I recently wrote a post about why people bother beginning the ordination process, and some of my friends who are in or recently in the ordination process have reminded me that the process of discernment is not as easy as it was laid out in the post. I have to agree, and I apologize if [...]
Are you kidding me with this contraceptive nonsense? Watching the news and reading material I am shocked by the Christian reaction to President Obama’s health care reforms which would make Catholic hospitals, colleges, etc. include birth control in their health care. Ok, maybe I should say I am shocked at the media Christian reaction. After [...]
I love the book Tribal Church, and I was excited when I got onto Twitter to follow its author Carol Howard Merrit @CarolHoward. I didn’t expect for her to start responding to my tweets or to fall into conversation with her. After posting an article on The Christian Century called “Ten Church Models for a [...]
I’ve been catching up with some friends recently thanks to social media. Some of them haven’t heard I’m in seminary and planning to become a pastor. Those are the most fun conversations laced with interesting questions. Several times people have asked me what I’m doing right now, whether I’m in classes or whatever, and I’ve [...]
Rev. Landon Whitsitt wrote an article entitled “Dear Young(ish) Mainline Pastor Type People: Please Plant a Church.” Here is my disclaimer for this post: I am not writing this reply to fight Rev. Whitsitt’s ideas but to add some thoughts into this conversation. First, I do not disagree with what I believe is Rev. Whitsitt’s main [...]
After reading my last post about reclaiming foolishness in a long-term vision in the church, my friend “Kelly” who is a spiritual-but-not-religious young adult asked the question: If you can minister anywhere at anytime, why bother with the ordination process? First, a clarification on what ordination is in the Presbyterian tradition. “Ordination is an action [...]
One of my favorite modern writers Carol Howard Merritt wrote an article on The Christian Century entitled “Generational Roadblocks.” In it she identifies five obstacles to young adults’ participation in the church: 1. The leadership is from one generation. 2. The leadership lacks diversity. 3. Our congregations disregard technology. 4. The church ignores its physical [...]
I found myself asking this question during a dinner on Monday night with friends. They were asking me what I thought about Tim Tebow’s unique way of praying. I had no idea who Tim Tebow was let along that he was developing some new form of prayer. We happened to be in a restaurant with [...]
The music player up at the top right is set up to play “Ave Generosa” composed by Hildegard of Bingen, who is talked about in this post. When my friend Vincent heard about my new blog project his first question was: Do you think the Catholic Church should become a democratic organization? I think my [...]
Recently I was sitting in a coffee shop chatting with a dude. When it came out that I am a student at a seminary (a graduate school dedicated to the training of Christian pastors, spiritual leader, theological thinkers, and the occasional philosopher) he told me about his own experience of growing up only on occasion [...]