To kick off our “Ship of Fools” series – a conversation about the “ship” words so common in church life: fellowship, worship, discipleship, stewardship – we’re going to start firmly in our comfort zone: fellowship. In some ways, this is the least threatening of the “ship” words. After all, we’re pretty good at this. Jesus ate a lot of meals …
Quality Time
Next Series: Ship of Fools Board Nominations Some moments resonate. They sound out, shaking us and shaping us in different, lasting ways. Some moments are cumulative: unremarkable at first glance, and then all of a sudden, I look back and the sum of them is a habit, part of the fabric of my life. I’m fairly sure I’m not the …
The Gift of Time
This series on time will certainly be an instance where I will learn more than I will teach. If time and I had a facebook relationship status, it would be “it’s complicated.” My waking and sleeping are at odd times and of irregular durations. I question whether I can change that, mostly because I don’t really want to. It works …
The Problem (and the Promise) of the Trinity
One week out of div school and I’m already digging back through my textbooks, trying to remember what it is I spent all that time learning. This is that sort of Sunday – Trinity Sunday. “Trinity” is probably a word that every Christian knows, but few understand and even fewer care to understand. I might be a member of all …
Beginnings
I will be brief. This Sunday, Pentecost, Church in the Cliff will gather to ordain me as a Baptist minister. It is thrilling. I have worked toward this for the past four years and it is a delight and an honor to be affirmed by a group of people that I love so much. It is also terrifying. You must …
Jubilee: Release of the Captives
Mother’s Day at Church in the Cliff Ordination Thanks This week, I am living the story of too much: Polishing off last minute dissertation edits and sending it off to the library system, completing annoying exit forms and surveys for institutional liability purposes, consulting with a suddenly booming list of people with complex counseling needs, picking up graduation regalia, writing …
Jubilee: Gwyneth and her goop
I was watching Bill Maher this week in tiny increments between paper writing as I nibbled on a sandwich. One of his guests was Jimmy Kimmel, who I, if I may speak openly, do not care for too much. Normally, Bill’s guests are asked questions about pressing issues of the day, but Kimmel was asked about television industry decisions and …
Jubilee: Sabbath for the Land
Vote on Ordination Jubilee Sallie McFague is one of my personal saints. She’s a theological scholar who manages to jump out of every box people put around her, and is a strong voice for ecological and gender justice. She writes in ways compelling both to theological academics and to justice-minded church-goers alike; her work is on the ground and relevant …
The Promised Land
The Week’s Events Jubilee Ordination Candidate Forum About a month ago, a few of us went to hear Kathryn Tanner speak on the ways that finance intersects with our Christian commitments. This was not your average stewardship discussion. While I disagreed with some of her premises, the questions she was asking were fascinating. It just so happens that they intertwine …
Images of Jubilee
Growing up in a fundamentalistish church, I learned to read Scripture in a particular way. It was understood as a monolithic text with a cohesive narrative arc, one story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. This story conveyed information and our task was to receive it. In particular, this story was the story of God’s action in the …