I started becoming interested in soul care and contemplative spirituality when I was in college. At the time, I was a youth pastor at a rural church, an undergrad student, a roommate, and living in a low income neighborhood. Life was busy, loud, full of deadlines and commitments, and I was 22 years old. Around that time, I stumbled upon …
Like everyone else around me, I am struggling to make sense of what the new reality facing us in the coming weeks as we return to work and a semblance of normalcy, could look like. This has not been an easy time for any of us, but in the midst some startling and beautiful facts have emerged. My daily walks …
Rev Morgan Schmidt, a Presbyterian pastor in Bend, OR, has created an innovative online group called Pandemic Partners so that people in her community can help one another in these tough times. Morgan essentially found a creative way to crowdsource kindness online. “By posting how-to-guides on its Facebook page, Pandemic Partners, located in the Presbytery of the Cascades, has taken …
There is a haunting scene at the end of the apocalyptic disaster film Deep Impact (1998). After the water recedes from mega-tsunamis caused by a comet crashing into earth, civilians wander back into the streets with trepidation, grogginess, uncertainty and yet some hopefulness for rebuilding the world. I resonate with this image. How do we reengage our world after being …
Normal. What is normal? After all, what seems normal to some is abnormal for others. When my work takes me out of town, I try to stay with friends, family, or colleagues as often as possible. Not only is it more cost-effective, but doing this allows me to catch a glimpse into someone else’s “normal,” solidifying the fact that “normals” …
Right now the church is changing in ways we can see and feel but also in ways we can’t. The changes are so systemic, most are only looking above the surface of the water. How can we deliver the sermon via zoom cast? How can we equip our existing small groups to do a little better out in the neighborhoods? …
COVID-19 is helping write endless questions right now. But I’m guessing yours sound something like this: How are we supposed to curate a community that can’t commune? What are the best ways to maintain ecclesial rhythms online? How do I best keep my community connected as we journey a forced disconnection? What do we do when we’re able to have …
In the life of church planting, communication is so key. Especially in a time like we’re in – in the midst of COVID-19. I’m sure we’re all in the same boat, making decisions for our local spaces and gatherings, changing events and plans, but in the middle of all of this, we have a unique opportunity to invite those we …
As we race into the 2020s, we have suddenly been awakened to an accelerating global COVID-19 Pandemic that few saw coming. Those of us in North America rapidly joined countries in Asia, Europe and the Middle East in dealing with this new Coronavirus Pandemic. While most churches is the US have canceled services or re-routed their services online, they have …
Pruning branches on a living plant helps it to be more productive, grow better fruit, and sustain the plant for the long haul. As churches have become dispersed because of COVID-19 it has revealed the fruit of our labor when times felt much less complicated. The lessons we are learning in order to be church today can help us to …