Since beginning ministry in my current congregation, I've noticed how few high school and middle school students attend worship.
Part of the reason for that is that during the last decade, our congregation has prioritized age-specific...
“But they're just so happy.”
I’ve lost track of how often I’ve heard someone—either a teenager or an adult—use this phrase to describe someone they served during a summer mission trip.
It doesn’t matter whether you go to a Native American...
Several years ago during an overnight event at the church I served, my high school youth ministry filed into our sanctuary and participated in a prayer ritual around the altar that involved lit candles. Unbeknownst to me, the wax from the candles...
I preached on March 5, when the lectionary text of the day was John 3:1-17. This passage includes the beloved (or despised, depending on who you are) John 3:16.
As part of my sermon, I talked about how while I was in college, my friends from the...
Is it easier to bring Jesus to the progressives or social justice to the evangelicals?
This is the question I’ve spent most of my professional life wondering, as I’ve alternated between evangelical and progressive settings, respecting both for...
Surely there’s a church somewhere that practices the kind of hospitality Jesus did, right?
I wanted desperately to believe this after my family found itself unwelcome at church during the last several weeks. Since then, I’ve continued to wrestle...
Last Sunday during worship, I sat in the comfort room with my two-year old, Kendall, in tears.
To be clear, I was the one in tears, not her.
We’d gone into the cry room to nurse. When we returned to the sanctuary, she started chattering. A LOT...
“You guys are making me not even want to go to church anymore!” shouted Hope, my six-year old daughter, from the backseat of our van as we headed home from our first day of church shopping.
We began church shopping at a local church that’s part...
Many congregations, including mine, bless teachers at the start of the school year. This year, we did so during live Zoom worship. Since it worked well and we heard many good things about it, I'm posting it below in case you're looking for...
In this strangest of back to school seasons, my congregation wanted to offer a blessing for college students - regardless of whether they're going or staying, in-person or virtual.
Because we are not gathering in person, we offered this as...