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“beloved community + Summer + Transistions”

Church is for Life Together

Think with me for a minute of the groups of which you’ve been a part. Maybe a sports team, a company staff, a choir, a neighborhood association. Maybe a polit...

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What is Church For?

I’ve told you before the story from Dr. Fred Craddock, the late pastor and storyteller, who shared about the first church he pastored....

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Soul Food: Giving Up a Shelf-Stable Faith

A sweet Italian grandmother once was adjusting to her surroundings in her new American home. ...

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Soul Food: The World’s First Pot-Luck

Perhaps something you should know about your pastor is that among the things in this world that draw my highest religious devotion most are, well, peaches. I am...

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Defying Norms: Insider/Outsider

When the Russian-Finnish border was being redrawn, the old story goes, a farmer was told that the boundary line passed right through the middle of his land...

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Coming to Ourselves

Thank you, Emily, for the warm welcome. And thank you to my mom and dad for  thinking that this was a good idea.   It’s an honor, and frankly a...

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Tender Care: A Spiritual Detox

If you’ve been following along for these Epiphany weeks, you know we’re spending time with the Gospel of Mark. The most abrupt and fast-paced of all the gos...

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Tender Care: Living Under Water

As the scene opens, Pete, Delmar, and Everett are seated around a campfire: hungry, scared, and on the run. They’re outlaws you see, having barely escaped a M...

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Christmas Eve 2023

Christmas Eve Worship: For Good News of Great Joy

Just the other day, I was checking out in the line at Target with what I was sure was the last Christmas present I’d need to buy (spoiler alert, it wasn’t!)...

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Attending Church: Presence

Cartoonist and comedian Seth MacFarlane, creator of “The Family Guy” show, was interviewed a dozen years ago on NPR’s Fresh Air about a new album he had c...

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The Resurrection Way of Us 

You’ve heard me tell pastor Tom Long’s story, where, as the brand new pastor of a small church, he decided to try out a new teaching opportunity — a pasto...

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