It’s hard not to feel a little sympathy for the disciples in this scripture.  They have been following Jesus along his journey.  They have been told to give up all their possessions.  They have been told that he, Jesus, and God are one.  They have seen unexplainable miracles.  They have heard, over and over again, […]

Rev. Lillian Daniel, a United Church of Christ pastor in rural Iowa and a writer, was a speaker at the Festival of Homiletics, the preaching conference I attended in May.  She stood in front of probably 1000 preachers, looked at us and said, “I fear we have lost our way.”  She went on to say […]

I have a friend, Jonathan, who is a UCC pastor in Connecticut.  His church is in a town about the size of Winona and it is located right in the center – a typical New England design.  Their church sign is right on the corner of the busiest intersection – and as it is a […]

In 2008 I was in my final year of seminary and a student pastor at Lafayette United Methodist Church in St. Louis.  This was an urban church, right in downtown.  It was surrounded by poverty and violence.  A large, stone building – its pew were mostly empty on a Sunday morning, but those who were […]

I want to ask you to use your imagination with me.  I want you to imagine this bent-over woman in her full humanity.  I want you to picture her in your mind.  A woman who was bent-over, unable to look anyone in the eye.  Unable to see anything more than a patch of ground in […]

A week ago, as I sat down to plan out worship for this week, I noticed on the UCC website a reminder that 74 years ago this week two nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan.  I wanted to recognize that part of our human history.  I wanted to pause to consider how we as people […]

A wonderful place to observe human nature, and to participate in it, is the Hallmark card aisle in a convenience store.  Especially around a holiday.  Especially around three holidays in particular – Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day.  And if you are anything like me and don’t stand in front of those cases of […]

The story of Mary and Martha is another one of the more familiar stories from the Gospels.  In it we hear of two sisters, each responding to a visit in their home by Jesus.  Martha is busy doing – doing all sorts of things that she undoubtedly felt were what good hospitality looked like.  Mary, […]

So often when people think of this very familiar parable, people focus on the Good Samaritan.  Of course he stopped to help, we tell ourselves, and so would I.  However, this parable is not a nice little story about helping someone who has been hurt.  In fact, this parable is full of lessons, many of […]

I am what people call a “UCC nerd.”  By that I mean, I have a deep and abiding love for the United Church of Christ and follow along with the inner workings, public statements, and gossip of our national body.  I worked on the national staff prior to coming to Winona to serve as your […]