Challenge. Question. Conflict. Change. How do you practice ministry in a no-win situation? Last week I talked with more than two dozen pastors, ministers, and chaplains. I also talked with ministry mentors and my seminary colleagues. And in my weekly…
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“Patience!” ~Yoda When Luke Skywalker arrives on the stormy, swampy planet Dagobah in search of Yoda, he is impatient. In fact he has no patience at all. He does not know what or who he is seeing. Instead he exudes…
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The following homily was offered on June 23 as part of an action to “Stop Jailing Families” which called on Nashville Mayor Briley and Sheriff Hall to untangle their relationship with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and stop detaining immigrants,…
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The Body Remembers The grass was warm and dry under my bare feet. The labyrinth brought back the familiar feeling of rushing to the center, and long pausing at the middle, and dragging my feet with a desire to stretch…
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Go! Go! Gooooo! Sometimes the main thing holding us back from getting our writing done is simple inaction. We just need to go! Sit down. Open the document and go! We know what needs doing and simply need to do it.…
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Desk A clean desk invites fresh writing. And it can be a ritual or signal that it is the right time and place to write. Recently I visited a man who has started numerous Montessori schools. If he said to me…
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Festival of Young Women PreachersApril 7, 2016 | Eden Seminary | St. Louis, Missouri A Blessing for the Preachers Bless these hands as they handle sacred Scripture, and sacred stories, and sacred moments of the preaching and pastoral life. Bless…
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Sermon Checklist Planning a sermon has a lot of moving parts. Especially for beginners, when you get caught up in the sermon itself, it’s easy to forget logistical details. Here’s a checklist that may help, so you don’t find yourself tripping into the…
Read MorePrayers for #Ferguson – Tuesday Yesterday I posted a sweet message about my child’s back-to-school day. Today I’m posting a prayer for the children of #Ferguson who were scheduled to begin classes today, August 19, 2014. Schools will remain closed this…
Read MoreDeep Peace This prayer has wound its way in and through my life for at least 15 years now. I saw it in print, prayed it in a steady breath prayer, and offered it as a blessing many times before I…
Read MoreLate Summer Six-Word Stories We’ve just turned the corner from summer to autumn. Before the warm days slip away entirely, I want to share a few late summer six-word stories.* Most are from trips in September. The first three were…
Read MoreAn Open Letter Seeking Support for Equity for Women in the Church September 17, 2013 Dear Friends, I’m just returning from a great trip to England and Scotland. My purpose for the trip was to present a paper about the…
Read MoreOpposing War 9/4/2013 I just sent this letter to my representatives. ++++++++++ Dear Rep. Cooper and Sen. Alexander: Please accept my urging that you oppose U.S. military action against Syria. While allegations of chemical weapons attacks are extremely serious, the…
Read MorePracticing Resurrection II This picture is part of a series of six-word stories that capture Wendell Berry’s provocative idea of “practicing resurrection.” In late April the pathway around a lake near my house flooded. The walkway and surrounding fields were…
Read MorePracticing Resurrection I During Ordinary Time this summer, my congregation is taking a point of departure from Wendell Berry and crafting worship around “practicing resurrection.” We are looking to the created world to see what speaks to us of God’s…
Read MoreSupermoon Tonight’s moonrise over Nashville was impressive. A few times a year the moon is closer to the earth when it reaches full, and actually appears larger that usual. A supermoon. Tonight is one of those nights. My telephoto lens…
Read MoreAbstract: As the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention exerts enormous political influence, especially in the South. For the past three decades the nature and role of women have been bitterly contested in the denomination. Despite prevailing religious conservatism, feminism has been a significant dynamic in Baptist battles and has influenced even conservative rhetoric about women.
Read MoreMany motivations led me to this short remembrance of Nell Magee. She was a salty saint, with a sharp tongue and a sharp wit. She never shied away from conflict, nor was she afraid to admit when she was wrong. She is the kind of person I want my daughter and the next generation of Christ followers to know and to esteem.
Read MoreA Turn to Lived Experience
The study, practice, and knowledge of big ideas in psychology and religion are shifting and changing in the twenty-first century. One of the most substantial changes is that deep thinking about big ideas demands an engagement with the lived experience of real people and situations.
The number of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship churches currently pastored by women?
Five Percent.
Eighteen hundred churches. Ninety women.
You do the math.
This is good news. But somehow laying out the starkness of that figure . . . well, it doesn’t exactly add up to great news.
