’ve started having family prayer time several evenings a week. I have a prayer bead bracelet that I made a few months ago, and my children have been intrigued…
My 7-year-old, Grace, wants to join me in 30 days of creativity. Today she finished this house she was making for her little bitty stuffed dog. Inside you will see a bed, a table and chairs, a bathroom with a towel, a pantry and a sink. That lucky little dog!
There is a phrase parents sometimes use. When I hear it, I feel a small, uneasy twinge in the pit of my stomach. The phrase is floating around out there, so I’m sure you’ve heard it too. You may even have used it before. (Respectful comments welcome below.) One particular memory I have of this…
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 know it’s not Wednesday, but I figured that would be a little late to post this particular “Worship Piece.” For the first time this year our church will have two services on Ash Wednesday. We will have the contemplative service at 7:30 (posted here), and a child-friendly service at 6:30. I wanted to post…
Spacious Faith 