The Business of Interpretation

I started working at Presbyterian Publishing Corporation almost two months ago. PPC houses the imprints of Westminster John Knox, Geneva Press, and The Thoughtful Christian.

I thought I would go through my personal bookshelves and pull out every book that is one of these imprints, or an older imprint that pre-dates the creation of WJK.

The four pictures above are the result of this little exercise.

Are you worried these are all the books I own? Nope. You're missing a nice view of the gajillion other books I have scattered all over the house. It is also true I used to have more books. My household has been through at least five good book purges post-seminary.

I love books. I have them in paper format and in e-book format. I love to check out books from the library. I love receiving books as gifts. I love looking through other people's bookshelves.

In this blog, I will be posting musings, reflections, rants, and general randomness as a part of my ministry. I am doing church relations for PPC, sharing about PPC's products, and listening to the church for what it is that you out there really want to see PPC produce. I am in the business of interpretation. I hope you will read this blog, share it, maybe even check out some of the resources available. But most of all, I hope you will find something to laugh about, roll your eyes over, or ponder.

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A Sermon on the Occasion of the Ordination of the Rev. Sarah Perkins

I had the honor of preaching at the ordination of my friend and colleague Sarah today. We were an all-women ordination commission. And it was lovely. Below is the sermon. (Note that since Sarah's mother is a New Testament professor, I opted not to preach on a NT passage - I couldn't bear to mess that one up. LOL.) Isaiah43:16-21 There is a trap waiting out there for ministers in the United States. Do you not perceive it? The trap that ministers fall into is confusing the Good News with Nice News. Sarah and I were at a conference a few years ago where the Rev. Jose Morales preached on this distinction, and it has stayed with me. I’m not all that opposed to nice. When I think of nice, I think of a vacation place I once stayed at with a garden wall covered with tiny pots of succulents and a small bamboo garden. I think of the time I was helpful to a flight attendant trying to handle bags in the overhead compartment on a flight packed full of

Racial Justice Resources, Chapter 4: History & Poetry

You may read previous chapters here. Chapter 1: Disclaimers, Baby Steps, Intersectionality, and Critical Race Theory Chapter 2: For Church Study, Feminist Work, & Theology Chapter 3: News Sources & Organizations, Whiteness & White Supremacy I love reading history. I love that history is not only definitive story, but also threads of narrative told from a variety of perspectives. Here's a brief selected bibliography. History A People’s History of the United States , by Howard Zinn A Larger Memory: A History of Our Diversity , With Voices, by Ronald Takaki Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong , by James W. Loewen Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong , by James W. Loewen An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (Revisioning American History) , by Roxane Dunbar-Ortiz Life Upon These Shores: Looking at African American History 1513-2008 , by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Martin & Malcolm &

Generations and Cornerstones

Wednesday, May 10 Presbyterian Center Chapel 1 Peter 2:2-10  I hate it when people preach about buildings, and often using this passage. Buildings are so 1950s. It’s 20-freaking-17 and we’re going to talk about this cornerstone concept. And buildings. I hate myself. But it turns out infrastructure is a real thing still, so here goes. Not being in construction or engineering or architecture, I had to look this up. Using a stone to anchor a corner is a big deal. The cornerstone has to have an exact 90-degree angle. You might need to flip it around or try another stone to find that right angle. Buildings made of stone are beautiful and sturdy. A solid foundation. After all, the author says, this is the “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” This time in the early church is about building identity. A solid foundational identity as a pe

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

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