For the last three days, I have been a part of the MEI Grant program in Decatur, GA. As we have talked about the financial burden of young clergy, the changing dynamics of the economy, and the outlook for the role of the church and the minister on the future, I have been overwhelmed with …
Burning Low
As we gathered together yesterday for our BWIM SC Vespers service and to celebrate CBF SC General Assembly, I wondered if the other ministers gathered were burning low. Advent and Lent were very close together this year. Easter was early and it was one of the worst flu seasons in years. My colleagues were visiting …
Spiritual Abuse and Hidden Lives
When I heard about the resignation the president and Chief Executive of the SBC’s Executive Committee, my atenea went up. Even before the story of the “inappropriate relationship” came out, I wondered if there was another story, a hidden story, that hadn’t been shared before. Many would claim that the #metoo movement has been a …
Whispers of the Divine
Have you ever been in a meeting talking about someone only to have them walk into the same place where you are sitting? Have you watched a rose bush bloom for the first time this season just as Holy Week? Have you walked into a store and heard one of your favorite songs just beginning? …
Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit
Holy Week has always reminded me of the best and the worst that resides within me. To walk this road is to walk through the agony of realizing all the ways we could be better to each other and all the ways we could use our talents to cause good. But like the disciples, the …
Robing Up
I didn’t grow up in a baptist tradition where the ministers robed. I knew it was a part of other faith traditions. I knew there was a rich history of why clergy robed and that it was a way to distinguish the person as a person who was not only trustworthy, but also a servant …
Spiritual Abuse and Justification
The question of how prominent evangelical leaders can continue to support a president whose morality and ethics are questionable is perplexing. How can the same people who questioned Obama’s religious beliefs and berated Clinton’s infidelity defend and justify our current president again and again? Loyalty to Trump has involved progressively more difficult, self-abasing demands. And …
Accidental Resurrection
Three years ago during the Lenten Season, I felt such strong compassion for a bush in our yard that was being strangled by weeds. I could tell the weeds had so entangled this bush that the weed was literally taking the life from the bush. There were no blooms on the bush, but only dead …
Ashes to Ashes
Last week was full to the brim with responsibilities from all the different things I do for “work”: pastor, freelance writer, publisher, and part-time employee at Lutheran Seminary. It doesn’t usually happen like this. Usually the different vocations don’t collide into each other, but this week they did. Thankfully, I had help from my incredible …
Spiritual Abuse and Asking for Help
The people and stories I encounter in my ministry are not always easy ones to hear. They are weighty with pain and hurt. In these stories, there is almost always a point at which the person reached out to a religious leader asking for help and guidance. A woman whose husband was physically abusing her …