Blog
25 Childrens Books for Advent and Christmas
Each year we count down the days of Advent by unwrapping a reading a book each night. While some of the books we use are fun and frivolous, we try to use these books and this time to teach the story of Advent and Christmas to our kids. We hope to offer a counter...
What Ronan Farrow’s Book Catch and Kill Can Teach the Church
When journalist Ronan Farrow’s newest book Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators released last week I read the entire thing in 36 hours. Since I haven’t done that since the luxurious days of middle school, that alone should say something...
Our Endings are for the Kindom
I sat on the phone with a dear friend and colleague, listening to their lament. “Damn” I said, because that’s what ministers sometimes say to each other when we talk about hard things. The church they were serving was headed toward closure and my friend was dismayed...
Temptation by Nina Cassian
Call yourself alive? Look, I promise you that for the first time you'll feel your pores opening like fish mouths, and you'll actually be able to hear your blood surging though all those lanes, and you'll feel light gliding across the cornea like the train of a dress....
11 More Books to Enrich Young Faith
The creativity it takes to teach children always requires keeping an eye out for books and resources that can connect the stories of our faith to the experiences of our children. There’s nothing more exciting than watching a child’s imagination come alive with...
Don’t Hesitate by Mary Oliver
“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this...
Review: The Lightest Object in the Universe
Normally I don’t write stand alone book reviews, however occasionally a book comes along that is so striking and thought provoking that I want to talk about it...a lot. The Lightest Object in the Universe by Kimi Eilese is the first book of 2019 that completely...
Five Books to Encourage Self-Reflection and Growth
As I mentioned in my post earlier about healing from a broken (pastor) heart, seeking ways to grow and do self-reflection on your biases, blindspots, trauma and history is an important part of healing as a pastor. I encourage clergy to seek out a professionally...
How to Heal a Broken (Clergy) Heart
It took me seventeen years of ministry and five congregations before I had my heart broken by a church. It is one of the risks of the vocation. When God calls you serve people, to walk alongside them, getting to know their stories, dreams, and fears, when you dare to...