Tomorrow, I will mail a Letter. News is already out. I am resigning my call to accept another across the state. I look at the page and see the contrast of ink on paper and know that nothing is nearly so Continue reading The Letter I Wrote
Category Archives: Change
Finding Purpose when Floundering
It’s no secret that many churches are floundering. They are scrambling to keep up aging buildings, wringing hands over declining income, and sometimes showing concern about the decline of faith practices in their community. The busy-ness of maintaining the church, anxiety over changes happening among them, concerns about the future easily distract leaders and Continue reading Finding Purpose when Floundering
Toward a New Church
Many hands have been wrung, brows furrowed, and laments raised over the church’s uncertain future. In some church such wrestling has been going on in earnest since the 1980s. Other congregations are just now starting to Continue reading Toward a New Church
The Shattering of Crystal
Mainline denominational churches have been experiencing shifts in membership and participation for thirty or more years. Attendance is down, congregations have become significantly older, and communities are struggling to figure out what’s going on. For a long time,
Continue reading The Shattering of Crystal
Another School Shooting
In the wake of another school shooting, I thought of the a blog entry by Allen Kleine Deters: Speaking from the Heart about Newtown. We people of faith often say things that need to be more critically thought through.
The photo, “25806 Memorial Flowers First Presbyterian Church June 12, 2011,” by Bill McChesney is used by permission. It is shared under Creative Commons license (CC By 2.0).
Jesus Remains the Same, We Must Change
I remember the plates well. They were sold for a small price and bore the name of our church. A line-drawing of the church was printed onto the center of the plate in shiny gold, the same gold that rounded the edges of that commemorative piece and adorned the edges with fancy decoration. They were made in the church’s centennial year. On each plate was Continue reading Jesus Remains the Same, We Must Change
Jabbok's Edge 