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Midweek Blog: All the Feels

When I was getting ready for my sabbatical I had a list of books directly related to my topic (creativity and spirituality) that I was looking forward to diving into during those months away, but in the end it was a book that wasn’t on my original list that has stuck with me the longest. It was one that caught my eye while my husband and I were browsing a bookstore during our visit to NYC and which I instantly started to devour on our subway rides around the city.

I know I’m really late to the Brené Brown bandwagon, but there was just something about her book, Atlas of the Heart:...

First Nations Version, FNV

After seeing various verses cited in articles I’ve read, I recently purchased the First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. It was released in 2021, the work of a twelve-member translation council from diverse tribal heritages and geographical areas, led by Terry M. Wildman (Ojibwe, Yaqui), a minister in the United Methodist Church. Wildman had been doing his own ad hoc translations for years and would share the rewordings in his travels to Native-led churches across the...

A Time for Rekindling?

Warning: This blog post contains an extended metaphor

Two years ago we put a wood burning insert in our living room fireplace. One of the many satisfying experiences with this is putting on new logs (and maybe some newspaper) in the morning and having them catch fire from the heat still held in the coals from the previous evening.

There have been times in the last couple years when congregational life has felt like tending the coals, waiting for the morning to arrive when new fuel meets conserved heat and flares up for the new day.

I’m not exactly...

Ten years of organized goodness

This summer marks ten years Gwen Reiser has been lead administrator for CMC. She worked as a part time assistant the previous six years and held numerous volunteer leadership positions before that. During the last decade her title has changed from Office Administrator to Church Administrator, reflecting her increased role supporting Leadership Team and our commissions, as well as her supervisory role of several CMC staff.

As one who has been here a mere nine years, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside Gwen the whole time.

One of the things I greatly appreciate about...

Creative Faith and Uncertainty

Today's blog is from Ben Rudeen Kreider. It's the final week of his summer pastoral internship and he'll also be preaching this Sunday.

In a short seminary course on Black church traditions related to land, food, and racial agency, Rev. Dr. Heber Brown III shared a story. When he was a young pastor he thought he had to do everything for everyone. He came to realize what his congregation really wanted him to do was preach on Sunday and lead on a weekday Bible study. That left a lot of open space. So he began to experiment with community gardening and organizing with other...

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