“You have to sing louder than the senior minister!”

Hymns are one of my favorite parts of worship. While I like trying to sing the melody, my true joy is hitting the bottom bullfrog bass notes. Music touches parts of my soul that words fail to reach. When I first began in ministry (which was last century!), I found myself in the role of… Continue reading “You have to sing louder than the senior minister!”

Summer Film Festival at Church of the Palms!

Fridays in August at 1 pm in our boardroom Come for the air conditioning, popcorn, and camaraderie; stay for the info on our criminal legal system! Features will include various shows and documentaries: August 4: When They See Us— A moving true life story about the wrongful convictions of five minors. How our criminal legal… Continue reading Summer Film Festival at Church of the Palms!

A deeply profound and revealing assignment!

How has your church blessed you this past month? It sounded like a simple question – how has the church blessed you? Yet, as person after person shared, I realized that the simple assignment was deeply profound and far more revealing than I first imagined. How has your church blessed you this past month? Everyone responded— those… Continue reading A deeply profound and revealing assignment!

We will not be “taking the summer off” of ministry

When Hitler began interfering with the churches and humiliating, torturing, and killing the Jews, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a loyal German himself, began to resist and protest. Being a minister, he refused to take part in the state churches which bowed to the Nazi’s demands. Some other ministers faced this tragic situation with quite a different logic.… Continue reading We will not be “taking the summer off” of ministry

The Progress Pride Flag

One of Howard Thurman’s most famous quotes is, “Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because the world needs people who have come alive.” As we emerge from the Covid cocoon, we are exploring how to come alive—our mission for 2023 is “What makes you come alive? Go and do it.” After… Continue reading The Progress Pride Flag

Quick fix for hypocrisy

Mahatma Gandhi reportedly said: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” He’s not alone. It’s not so much that Christians have an image problem. It’s far more likely that we have an integrity problem. The problem with many non-Christians isn’t that they don’t know any… Continue reading Quick fix for hypocrisy

“Isn’t it great that they found someone to love.”

Fifty-two years ago, when I was still a child, I met my first same-gender couple. It was 1971. The occasion was a family reunion to which the whole farming community was invited – we’re talking over a hundred folks. There was plenty of food, lots of cousins to play with, and a diverse group of… Continue reading “Isn’t it great that they found someone to love.”