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The Tyranny of Big Church
Big Church, with its big budgets and big buildings and big membership rolls, is the gold standard of church. Big Church defines vitality and success. Big Church is the point of church growth. Big...
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The Rest of God
There are people in the pews whose presence is an act of resistance. They had to lift the weight of mental illness and the burdens of marginalization. They had to overcome physical pain and disability....
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Looking for a Scapegoat
A few years ago, my pastoral colleagues passed around a picture on social media of a person crying with the caption, “When I was a kid, I thought everyone in the church got along.” Identifying the...
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The Truth is Out There
“The X-Files” is back. If you missed it the first time around, the TV show aired from 1993-2002 and spawned two movies. It told the stories of FBI agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian...
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Death in the Digital Age
The death was announced on Facebook. The unexpected, shocking news spread like wildfire as one person after another shared the sad posting. Soon the grieving widower’s Facebook page was flooded with...
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How Bill Murray’s GroundHog Day Got Me Into Seminary
I owe my seminary education to Bill Murray and St. Augustine. Let me explain. I received a very generous fellowship due, in part, to the essay I wrote comparing Murray’s 1993 movie Groundhog Day to...
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What Lifting Weights Teaches Me About Being a Pastor
Earlier this fall a new YMCA opened up in my town. We joined, and before long I found myself migrating towards the free weights. I had done some strength training in college, and a little afterwards....
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How The Church is Different from Joe Camel
“Children are the future of the church.” If you’re a churchy type you’ve probably heard that. Maybe even said it. My own denomination, the United Church of Christ, which publishes this blog, used that...
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No Super Bowl for Me
For the first time ever, l am not watching the Super Bowl this Sunday. After a lifetime of being a football fan, I have lost interest in the game. Football no longer is a fun diversion for me. I began...
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Dialogue is Not Enough
February in the United States is a time for dialogue; a month is set aside to discuss the history of chattel slavery and the lived oppression of Black folk. This discussion often takes place in the...
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Worshipping Solo: Including the Unmarried in Our Pews
A new meme was posted on the UCC’s Facebook page recently. The image was beautiful—two brides on their wedding day. The photo itself reminded me of my pride in our denomination that supports the right...
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To Muck We Shall Return
As a community minister, part of the rhythm of my weeks is working at my friend’s goat farm on Wednesdays. These are my reflections as I worked on Ash Wednesday this week. I’m shoveling out a goat...
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Five Lessons from a Crappy Day
On Tuesday a co-worker had a heart attack. On Wednesday my mother, who lives halfway across the country, fell while leaving a funeral and hit her head. The ambulance ride and the staple in her skull...
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A Progressive Faith Is Not All About Issues
Before the Democrats in New Hampshire voted, the candidates argued about who was the most progressive. Bernie Sanders reminded his opponent that the root of the word is progress and Hillary Clinton...
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Good News and Bad Faith
“Up From Poverty” is the headline on the cover of the weekly Christian Science Monitor newsmagazine for February 8. In smaller print, “Almost unnoticed the world has made more progress on reducing...
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Scalia, The Bible & The Constitution: Only One of Them Is Dead
Recently departed Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia believed, “The only good Constitution is a dead Constitution.” For Scalia, the Constitution is static and should only be changed through the...
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What Happens in Church Stays in Church
You can’t go to Las Vegas without someone making this joke. I don’t care if you’re going on a zen retreat or a business conference, someone is gonna find out your travel plans and with a wink and a...
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Stop Dismissing the “Spiritual But Not Religious”
“Spiritual, but not religious.” The term has been around for a few years now. In fact, it’s risen to such prominence and is used by so many people that it now enjoys its own checkbox on religious...
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Welcoming Refugees of Faith
I walked past St. John’s UCC in Columbus, Ohio for months before venturing inside. The church was located behind my apartment building and I couldn’t get to the bus stop without passing its massive...
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Taking Pleasure in Lent: A Feminist Experiment
Lent is typically seen as a time for sacrifice, restraint—even deprivation, if you’re giving up something you normally rely on to get you through the day (hello coffee drinkers!). Sacrificing earthly...
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