Musings on Faith, Culture and ADHD
I've been noticing something. A mainline church either moves out of its current location or closes. Soon there after, an evangelical church or an immigrant church buys up the property. Here's the interesting thing: the mainline churches moves out because the community is no longer sustainable or the building is too much for a shrinking... Continue Reading →
I stumbled on this blog post about the renewal of United Theological Seminary in Ohio. The school now has 600 students but only a few years ago it had only 130. Some think their addition of distance learning has made the difference, but Jason Vickers, a professor at the Methodist seminary says the real difference... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago, I sat down for a beer with a fellow pastor. Actually, I had hard cider- he had the beer. The pastor is theologically conservative and sees me- a gay pastor with an orthodox theology as a bit of an enigma. We had a very good discussion talking about church and life... Continue Reading →
The government shutdown is frustrating on many levels. I do think the House Republicans are silly in their demands that the President would simply cave and let signature program of his tenure be dismantled (and I say that as someone that has issues with the Affordable Care Act). But as much as the House GOP... Continue Reading →
So, I haven't really shared the news: I am now the solo pastor of a church. First Christian is small congregation located in Mahtomedi, a suburb of St. Paul. The church was in St. Paul until the mid-90s when it sold its old building and moved to Mahtomedi. Their former pastor was there for about... Continue Reading →
I wrote this post back in 2006. A lot has changed since this post was written. Sadly, how Progressive Christians view church planting isn't one of them. I sometimes wonder if mainline Protestant churches really have a passion for new churches. I won't go into the nitty gritty of the situation with Community of... Continue Reading →
The longer I walk in church circles, the more I find pastors who are allergic to a certain turn of phrase: Bivocational clergy. The mere mention of this option curdles the face of most pastors I've known and read. It's certainly viewed in a less favorable light than full-time ministry. People look at you funny... Continue Reading →
Just a bit of a warning here: I'm about to go all "get off my lawn" in this post. I guess at 43 I do earn the right to be the cranky middle aged guy. What's getting stuck in my craw lately is the perceived lack of enthusiasm for the continuance of the mainline/progressive/liberal church. ... Continue Reading →
The positive Mel White of old the "SpongeBob Squarepants of the gay community" is long gone. What's left is a man that's pretty pissed off at the church and when I say church, I mean the whole church.
First off, welcome to all the new visitors who saw my post on Freshly Pressed. Below is a post from last year. It was about 20 years ago, that I attended a large Baptist church in Washington, DC. The church was an odd mix, or at least it would be odd today. Evangelicals and liberals... Continue Reading →
The Clockwork Pastor 