Live Free or Die

Live Free or Die

  There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28.   Black history is American history. As an African American, my faith is informed by my history....
A Presbytery Changing and Being Changed

A Presbytery Changing and Being Changed

Change. Experiment. Connect. Share. Tornado warning! These are the words that characterize the Presbytery Assembly that gathered at Elmhurst Presbyterian Church this week. We talked about the openness to change. Moderator Jim Davidovich preached an inspiring sermon on...
Lent as a Season of Change

Lent as a Season of Change

In the book The End of Theological Education: Theological Education Between the Times Ted Smith tells the story of Broadway United Methodist Church in Indianapolis. This is a church of experimentation and innovation. Pastor Mike Mathers and a group of lay leaders...
Lent as a Time for Questions

Lent as a Time for Questions

There have been many changes in the world and in theological education since 1995 when I completed my MDiv. The biggest conversation at that time was determining what words in the Bible Jesus actually said! We held our noses up to red letter Bibles and instead used...
An Invitation to Pause During Lent

An Invitation to Pause During Lent

I come from a Pentecostal tradition that believes in fasting during Lent. As Lib Caldwell writes in her book, Pause, “This practice of fasting helps some people to connect with Jesus’ life of sacrificial love and his invitation to follow him and do as he does,...
A Season of Beauty, Planting, and Scattering

A Season of Beauty, Planting, and Scattering

  The first line of the Brief Statement of Faith reads, “In life and in death we belong to God.” The church is going through an autumn season of its life. In his book, Let Your Life Speak, Parker Palmer talks about the seasons of life. He speaks of “autumn as a...