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This past Sunday was Pentecost. It marks the transition of the liturgical year into Ordinary Time, which lasts all the way up to Advent. Pentecost marks the birth of the church, with the key story found in Acts 2. It’s the one where they were all together in one…
Justice Menno-style
Monday was a great BREAD Nehemiah Action, with green-shirt-clad CMCers joining 2,500+ folks from 40+ congregations around Franklin County, mixing some critical yeast with critical mass. There are many good things in motion, including the newest issue: safe, affordable housing for the 54,000 households in Franklin County who currently…
Conflict and curiosity
The church subscribes to a quarterly publication called Leader. We distribute copies to various folks in leadership positions. The theme of the most recent edition is Conflict. One of the essays is by Richard Blackburn, long time director of the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center. He notes that conflict is…
Adult selves
Recently I’ve been reading from a book by Cynthia Lindner titled Varieties of Gifts: Multiplicity and the Well-Lived Pastoral Life. She teaches at the University of Chicago Divinity School. It’s a book about pastoral ministry, but much of it applies to anyone attempting adulthood. One of the ideas I’ve…
Spiritual direction
I didn’t hear about spiritual direction until I went to seminary. There I heard about this unique kind of relationship one can form with a spiritual director, and what is meant by “direct.” Rather than being a therapeutic relationship or counseling, spiritual directors are trained at directing another’s attention toward…