5/17/2022

What is stewardship? Rev. Dr. Ted Wardlaw was known to tell new members of his congregation (as a part of a much broader charge that is both beautiful and powerful): “Stewardship always means more than money, but it never means less than money.”

4/18/2022

Early in my time as a Ministry Relations Officer with the Presbyterian Foundation, I had the pleasure of being invited to meet with a stewardship committee at a local church. They were thinking about starting a planned giving program. As this is one of our core competencies, I spent a lot of time preparing what I thought was a compelling and complete outline of what an effective planned giving program should be. I shared with them lots of ideas, examples, and resources. I left the church that day feeling good about the presentation and confident that they would be calling me soon to get started.

4/13/2022

As May comes around, most preaching pastors are probably just glad to have made it through Easter. Maybe this year, the crowds were back and the Easter egg hunt was on, but likely some of the stress and caution of the past two years lingered on. There was a celebration, but it still felt “different” somehow. But now, with the focus of Lent, the intensity of Holy Week, and the pressure of Easter behind us, there is a real temptation to just let down. It would be so easy to let go and simply coast into the summer. Temptations to abandon the lectionary in May abound. First, there is Mother’s Day; then graduations and celebrations of the end of the church school year; finally, there is Memorial Day and the “official” beginning of summer.

3/18/2022

It was raining the first time my wife and I celebrated Easter together. We were visiting friends a few hours away for an Orthodox Easter Vigil—Amanda is Antiochian Orthodox and our friends are Greek.

3/16/2022

I must admit I can forget things quickly, especially on Sunday mornings. My mind is moving a mile a minute and once I get focused on the preaching hour, anything you may have asked me to share with the congregation is lost. So, I have made it a habit of telling people to “remind me, please” during the service because there is a strong chance that I will forget.

2/11/2022

A new parishioner, who was in a new member class on Zoom, asked the pastor, “Why does it seem that the church is always asking for money? That seems like all I hear, money, money, money.”

2/9/2022

To say there is a heaviness in the air these days is a bit of an understatement. Every one of us knows it. Preachers should only name it, not describe it. That is partly because it is so obvious. But even more, the listeners in the pew do not want to hear it again. They (we) are living it every day. The heaviness in the air as everyday people in ordinary parts of life just keep lashing out more, getting angry more quickly, and complaining, complaining, complaining. A heaviness in the air and a whole lot of grumbling.

1/21/2022

Though it is still quite chilly outside as we navigate through winter months, before you know it, it will be spring. The first Sunday in May, marked as Legacy Giving Sunday, will be here quickly. I want to encourage you to think about it now, start the conversation and keep it going.

1/13/2022

Oh, the year when King Uzziah died. On February 6, we hear the passage from Isaiah reporting Uzziah’s death followed by God’s query about who will go for his people. Isaiah’s response is glorious in its clarity. “Here I am,” Isaiah calls out in a response from his heart, “Send me!”

12/13/2021

Happy New Year!

Did you make a New Year’s Resolution this year?

12/9/2021

This year we desperately need a season of Epiphany. Often highlighting the visit of the magi and marked with the packing up of Christmas decorations until next year, a continual gaze on the Light of the World would do us some good. We continue to be deep in the COVID-19 pandemic, forced to learn the Greek alphabet with exasperation. Our churches are fully virtual or in person, hybrid gatherings, or not meeting at all. We wonder if the familiar comforts of Christian worship will ever be the same. Our political and social spheres grow more and more divided. Many cannot catch a moment, a breath even, as they navigate the challenges of everyday life.We need a season to uncover who Christ was/is and who we are/can be.

11/17/2021

In a few weeks, our family will welcome back home our eldest son after the first semester in college. Being 2000 miles away from home, our son, as with any college student, has said he looks forward to seeing his room, lying on his bed, seeing the neighborhood, the smells and tastes of our home cooking, the welcome of the wagging tail of our dog greeting him at the door, and, yes, even the jokes and jibes of his younger brother. With his arrival in early December will be our traditional task of hauling the Christmas decorations from the storage to make the house – inside and out – look and feel more festive. In fact, as I write, our neighbors across the street are hard at work in planning and staging the outdoor light show that has become an expected display for our neighborhood and the throngs of cars, pedestrians, and visitors across north San Diego county to behold as a visible sign that Christmas has come, that hope is here, that the familiar still abides.