Dear Caldwell, What’s NEXT? I’m awaiting my flight home from Minneapolis, where I’ve been attending a national gathering of folks who care passionately about the NEXT Church. Launched just a few years ago, this mix of Presbyterian pastors, elders and members is focused on where God is leading our denomination in an era marked by “nones,” …
Dear Caldwell, Wonder why a growing segment of America, especially our rising generation, rejects the church today? Look no further than today’s headlines for yet another example of how some advance judgment and fear in the name of God’s love. There is Franklin Graham in today’s Charlotte Observer, righteously defending why he sides with Russia’s …
Dear Caldwell, Every day, I see how you bless each other. Whether you are old friends or new acquaintances, you not only connect but you care for one another throughout the week in so many considerate and loving ways. Through small gestures or major investments of time and energy, you know – and act on …
Dear Caldwell, The ebb and flow of congregations is always a wonder to me, Caldwell in particular, of course. Congregations balance their inward ministries of self-care, growth and development with their outward-directed ministries to build the Kingdom of God and bear witness to it on Earth. Through different seasons in their lives, congregations balance their …
Dear Caldwell, Our passage from Sunday to Sunday this week crosses an important threshold. Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent, our time of preparation for Holy Week and Easter. Each of us may have our personal disciplines and spiritual practices for this time of year. At Caldwell, we are invited to spend these weeks …
Dear Caldwell, Earlier this week, I wrote to you about the power of living history and, last Sunday, we heard John Crowell share his experience as part of a team of Charlotte teens who traveled to Boston to help with the integration of that city’s schools in the 1960s. Tomorrow, we have a chance to …
Living History: Boston Schools Integration, Take II Read More »
Dear Caldwell, As February nears an end, I am so profoundly grateful for the rich experiences we have shared in recognition of African-American History Month. While history is important, what’s more important is that we live our lives informed and inspired by that history. In our conversations last Sunday, in the “stories” we’ve heard in …
Dear Caldwell, As we move from Sunday to Sunday this week, we do so mindful of the losses our congregation has experienced this year. As you heard me say Sunday, 5 members have died so far in 2014 – some after long, full lives and others “too soon.” Yesterday, a standing-room only crowd of 200+ …
Dear Caldwell, As we move from Sunday to Sunday this week, our Lord seems to think we need a mid-week break. I am sitting at my desk at home, in front of a large window watching the snow come down – sometimes in great flurries of dust-sized particles, other times in huge, wandering flakes. I …
Dear Caldwell, Last Sunday we heard the choir sing “Steal Away to Jesus,” a moving old spiritual to which slaves and other African-Americans labored, worshiped and even planned their escape to freedom. God’s people have always sung their faith, and singing and working for the Kingdom have always gone hand in hand. The term “liturgy,” in …
