I recently attended a Congregational Care Ministers Seminar at the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. One of the items included in the packet of materials we received was a Pastor’s Pocket Edition of The United Methodist Book of Worship to be used as a resource for prayer at the bedside, in a crisis… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Uncategorized
Religion and Happiness
I wouldn’t say that I’m a happy person. Am I joyful? Yes. Am I in awe of what God’s doing in the world? Certainly! Am I Lost in the wonderful mystery of God? Veritably so. Am I happy? No, I wouldn’t say that I am, at least not perpetually as the protagonists of REM’s “Shiny… Read more »
Prayers Connect Us: Rabbi Jana L. De Benedetti
Our prayer book is called a “siddur,” which you may recognize is close to the word “seder.” At a Passover seder our story and rituals always unfold in the same order. In a worship service or in daily rituals our prayers follow a specific order. A siddur includes mostly prayers for public situations: Sabbath, Holy… Read more »
Hospitality: Ellen Blue
Hospitality is on my mind these days. One reason is that my seminary will welcome Rev. Lorenza Andrade Smith to campus on April 17. Most of Lorenza’s life is focused on hospitality, though not so much in welcoming others as in giving others a chance to welcome her. An ordained elder in the Rio Grande… Read more »
Hospitality, the Trinity, and the TARDIS
Early in ministry I thought hospitality was a mastery of entertaining: making sure invitations were beautiful and informative, table settings were thematically appropriate, background music subconsciously audible, and gathering area open and spacious and full of greeters. I also prided myself on hospitality of the mind: entertaining an opposing idea. Superficially this seems to translate… Read more »
The Dead Walking: Rev. Valerie Robideaux
My husband and I are big fans of the AMC show, The Walking Dead. Well, let me correct this statement. Thrilled to learn of the new zombie apocalypse series, my husband urged me to view the horrific scenes and I somehow lost myself in the emotional angst of the drama. The series is set… Read more »
Get Over It! Rev. Mimi McDowell
My first job out of graduate school was as the neonatal/pediatric social worker for a large hospital. While I was leading a support group for parents who had lost a child, one mother reported that a psychiatrist had told her, “It has been six weeks. You should be over it by now.” Oh my!… Read more »
Keeping Holy: Rev. Joseph Awotwi
I chose the title Keeping Holy because as I thought more and more about this idea of keeping the Sabbath, a statement Lauren made gripped me. “In failing to live a Sabbath truly distinct from weekly time, I had violated a most basic command: to keep the Sabbath holy.” Would it be stretching it too… Read more »
Letting Your Soul Settle: Ellen Blue
Letting your soul settle Ellen Blue Ph.D. I tell the seminary students in every class I teach that their primary task as pastors is to stay sane in the pastorate. They laugh, but I’m quick to say, “I’m not kidding.” And those already serving churches attest that it isn’t an easy task. When one of… Read more »
Half-Ashed Worship
Several years ago while serving at the Duke University Chapel, the evening of Ash Wednesday was filled with electricity and excitement. Students had been lined up for hours. The student paper offered category-blurring commentary for weeks. Classes weren’t cancelled, per se, but only poor, unfortunate souls chose to spend their time in the library on… Read more »