One of our most important tasks coming out of the last 30 months is to be listening to children. In the recently released #PandemicPastoring Report, I wrote, “teenagers, children and adults everywhere suffered social isolation and profound stress.” The multiple…
Read More
For two months I have been saying daily that we need more space for lament and life-giving rituals as we transition into a new era of ministry. Today I offer three idea buckets to support you in our ongoing work…
Read More
This is clergy appreciation month, and we are here this week to help you thank a minister. Who needs thanking? A minister or pastor from your past who helped you to discern a call? Or perhaps your current minister –…
Read More
In Octobers past, I’ve written about Clergy Appreciation Month, and in 2022 we invite you to think about clergy appreciation for a new era. Because I surveyed an interviewed clergy between 2020 and 2022, I have a pretty good idea…
Read More
World Communion Sunday created an opportunity for reflection on theologies of communion and community in a new era of ministry. The following is a sermon I preached at Glendale Baptist Church on October 2, 2022. ++++++++ Philippians 4: 1-9 4:1…
Read More
The times we are living in remain profoundly challenging, so today we are launching a series on five things ministers need now. The world is somewhat deceptive for all its rush and efforts to get things “back to normal.” Yet…
Read More
Dear seminary student, Welcome to a new year of intense learning and preparation for the practice of ministry. Perhaps you’re feeling a little nervous? Or maybe it is old hat by now! Either way, I want to offer you a…
Read More
Music that carries you and me through our lives is worth noting. Songs, hymns, and everyday music can be a source of profound healing. Music connects us to our communities. It holds memories and engenders hope. It is a relational…
Read More
What will your invisible legacy be? Where have you given of yourself in a gracious, yet hidden way? When did you donate to an urgent cause, yet spoke of it to no one? How have you put in a good…
Read More
What do we know about #PandemicPastoring and women? How has it impacted clergywomen? How have lay leaders been crucial for keeping the church going? Since the declaration of a global pandemic in March of 2020, I continue to be in…
Read More
In the past nine days I attended two seminary graduations, three worship services where we blessed graduates, and one live-stream ordination. Each event gave me a sense of joy. Yet the joy was also rooted in something more complicated. Something…
Read More
Graduation Blessings take many forms. Big accomplishments receive most of the praise. Public words of blessing ring out for awards, achievements, and milestones. And this is right and good. And yet. Much of the substance of life is mostly not…
Read More
What does it mean to care with holy fierceness? Let’s begin with what we mean by holy fierceness. In Chapter 48 of Pastoral Imagination, I introduce this idea. I first heard the idea when interviewing cohort of divinity school graduates…
Read More
Perhaps you have been hearing about the concept of pastoral imagination for a while. We hope so! And maybe you are wondering: how would someone teach that? Today, let’s talk about teaching pastoral imagination, the concept, the book and the…
Read More
Today we want to offer you some Easter blessings and thanks. If you follow the Roman calendar, then you are now in Eastertide. It’s Easter Monday and that means it is time for laughing, jokes, putting your feet up for…
Read More
After a long trek through Lent, Holy Week is here, and we have a Labyrinth Guide for you. My hope is that helps you keep moving through this final week leading to Easter. More than 15 years ago, I created…
Read More
This week I want to share with you PART II of my interview with Rev. Dr. Angela Parker and her thoughts on freedom and liberation. In PART I of our conversation we talked about her new book, If God Can…
Read More
What are you reading this week, and have you considered how to read with your fully embodied and relational self? Lent is fully underway. And the world is watching an entirely unjust war unfold in Ukraine. Refugees are flooding out…
Read More
Have you figured out your Lenten practices yet? Lent is coming soon! This week in fact. Wait. What? Wasn’t Jesus just in diapers? Now we are sending him out alone? Into the wilderness to face wild beasts? Well actually. Jesus…
Read More
Picturing Pastoral Imagination Share a photo a day for Lent Show the world what pastoral imagination looks like in your life and ministry How do you picture pastoral imagination? This Lenten season we want to invite you to reflect on…
Read More
Amid the latest rash of book bans, now is a good time to remind everyone that you have permission to read a book. Any book, in fact. You can read what suits you and introduce your children to those books…
Read More
