ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 29, 2023Prayer for the Week: We seek to live in such a way that we honor the gift of yourself, O Triune God, poured into your church in the form of the Spirit, the Sacred Wind, the Divine Breath. From a Formless Void seeking the touch of a Creative Spark to a Valley of Dry Bones waiting for the Gift of Life, we—the church—are a Body
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 28, 2023In the beginning verses of Acts 2, we read: When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting… Change is always right around the corner. All it takes is a good spiritual wind to blow
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 27, 2023I was checking the news headlines, and in the science section of CNN’s website, I read: Ancient toilets unearthed in Jerusalem reveal a debilitating and sometimes fatal disease. I had to stop everything and read the article. These toilets were from a time about 700 years before Jesus, and they were fancy. Middle-class people did not have toilets. These belonged to the uber-wealthy, yet what
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 26, 2023This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, the Birthday of the Church. First of all, wear something red, pink, scarlet, ruby, wine, cherry, or whatever else might give a hint of fire. Yes, this is the Sunday when we celebrate the Holy Spirit igniting the church (Body of Christ). We read in Acts 2:3-4, “The disciples saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 25, 2023Yesterday, I had a little container that had just a small amount of salsa in it. I brought the container home to recycle, but as I walked toward the pantry where we put the recycling, I dropped it. It exploded. Ugh! Double ugh! There was not much salsa in the container, but it was as if it multiplied and expanded as it was released from
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 24, 2023A couple of times this past Sunday, I said to people, “I love doing baptisms.” The funny thing is that a number of people responded, “It shows!” I’m glad to hear that my energy and joy around baptisms are visible, and though at times I might come off as being a little goofy, it is genuine. Sunday’s baptism of Joanna Andersen was so special for
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 23, 2023I’m sure you have moments in life when a date on the calendar sort of hits you hard. Sometimes it’s good, and other times it’s painful. There are other moments when the date on the calendar is sort of strange, even surreal. That was my experience this past week. I graduated from seminary thirty years ago. If it were not for my achy knees, there
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 22, 2023Prayer for the Week:You are patient, O God of All, yet our appreciation of your patience easily becomes the pretext for our procrastination and the pardon for our profanation. You are patient, yet it is a tangible expression of your grace. Provide us the courage to take full advantage of this moment and the many opportunities it holds for us to be faithful to the
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 21, 2023Yesterday, as I was preparing for this morning’s worship services (I’m at the Traditional Service to do a baptism), I found myself reading a prayer. In the prayer was a simple line, but it really struck me. It read: “At our baptism, we took a vow to walk in your way.” When people speak of baptism, they usually use the metaphor of washing themselves of…
ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGSMay 20, 2023Tomorrow in worship, Rev. Dr. Darren Phelps will be our preacher. He serves as a Community Regional Minister here in the SW Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The text he has chosen is from Mark 9. Yesterday, I spent some time reading passages around the specific text. The sermon text reveals a father’s doubts and anxieties about his son, who has great