Labor Day

Sometimes the answer to “who is my neighbor?” is “the person who lives near you.” When I was in college I had a summer job as a tree surgeon. And we did not use a truck-mounted cherry-picker. We used ropes. Most of the time our task was ‘fine pruning.’ Fine pruning...

No Cupcakes for Gossips

After all the rhetoric about the problems and lawsuits this ordinance would cause I have not heard a thing. I am white. I am a married male. I have graduate degrees and I own my own home (well, me and the bank). I am in good health. And compared to the global...

A Gentle and Quiet Whisper

I was so proud of my congregation for participating in this process with such trust. It is hard to find solid numbers, but some things are certain: Older churches are in decline, newer churches are more likely to be growing. Mainline churches are struggling,...

Silfra Rift

This analogy is my favorite one to describe what it is like being a pastor in the 21st-century. Not to mention that scuba diving in Iceland sounds like the most awesome thing ever. There is a lake in Iceland. It is cold and clear and amazing. Amazing because deep in...

Dirty Hands

If we’re not careful our churches, and our faith, can become mostly cerebral. With a prevailing emphasis on didacticism and privacy-in-the-pew, our faith can become more like Greek thought than Semitic practice.  Oh, and by the way, I harvested 758 tomatoes from a...