Part of being a minister is to bear people’s burdens and to walk beside them as they walk through life. And that burden can be a lot to bear, especially if you consider the number of people that a minister ministers to, but there is something absolutely mysterious about being invited to be there for …
On Being Asked to Be There for the Important Moments Read More »
My week this week has involved a couple of different hospital systems. Each time I find myself wandering aimlessly in the hospital halls, I inevitably run into hospital staff and doctors all of whom are extremely helpful. None of the people I encounter in the hospital doubt or question whether I am minister (although I …
I’ve recently gotten brave enough to ask some of my female baptist minister colleagues, who have been ministers much longer than I have, what the norm is for salaries and benefits and overall packages for female baptist ministers. Notice I said female baptist ministers, not baptist ministers because unfortunately the norms are not the same. …
I felt bad rousing her sweet, sleepy self this early on Saturday, but we had a Missions Day. We had to pick up the breakfast and deliver it to both missions locations. I promised they would get a donut on the way, hoping that these wouldn’t be one of the things they remember later in …
I’ve been told that I (or rather we, since Willie and Waylon are on this journey with me) are only a quarter of a mile from the end of the trail in Columbia that we’ve been running for over a year. Every time we run this particular trail, we don’t reach the end. Those who …
I’m reading Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy and in the midst of WWI there is also the story of the Women’s Suffrage movement in England. As I listen to their stories and read of stories around the world of women who don’t have access to education or the choice in whom …
The familiar anxiety crept into my stomach. It always happened when I ran into someone from my home church. I knew the conversation that was about to happen, I had engaged in it many times before: How are you? I’m great! How are you? Great, what in the world are you up to? Well, I’m …
Although I have been safely nestled into a welcoming and affirming congregation for over a year now, there are still many times I encounter people and situations in which I feel like an outsider because I am a woman preacher. This past week I had a conversation with someone who explained to me that couple …
A year ago today, Emmanuel Baptist Fellowship was celebrating its 10 year anniversary and as we gathered around lots of good food, we also celebrated my ordination. For my ordination to be a part of Advent will always be special because I spent a lot of time waiting and wondering, hoping there would be a …
It’s Saturday at 5:00 p.m. I politely explain that I have to be getting home after a fun birthday celebration. Oh you don’t have to go yet, do you? Well, there’s still a sermon to prepare, and I have a bit of a drive. *Silence* Oh that’s right tomorrow’s Sunday. I mean how do you …
