ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSSeptember 1, 2025There are times when a sermon is still this loose and nebulous idea, and all the pieces in my mind seem to fit together in what I am certain will be a 16-18 minute message. And then it begins to take shape, and the idea becomes a sermon, and what I thought would be the final product is in fact about 40 minutes long. In
ECCLESIOLOGIC AL ETCHINGSAugust 31, 2025In her book, Sisters in the Wilderness, Womanist theologian Delores Williams writes about the wilderness and how frightening it can be. Yet she goes on to talk about survival in the wilderness requiring God-given resources like resiliency, hope, and determination if life and faithfulness are to be sustained in the face of fear. I appreciate how she does not dismiss fear as a reality,
ECCLESIOLOGIC AL ETCHINGSAugust 30, 2025It might be because school is starting, but I woke up about 30 minutes before my alarm yesterday and had a momentary panic as I thought it was Sunday. The sermon was not done, I had not sent out the worship material to the worship participants, and it was about 45 minutes later than I usually get up on Sundays. I’m sure the wave
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 29, 2025I won’t go into the details, but yesterday afternoon, I set down the things I was holding in my hands so I could unlock a door for some folks. There was a piece of wood where I was setting down the items, and I got a rather large splinter under my fingernail. Ouch! Double ouch!! As splinters go, it was pretty big. Yet in the
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 28, 2025I am once again heartsick by the violence all around us. The shooting in Minneapolis grieves me to the bone, but the violence is not isolated to that one event here and there. Gaza continues to experience horrific and unnecessary violence, so much of it perpetrated against children. The ongoing war in Ukraine is senseless as more and more civilians appear to be targeted. The
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 27, 2025My friend, Rev. Michael Dunn, posted an old quote from the late Bishop John Shelby Spong. The Bishop said, “God is not a Christian. God is not a Jew or a Muslim or a Hindu or a Buddhist. I honor my tradition. I walk through my tradition. But I don’t believe my tradition defines God. It only points me to God.” Like a lot of
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 26, 2025I saw something yesterday that cracked me up. I have been chuckling about it all day. I took a picture and have shown it to others. Guess what? No one else thinks it is at all humorous. If you are wondering whether I know that my sense of humor is weird, I am fully aware of the oddity that is Bruce Frogge. And how Bruce’s
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 25, 2025Prayer for the Week: Christ Jesus proclaimed a feast of grace for all. Christ Jesus fed a multitude with a feast of grace. Christ Jesus fed those who would betray him at a feast of grace. Christ Jesus invited his followers to do even greater things than he had done. Holy and Magnificent God, we see in Jesus the one who invited us to the
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 24, 2025It’s Sunday! Bring an attitude of expectation this day, for the God who invites us together for worship plans to make it worth our while. I’m not suggesting that what God has in store for you or for me is going to blow us away, but it might just be what we are needing. Though a single worship experience can change someone’s life, I tend
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSAugust 23, 2025Tomorrow is Sunday, and in worship, we are going to be focusing our attention on praise. I know, it sounds a little redundant. The Hebrew word (the Old Testament) we often translate as praise is yadah. It is a word associated with the hand, and it literally means to throw something away from yourself, like a rock. But the idea, in regard to our relationship