One of my sabbatical projects is to develop a Rule of Life—a set of principles and practices that will guide me, that will under-gird the busyness of life with a holy rhythm and a focus on Christ. You won’t be surprised to know that I’ve also been spending significant time these past weeks reading, writing,…
Lots of people disagree with my biblical interpretation regarding homosexuality (among other things). As a pastor who has officiated a wedding for two women, I’ve had the biblical conversation many times. I told my husband this morning that I could exegete those “gay” passages in my sleep. But beyond the question of biblical interpretation, another…
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…
Here is my humble offering for this weekend’s Memorial Day observance. You might recognize a passage from Isaiah 2:4-5 towards the end of the prayer. I have not formatted this as a responsive reading, but that could be easily done. Blessings to you in your life and worship this week. (If you are looking for…
I will admit that I was a bit skeptical going into the Mennonite Women’s retreat this past Friday evening. In my experience, women’s retreats are kind of like that little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. You remember the rhyme? When she was good, she was very very…
To summarize many stressful months as succinctly as possible: I officiated a same-sex wedding; the Leadership Commission of Western District Conference (Mennonite Church USA) found my ordination credentials in order; some people are not happy about this. So, to those who are deeply troubled by my action and by the Commission’s decision: I understand that…
The e-mail finally came last Friday afternoon. It cam to me from the Leadership Commission, and it came to all pastors in Western District Conference from the Executive board. It was the official rationale of why the commission decided to let my credentials remain in order after I officiated a same-sex wedding. It also contains…
I know some of you are interested in the status of my ministerial credentials. They have been under review by my conference’s Leadership Commission because I officiated a wedding for two women. (You can read some of the background here and here.) I received a phone call this afternoon from the Commission chair, and he…
(To be sung to the tune of . . . Oh, you can figure it out.) I’m dreaming of a Mennonite Christmas, the kind that all the righteous know, where gifts are handmade or maybe fair trade, and wrapped with last year’s bags and bows. I’m dreaming of a Mennonite Christmas, with every Christmas card…
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…
Spacious Faith 