When I think of seminary, some of my favorite memories have to do with my three closest classmates and I having a drink together at The Pub. The Pub was technically a gastropub, meaning they have a huge high-end beer menu and a slightly smaller, but quality food menu. You could get beers from all … Continue reading Jack and Jesus
Building the Band First United Methodist Church, Thomaston (GA) was my first full-time position as a minister, a county seat church in Central Georgia. It was like a lot of older, established churches back east in that the church had been doing things pretty much the same way for about fifty years. Not that they … Continue reading Life Together IV: Serving Together
In November of 2009, I became a United Methodist. My wife and I had been members of Southern Baptist Churches for most of our faith lives and had spent most of that time trying to figure out why we didn’t fit in. I had a conversation one day with Kevin Lobello, pastor at … Continue reading Hermeneutics and Schism
Sanity Sick Days The year or so before I left the corporate world for the ministry, I was emotionally just this side of a frazzled mess. When I began the transition in earnest, it was a relief to step away from the working world as I knew it. For three years, I had been working … Continue reading Life Together: Renewal
On the way into the office this morning, I was listening to Morning Edition on NPR. The host was trying to interview a member of Congress regarding the current state of several political issues, notably DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program). The bias was evident and expected, the congressman … Continue reading The Lost Art of Discourse
I live in a red state. When I say a red state, I mean that during the presidential election in 2016 when the polls closed at 7:00 pm local time, the pundits and talking heads on the various cable news networks immediately declared it won for the current president before there was even one … Continue reading Escaping Politics
The Hard Way[1] Justin Welby may not be a name you are familiar with, but if you can see your life as a series of obstacles and hurdles to overcome, you will relate. His father was an erratic man, prone to rash decisions and illicit behavior, something that would lead to divorce when … Continue reading Life Together II: Learning Together
