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

"GOD LOVES BLACKNESS. Too many have denied this basic truth for too long. Our choice to align ourselves with love and not hate requires both a rejection of racism and a positive proclamation that God delights in black lives." This comes from the newly approved PC (U.S.A.)  revised antiracism policy (newly dubbed "intercultural" policy). This week has only reinforced the need for the proclamation that God loves blackness.  And then...  A beautiful night shared between a very proactive police department (seriously, they were trying to do some good work) and a city with significant support for nationwide reform of policing, was destroyed in gunfire, another mass shooting in a nation already weary. I know this pastor interviewed in the links listed below (the Rev.  Michael W. Waters ). He's the first of many pastors in Dallas I thought of when I heard about the sniper fire. I knew he and others I know would be at the march to end the violence that ...

This was first spoken in chapel at the Presbyterian Center on May 11, 2016. Just because most of us speak English doesn’t mean we speak the same language. Studies show we are, in our political landscape, increasingly polarized in our beliefs. A cursory review of social media reveals many of us are speaking different languages, listening to argue, speaking past each other. Just because most of us speak English doesn’t mean we speak the same language. We have regional dialects, turns of phrase that not everyone understands. “Might could” is a southern-ism that wouldn’t pass muster in the Pacific Northwest. There, it would make no grammatical sense whatsoever. In the south, it makes perfect sense. Just because most of us speak English doesn’t mean we speak the same language. We have a few dominant narratives in the wind of mainline Protestantism these days. One narrative claims the reign of God is inbreaking, increased diversity of worship and worshiping communities, a shift f...

Questions for the reader are in  a different font . This is the fifth blog post for the  Companions on the Inner Way  summer retreat. The featured speaker is  Enuma Okoro . You can find the other blog posts here: Blogging for Companions on the Inner Way: It’s Not About Me.  Seeking Home: Where Do We Come From?  Who Have We Become? UnBelonging Beloved After our break yesterday, we had our Lectio group. The Scripture passage was John 15:18-21 . I am not particularly fond of the Gospel of John. And this is a particularly uncomfortable passage. The phrase that stood out to me was “on account of my name.” What the heck is that about? I wondered. I went to the art room (at least I’m persistent, eh?) and started with oil pastels. I wanted to draw the vortex that can be the national church. I’m not saying this because I don’t love my work, or where I work, or my colleagues. It is a natural hazard of being national staff that it can become a vorte...

You can catch previous editions here. First Edition: Caveats and Privilege Second Edition: Respecting People, Also Known As God's Creation This is a post about space. If you have been on a plane in the past five years, you know space is a premium. The smaller spaces available as airlines cram more seats into each plane require us to be a bit more, shall we say, self-aware. I have a few #protips to suggest. A caveat: Of course, I understand not everyone is my size. Some people literally take up more space. That’s cool. I think God made us in all sizes. But that doesn’t mean some of us get to monopolize all the space. Tips for flying: Put your smaller item under the seat in front of you, unless your height makes it really uncomfortable. Nothing throws me into a rage faster than a man (it’s always a man) who is 5’7” with no discernible disability who puts his slim briefcase FLAT in the overhead bin space. Or the man (it is often a man) who puts his coat into...