Reflections Blog
In the Blink of an Eye
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until...
Equipping New Ministries: Presbytery Announces Missional Pioneer Leader Training Series for 2022.
At the Presbytery Gathering on November 18, Los Ranchos will celebrate the first class to complete the Missional and Pioneer Leader Training series organized by the presbytery. Throughout the year, leaders gathered monthly to learn approaches to sharing faith — and...
We haven’t crossed the threshold yet.
Photo of the Bon Secours Retreat and Conference Center used with permission. You can find them at https://rccbonsecours.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/rccbonsecours. Providence works in funny ways. The week before our fire (early April 2021), Karen arranged for a...
Fearless
Let’s face it, this is a weird season to be the church. We are connected and distanced, we are not who we were, but we have little clarity about the practices we should keep and those of which we should let go. There is little “normal” about the time we are in, and...
Summer Tidbits
My column this month covers some of our summer activity: Council conversations with Sessions; congregation-to-congregation networking; the recent boundaries training; and September’s upcoming Presbytery meeting. Conversations with Sessions: In May your Sessions...
What’s Next, Lord?
Over the Fourth of July weekend, I visited my daughter in McKinleyville, a remote town on the northernmost coast of California. The region is sometimes called the “Lost Coast,” and I can see why, because it is often blanketed by mist and clouds. While I was there, the...
The Question We Struggle to Answer
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.[i] Thomas said, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way…”[ii] An “aha!” moment Committee on...
Space to Heal
A Tale of Two Worlds Last weekend, I worshiped indoors for the first time in a year. We were masked and instructed not to sing, but it still felt like drinking cold water from a fresh mountain spring. While I was rejoicing with my siblings in Christ, we were also...
Fire! Conflagrations, Congregations, and Council Committees
Photo by Karen Claassen Our house caught fire early Saturday morning, April 10. We don’t know what happened, but we woke in the night to the neighbor’s house ablaze. By the time the firefighters prevailed, the fire had burned our eaves and rafters, blistered one wall,...
Edge Moments: When Hindsight becomes Foresight
Photo by Erin Dunigan The quality of our communion in Christ, the resurrected life we share together because we have been touched by grace, is an unstoppable force. Wars, famines, and plagues throughout history have failed to extinguish our movement because our...
From the self-giving love of Christ
Photo by Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash. I’m a bit of a Supreme Court fan. Not a geek-expert, mind you. But ever since a college course titled Psychology and the Law introduced me to SCOTUS rulings, I’ve found a bit of a thrill in constitutional law. You won’t be...
Peace be with You – And with Me!
Photo by Brett Davis on Flickr. My brain is on overload. Or is it my heart? The images from our nation’s capitol these past two weeks have been shocking, tragic, and dispiriting. As painful as they have been, they are no surprise. They are a natural result of a nation...