Tag Archive | ministry
Zumba-dy Stop Me
Not surprisingly, my reasons for not going back to Zumba are the very reasons that many, many people visit a church and never go back again
Filled with Good Things
Rev. Brandon Gilvin is the Associate Director of Week of Compassion, and he is also a dang good writer. A native Kentuckian, he now lives in Kansas City with his wife, Lisa. I recently returned from a two week trip to India, where I visited two very different states, Bihar and Meghalaya, to learn about some […]
An Empty House
A Tao of Christmas shopping, from a wannabe minimalist: So, i buy most of my kids’ clothes at consignment sales. Also sell stuff there, so i almost break even. I go to this one sale twice a year (because it is at my church and i get to shop early!) While i’m shopping for clothes, […]
The One Where I’m the Grownup
Find a person who is good at what they do, and ask them a simple question: who shaped you for this? I’m willing to bet that the person you’re talking to is more than ready with a litany of people who helped mold them for leadership. Whether their career path is ministry, teaching, business, art, media, […]
Under Pressure
God spoke to me today. I love when that happens. I hate when that happens. I love when that happens because hearing the voice of God is the simple reward for living a (reasonably) spiritual life. When you move through the world looking for something holy at every turn (translation: looking for sermon material), then eventually, […]
Showing Up
I can think of many movies that i love, but my all-time favorite has to be Forrest Gump. Call me a conformist (because that’s everybody’s favorite movie) but really, what’s not to love? A hero you can root for; a tragic heroine; the backdrop of Americana; an epic journey; a satisfying, full-circle kind of ending; and a fabulous […]
A Sign and a Wonder
Every year, in what i call “stewardship season,” i revisit Brueggeman’s “The Liturgy of Abundance.” I have come to love this season in the life of the church, which is ironic, because it used to scare me to death. Appropriate that it came around Halloween, really. Like many clergy, I left seminary feeling pretty good […]
Soul Seasons
A pumpkin latte in my hand. From Not Starbuck’s. A cool crisp 62 degrees out. I am on a porch swing with a background of lush foliage, bleeding slowly from green into reds and browns and yellows. I am wearing my favorite brown sweatshirt, and reading a really great library book. The day ahead is miraculously […]
For Such a Time as This
I was sitting on the floor of my crummy first-year-of-being-a-grownup apartment, doing grad school homework that i should have done the night before, and getting ready to go to class. Which means I probably shouldn’t have been watching tv, but was. When the plane hit the first tower, i went and woke up my roommate, […]
The Sacred Struggle
“The middle ground lies in the struggle. The acceptance that, when violence becomes necessary to eliminate a threat, it is just that. A necessity. A regrettable, painful, God-forgive-us-but-this-is-the-only-way moment of humanity. Something to be mourned and reflected upon, but never celebrated.”
Irreverin 