Dear Caldwell, One of the interesting parts about being “church” in these days of such dramatic change in organized religion is how we think of Christian Formation. The old “Sunday School” model was one in which congregation members, young and old, came to church on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. and divided up into many different Sunday …
Dear Caldwell, Last Sunday, I invited us all to “depart without leaving.” Yale theologian Miroslav Volf gives us this language. To “depart without leaving” means to become spiritual pilgrims, responding to God’s call to close whatever distance may separate us and all of God’s people. Such a departure is risky, especially in these days that are so …
Sunday’s palms are Wednesdays ashes As another Lent begins Thus we kneel before our Maker In contrition of our sins. Dear Caldwell, With the words of the hymn above, the Elizabeth Communities of Faith worshiped together at noon today, the first of our worship-and-soup-lunch gatherings at noon each Wednesday at neighboring St. John’s Baptist for the …
Dear Caldwell, Doesn’t the image above stop you in your tracks? That’s City United Methodist Church in downtown Gary, Indiana. Built for $1 million and opened in 1925. Closed and abandoned in 1975. City Methodist is a symbol of what we are studying in my doctoral work this week (and last). We’re focused on changing urban and demographic …
Dear Caldwell, As we travel from Sunday to Sunday this week, I feel a bit guilty down here in Florida while the snow is still melting there. (But YOU are there, soaking up the Super Bowl fever … and all I can do is watch a little ESPN.) Wherever I am, whatever I’m doing, you …
“We can no longer talk of (ministry) or any other matters exclusively in a white, middle-class, Eurocentric fashion that deliberately ignores, or else fails to realize the normalcy of pluralism in every part of the world.” – Emmanuel Y. Lartey, In Living Color: An Intercultural Approach to Pastoral Care and Counseling Dear Caldwell, On Saturday, I leave …
Dear Caldwell, That’s right – I hit the jackpot. Just not that jackpot. No, I am not suddenly $1.3 billion richer thanks to the Powerball lottery. But I am “rich” in some ways that are just as random. I didn’t choose or earn my birth as a white, male, able-bodied heterosexual into a middle-class family that …
Dear Caldwell, As we move from Christmastide and through Epiphany, the recognition of the manifestation of our Lord in Christ ending tonight, we approach yet another important date in the life of America and Caldwell; the time of year when our nation is called to stop and reflect on our journey as a nation toward Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s …
Preview Changes “Let us not think we have created ourselves, as proud princes do.” — Dr. Doug Ottati, quoting Martin Luther. Dear Caldwell, A few weeks ago I was invited by Chris William, host of Carolina Business Review, to be a part of a show focused on gratitude. Together with a major non-profit CEO, a Christian counselor, a …
Dear Caldwell, Somewhere along the way, I received the good advice that we should leave something from Christmas up year-round, lest we forget. The balsa wood nativity pictured above is my response to that. The magi, the shepherds and the sheep, the angel, Mary Joseph and the babe stand watch all year long over whatever passes through …
