ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 4, 2026
I always appreciate the fireworks and over-the-top celebration of my ordination anniversary. Yes, I was ordained at First Christian Church in Lincoln, NE, on Sunday, July 4, 1993. It sort of seemed like a strange day for an ordination, yet there were people who had a long weekend and could travel. Plus, I had just started my first full time ministry gig, and though they were very supportive of me taking a weekend off for my ordination, they wanted me official ASAP so we could move forward. Over time, I have come to like the connection my ordination has with July 4. It was George Washington who famously described America as an “experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” He shared those words in his First Inaugural Address in 1789, and I believe America remains an experiment that requires both caution and risk. At no point have we become the experts in democracy or what it means to live into the high ideals put forth in the Declaration of Independence. In a sort of similar fashion, I have been told that, as an ordained minister, I am the expert in this thing called Christianity. My four years of graduate school and now 33 years of ordained ministry taught many things, yet most importantly, I have learned just how little I know. I sometimes feel as if I am only experimenting with this idea of following Jesus, and like any good experiment, even the failures provide learning for those who are open to the possibility. Happy and safe 4th!
There are a handful of true experts in one field or another, yet as knowledge and the universe itself continue to expand at astronomical rate, teach us humility, Gracious One. It’s rarely about perfection. Most often, it’s about growth through questions whose answers may never be fully known. Amen.
