Book discussion today at the presbytery office—Barbara Brown Taylor’s Leaving Church. Many good questions raised; few answers:
BBT’s path of faith and her desire to be authentically herself ultimately led her out of the church and pastoral ministry. Must it be that way? Can this kind of questing and questioning (including a bald admission of great […]

Spent the weekend on retreat with the twenties and thirties group from church. We were in a large house on a lake, and we did very little. My head of staff would be appalled with me for not planning something structured, but 1) it’s not really my role with that group and 2) people didn’t […]

Very good, tiring weekend. The workshop went well, the concert was great. Got to see Mibi! Sorry we didn’t have more time to visit.Edited to add two cool things:
1. When I introduced the speaker I shared this story, and it was wonderful to be able to share that with her. As she wrote me later, […]

Very fruitful day. Lunch with Semi-Famous Blogger, then a great time in spiritual direction. I see a sparkly Dominican nun every month or so. The theme I seem to be working on in my life lately is assertiveness and authenticity. How to speak the truth in love. I sometimes overemphasize the love part and swallow […]

We had a very nice birthday celebration. M and I made a donut run early this morning, and we had a junk food breakfast with mimosas. Heh. I had gotten the day off from work, so I found myself at the grocery store at 11:30 a.m. and the place was hopping. Who knew?R spent the […]

Last year I became a member of a presbytery committee—sort of the uber-committee, if you know anything about presbyterian government. I learned two days ago that I’m also on uber-committee’s leadership team, by virtue of chairing one of the subteams. Confused yet? What it means is that I attend the meeting-before-the-meeting. You can’t make this […]

Here are the top 10 best things about having a baby with me at work:
10. Fewer dates with the breastpump.
9. Thanks to regular nursing breaks, my basket of Interesting Things to Read is actually getting cleaned out.
8. The weekly staff meeting, which can easily drag into the noon hour, comes to an early and efficient […]

If working from home/with M in the office/with M being babysat is logistically tricky, Sundays are the really tricky things. Yesterday went well. M and I left for the church around 7:30, in time for me to feed her before the worship service, which she spent in the nursery. Apparently she was very comfortable there.
The […]

Well, all in all I’d give my first week back a B-.
Good things:
–I am happy to be back. I feel a sense of excitement rather than dread when I walk into my office (I really want to start calling it a study, which is more traditional and theologically appropriate, but “office” is a hard habit […]

…they fit great, but even an old pair of shoes will feel weird if you haven’t worn them for a while. That’s what it felt like going back to work.
There were a few disorienting pieces:
–Couldn’t get on the Internet–something got reconfigured in my absence.
–The new member bulletin board features photos of people I’ve never seen.
–I […]

PPB and others were wondering what I submitted for critique. Here is the first piece:
Introduction
It’s happened again.
Another friend of mine from seminary, ordained, installed and practicing ministry for less than two years, has given notice to the church she serves. She will not seek another call—not right now. She will be a stay-at-home mom to […]

I have been having a little delayed post-partum baby blues, thinking about maternity leave coming to an end. I go back to work April 4, and I’m very much looking forward to the work and the people. However, much as I try not to, I’m doing some anticipatory sweating of small stuff. The good news […]

Dear C,
As you know, part of my work schedule at Suburban Pres. is to spend every Wednesday evening at the church. What you may not know is that I’m teaching sixth grade Bible study. I enjoy it most of the time, and as important as I think it is for these kids to connect with […]

“What’s this?” you asked, as you lifted up
a small black velvet pouch.
“It’s healing oil,” I said, and fished out the
heavy brass vial, twisted off the lid,
and dipped a finger inside.
“I give it to people who are sick, or sad,
so they can remember God’s love.”
The fragrance encircled us.
“I want some,” you said, and I hesitated—then
brushed it […]

early Sunday morning
your father took up tools
and pulled apart your crib,
piece after piece,
stacking them in a room waiting
empty, across the hall, to receive them.
then with those same tools
he put together for you
a new bed:
beautiful, sturdy, and safe.
you stretched out your body
and lifted up your eyes
to a rainbow canopy
and smiled,
grateful.
and
later that morning
your mother took bread
and pulled […]

So far in my tenure at Suburban Presbyterian Church I have performed three weddings. Interestingly, all three were the second wedding for at least one member of the couple, and two of them were for people who are significantly older than I am. Which really isn’t that big a deal, but just last week I […]

C.
P.
E.
Clinical.
Pastoral.
Education.
For the uninitiated: what is CPE?
The simple answer: a semester or more of hospital chaplaincy, for credit and (usually) no pay.
The more complete answer: hospital chaplain work, combined with individual and group supervision (read: therapy-lite), during which one works through the issues that come up during the CPE process and how they might impact […]

My work day was bookended by meetings. This afternoon I met with senior pastor, music director and an elder to do some worship planning this afternoon. We did our getting-started things–sang a song, prayed a prayer, spread out notebooks and calendars and hymnals on the wide round table. Suddenly senior pastor turns to the elder, […]

it’s the inhale before worship begins.
we line up in the hall,
Bible-bearer, acolyte, and two women
in robes and stoles.
breathless latecomers slide in before us
(that way they’re still on time);
piano prelude drifts through doors
thrown open.
and then
the scritch of a match,
and flame kisses wick
of a long, glimmering…
what’s-it-called?
acolyte thingy.
and then, two clanging bells
announce us:
we walk in, and it always […]