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...
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...
I’ve seen several recent posts in various online youth ministry discussion forums about how we can get kids and tweens to read Scripture.
Several people have suggested instituting a “Bible Bucks” program. The idea is that when young people read ...
I have fond memories from my childhood of curling up in my mom’s lap, in her big (ugly) green recliner and reading the Berenstain Bears’ books. They were classics that every kid my age loved.
I’ve loved introducing these books to my own girls,...
Like so many others, I watched in horror yesterday as domestic terrorists seized the US Capitol.
I’ve been in the Capitol building.
As a child, I visited it with passes from my Illinois senator. As an adult, I availed myself of my rights and went...
I’ve had the pleasure of hearing Kelley Nikondeha speak a couple of times, first at the women’s’ retreat she mentions often in Defiant, and more recently at Evolving Faith. Having heard Kelley in person and experienced first-hand her heart for the...
Yesterday, my student leaders and I were talking about a chapter from Bob Goff’s Everybody Always and wrestling with how we can spread hope & courage within our ministry – now, during a time when we’re meeting virtually, in a season when...
My congregation held virtual VBS a couple of weeks ago. As I’ve continued to reflect on the experience, I keep returning to these six things I learned from virtual VBS:
1. The problem isn’t Zoom. Four months into this pandemic, you’ve no doubt...
In late April and early May, my VBS leaders and I began wrestling with what to do with VBS this year. We felt skeptical that things would be open enough for us to offer in-person VBS. We felt even more skeptical that people would come if we did...
Perhaps in the last few weeks, you’ve seen a meme like this one:
I certainly have.
Between the pandemic, the murder hornets, the killing of another black man, the protests, and the riots, I've heard more people than ever before say something...