Musings on Faith, Culture and ADHD
The 2014 Yearbook of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) came out this week and I guess the numbers aren't good at all. Two Disciples, Beau Underwood and Derek Penwell gave what I thought were some of the best takes on mainline decline: honest and hopeful. Things aren't great in our small family, but we... Continue Reading →
It's coming up to a year since I've been at First Christian of St. Paul which is in Mahtomedi, MN. One of the things that was kind of hammered home to me in seminary is to learn to do ministry in a certain context. And with this call, context matters, at least to me. I've... Continue Reading →
God knows there are weeds in the world. Not only in the big actions taking place in our world, but the weeds that grow up around each and everyone of us. But we shouldn’t fear the weeds. We shouldn’t think it is up to us to get rid of the weeds. God has a plan.
This is the sermon I wrote for this Sunday back in 2008. “Better Churches and Gardens” Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 July 13, 2008 Lake Harriet Christian Church Minneapolis, MN Last Thursday night, I decided to do something that I haven’t done in a long, long time. Long before I could drive. Long before I graduated from... Continue Reading →
My wife Jan and I have been members of First Christian Church of St. Paul for nearly 20 years. We love the congregational focus. We particularly embrace the dedication to the principles of wholeness and inclusiveness of the Disciples of Christ, that welcome everyone to the Communion Table with no exceptions. We have recently rededicated... Continue Reading →
Along the lines of missing DisciplesWorld, I also miss DOCDISC. DOCDISC is the email group for Disciples. I remember joining it in the late 90s and it was always an engaging medium to talk about issues both worldwide and within the denomination. These days, only one person makes email posts, a poet that see this... Continue Reading →
It's been four years since the magazine for my denomination shut down. DisciplesWorld was an effort to create an independent magazine that would replace The Disciple, the in-house magazine which shut down in 2002. For seven years, DisciplesWorld did a valiant effort in trying to tell the story of our denomination. One of the best... Continue Reading →
The following is something I wrote on the First Christian website. As some of you know, First-St. Paul is down to a few faithful members. We are starting to venture forth into the community, but it would by helpful if we had a few more people. Share this with your friends. To contact me, go... Continue Reading →
One of the things that any pastor of a congregation has to do is visit people where they live. First Christian has a number of folks who are either in nursing homes or assisted living. Some pastors love visiting with people. A number of congregations have what are called Visitation Pastors. These are usually retired... Continue Reading →
It's been a bittersweet time for me. On the one hand, I am excited of being pastor at First Christian. There are a lot of challenges; the church is down a faithful few and we are starting to find ways to grow numerically and spiritually as well. Most churches that are down to a handful... Continue Reading →
The Clockwork Pastor 