Time to Expand?
Earlier this year Leadership Team (LT) began discussing the possibility of creating a new part time pastoral position. Several intersecting factors have prompted this discussion. A primary one is a desire to be proactive. LT sees a healthy and active congregational culture and has wondered if now is the time…
Marking Transitions
Last evening 11 of us sat in a circle of chairs at the front of the dimmed sanctuary. The Transitions group has met for the last two months and this was the closing ritual. Each person brought items that symbolize what is ending in their life and what is emerging. …
Mennonites and Organizing
Right after Sunday school I jumped into the car and headed down to Harrisonburg, Virginia, home of Eastern Mennonite Seminary. I made it just in time for the beginning of the conference “The Promise and Possibility of Anabaptist Organizing.” I was part of a panel of “Pastor Organizers” on Monday,…
Resistance and Rest
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the relationship between resistance and rest. Put another way, how does actively and openly confronting our cultural pathologies of greed, violence, and racism relate with things that restore our souls, things we enjoy for their own sake – time with friends, eating good…
Communing with the World
This coming Sunday we will be celebrating World Communion Sunday with faith communities around the world. This annual event is a chance to practice unity across denominational, political, social, and other boundaries that so often only serve to separate us. While this event focuses on promoting unity within the global…