A week ago, Fr. Tom Brackett was our keynote speaker on Day 2 at our Missional Church Summit.  His contribution was significant in that he challenged us to do at least two very powerful things.  First, to tell (and listen!) to stories.  By stories, we don’t mean “Once Upon a Time,” but rather “this past week I really felt close to Christ when…”  Uh oh.  Did I just write that?  Do Episcopalians talk like that?  We should.  This is not just a statement from a church growth guru, this is …

As God as my witness, the title for this post is not to butter up any of our Right Reverend Fathers in God who wear purple.  But as I was driving in this morning thinking about the schedule for the day (which includes picking up Bishop Monterroso from the airport) I found myself getting excited.  A bishop is coming.
‘Twas not always the case for me.  I grew up and served in a church where the bishops were quite powerful, whose responsibilities made them essentially CEOs, and were in many cases …

I want to spend this morning’s post letting you know where we are in staffing our youth and children’s programs.  With the departure of Pam and Bobby earlier this summer we have some big holes to fill, but this also leads to new opportunities.  I have met with the youth and children’s commissions and we’ve tweaked some things here and there via email and we’re just about ready to publicize a job description – but for one, not two positions.  If you remember, last month I mentioned the working possibility …

Confirmation preparation for adults in many churches has long been reduced to a few sessions on Episcopal Church history, polity (organization), worship, and a bit of theology.  While this is all well and good, it really doesn’t speak to the purpose of confirmation – to ratify the baptismal covenant.
Bishop Marble will be visiting us this Fall and starting this Sunday at 3pm we are going to do confirmation a bit differently.  We’re not starting with the history of the Episcopal Church, we are starting at the beginning.  THE beginning.  This …

I can’t remember where, but I think in the old Father Steve’s Morning Email I shared my thoughts about ministry burnout – mainly being that burnout is not always caused by volume but instead by having your energy drained.
Just because you are good at something does not mean that is where your passions lie.  There is a commercial on television now where women and men, all in their middle age, are sharing what they would like to do ‘when they grow up.’  What is clear is that their passion is …

After being apart from my family for 19 days, Cherilyn and I had a date night.  Surprisingly, date night when you’re married with children is not all that different than date night when you’re 17 – at least in terms of structure.
Date night when you’re 17 usually consists of dinner and a movie.  When you’re just starting out that movie is a real, honest-to-goodness movie in a theater with buttered popcorn and the whole nine yards.  Choices were easier.  In my hometown we only had two theaters – one was …

…and I don’t feel too good myself,” as Lewis Grizzard, of blessed memory, once wrote.  Stuck in the middle of a heat wave, I’ve got a cold.  Go figure.
The heavy lifting in phase one of my class is over.  I made my presentation on the creation of Christian Initiation liturgies for the new Common Worship series in the Church of England.  All that’s left now is a paper due in September.
Now that my eyes are looking back towards Winston-Salem, allow me to share some updates and plans for the coming …

Is there a reason why this is funny?

1. Speak as little as possible of oneself.
2. Mind one’s own business.
3 Avoid Curiosity.
4. Do not want to manage other people’s affairs.
5. Accept contradiction and correction cheerfully.
6. Pass over the mistakes of others.
7. Accept blame when innocent.
8. Yield to the will of others.
9. Accept insults and injuries.
10. Accept being slighted, forgotten and disliked.
11. Be kind and gentle even under provocation.
12. Do not seek to be specially loved and admired.
13. Never stand on one’s own dignity.
14. Yield in discussion even though one is right.
15. Choose always the hardest.

Last night was a wonderful evening with our tour of Old Salem led by David Bergstone followed by a ‘tour’ of the Tannenberg Organ and mini-concert by Scott Carpenter.   We are blessed with such talented people.
I didn’t have a chance to go on the walking tour with David.  He doesn’t know this yet, but I’m going to hit him up for a private one once the temperature drops below 90!
I was with the vestry in a meeting discussing the possibility of a new ministry.  When discussing such matters, the …