This is a sermon I preached in 2007 for the Baptism of Our Lord which is next Sunday. I happen to be preaching next Sunday. No, I won't be using this sermon. “No Do Overs” Isaiah 43:1-7, Luke 3:15-22 January 7, 2007 (Baptism of Our Lord) Community of Grace Christian Church* Minneapolis, MN Did you... Continue Reading →
On Getting With the Program
Since I work for the Presbyterians, I spent some time this summer watching the live feed from the 220th General Assembly in Pittsburgh. On the penultimate day of the Assembly there was discussion on allowing ministers to be able to marry same-sex couples. It was not a surprise to see conservatives quoting scripture. In fact,... Continue Reading →
About That Interview…
Some of you might have noticed that there is an article in the most recent Christian Century with a Disciples pastor in Minneapolis by the name of Dennis Sanders. I haven't said much about it, but I wanted to provide some background to the article. Steve Thorngate, the editor sent me an email over the... Continue Reading →
I Miss the Old Mel White
I recently read an interview with Rev. Mel White. Most of you know him as someone who grew up as an evangelical, was a ghostwriter for many big evangelical stars and then came out as gay. I remember hearing about him in the mid-to-late 90s and back then he was kind of the SpongeBob Squarepants... Continue Reading →
We Can’t Be Friends
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 were somehow able to worship together, along side a healthy dose of members from Latin America and Asia.The church decided at some... Continue Reading →
Repost: Gay, Emergent and Missional
From 2007.... In starting to make my way around the Emergent and Missional circles, I've started to notice two things especially about the Emergent movement: It tends to be really, really white. There is not a lot of talk on being gay. I will get back to topic number one another time, but I wanted... Continue Reading →
Can We Just Be Church?
The writer of this blog post is writing from a Methodist perspective as well as from a local viewpoint, but I think there are a lot of people who feel this way: Generally speaking, there is a perception in Springfield that there are only two options in choosing churches. The first I will call “evangelical.”... Continue Reading →
The Clockwork Pastor 