Yes, I'm a minister. No, I don't have a church.

My household is fostering a puppy. A big, happy, goofy puppy. Here’s a photo: His name is Presley, and he is about a year old. He has been with my family since March, when a local rescue worker found him wandering in a park. This was him when she coaxed him into her car and put out the call for a foster home. He was skinny and insecure. It looked like he was abandoned, and had to spend too much of his puppy life walking outside. He hates the rain, and is terrified of the sound of traffic. The deal with fostering is that the foster home cares for the dog until he gets adopted. He’s going to his new family on Saturday. The funny thing about this is how much better a dog he is than our own dogs. Here are A.J. (left) and Xena (right). They are Shih Tzu rescues. Our dogs have it great. But because they are our dogs, we don’t have to worry about making them adoptable. They're just good enough to bring to a friend's house, go to daycare, and ride...

In my last blog I referred to communities of accountability. I am guessing most of you are familiar with these types of communities. I report to various communities of accountability. “Report” is too strong a word for some of these communities, but right on target for communities that certify me [i.e. the Presbyterian Church (USA)]. I remember the shock some of my ecumenical colleagues expressed that I have to a) participate in my presbytery, b) fill out paperwork annually, and c) behave according to the standards I promised at my ordination, all in order to be in a validated ministry (and claim a housing allowance, too). Of course, as a grown-up and as a professional, sometimes it annoys me, this layer of accountability. But it is both a choice and a joy. I could operate all by myself as an individual, but that would be a lie. I am who I am because of the communities that form(ed) me, support(ed) me, and make my life and work possible.   I believe in accountability becau...

I report to various communities of accountability. “Report” is too strong a word for some of these communities, but right on target for communities that certify me [i.e. the Presbyterian Church (USA)]. I could operate all by myself as an individual, but that would be a lie. I am who I am because of the communities that form(ed) me and support(ed) me.   One of my communities of accountability is a group of Asian Pacific American Presbyterians. For those of you who don’t know, last week the Presbyterians had a big conference that is actually 10 smaller conferences in one gathering. In addition to the smaller conferences were multiple gatherings of various constituencies. One of these, the National Asian Presbyterian Council (NAPC), invited me to serve on a panel about the future of NAPC with three other Asian American leaders in the Presbyterian Church (USA). This is a community of Asian Americans and immigrants of Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, T...