Hospitality is Practicing Resurrection

May 19, 2019

Sherwood, Oregon in the Nineties and early 2000’s had a lot of hungry people. HUD housing and section 8 apartments neighbored subdivisions with $400,000 custom homes that somehow all looked the same. These neighbored working farms, some of which had century farmhouses, next to hobby farms with mansions, next to run-down trailers, next to migrant […]

Resistance is Practicing Resurrection

May 12, 2019

Teresa L. Todd never expected to be arrested. She was driving through the Texan desert near Big Bend National Park one night, after a planning and zoning meeting at Marfa City Hall. She’s an an elected official, government lawyer and single mother, and as she drove, she was shocked to see a young man in […]

Doubt is Practicing Resurrection

May 5, 2019

This afternoon, after the splendid hospitality display that Rosemary has prepared for us in the social hall, we will have our first gathering of our New Members class. One of my favorite questions from these gatherings is about doubt. What’s hard for you to believe? What’s hard about following Jesus? This isn’t some kind of […]

Creation is Practicing Resurrection

April 28, 2019

The B&B complex fire in Central Oregon was a human caused ecological disaster. Decades of fire suppression and utilizing industrial tree farming techniques created a perfect storm of trees planted closely together, with overgrown ground plants and shrubs that created firestorms that erupted with ferocity. The fuel on the forest floor led to an […]

“They Have Taken Away My Lord”

April 21, 2019

It Might be hard to see now, what with me leading Worship, but for much of my adult life, I haven’t been so sure about the Church. Which is odd, because as a child, I loved going to Church. It was my second home, a place where I met adults who were fascinating, and […]

The Power & Peril of the Crowd

April 14, 2019

The first time I was ever a part of a massive demonstration, I was blown away by the power of people gathered to push for change. I had driven down with my Seminary Apartment Mate, Rick, to Philadelphia to attend the Trans Visibility March. We through our Collars on, made signs, and joined the crowd […]

First Fruits

April 7, 2019

Spring is a very hungry, lean time. As the first flowers start to push through the soil, as blooms start to break out of the seemingly dead trees, as the birds start to show back up, excited, there is so much activity in the spring. But as many of you who try to eat […]

Budgeting Love

March 31, 2019

“In her book Men in Dark Times, Hannah Arendt recounts a story in which Pope John XXIII asked one of the Vatican gardeners, “How are things going?” The worker replied, “Badly, badly, Your Eminence,” telling Pope John what he earned and how many family members he had to support. “We’ll have to do something about […]

The God Who Sees

March 24, 2019

Last Friday night I walked into a mosque for the second time in my life, and I was scared. My first time in a mosque was in college- I was taking an Islamic Studies class and we attended morning prayers with our professor as part of an immersive experience. I don’t remember much about […]

Called To Be Light

March 17, 2019

For me, puberty began in earnest in 1969. Okay, admit it: If a prize was given for the most unexpected sermon opening line, I would be a strong contender for grand prize – don’t you all agree? Anyway, believe it or not, that puberty reference really is a more than appropriate beginning to this morning’s […]