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August 2020

August 15, 2020

How It’s Always Been

100 years from now/ they will sit in churches/ and worship in wide circles/wearing masks...

November 2019

November 03, 2019

A Cloud of Witnesses

He'd been making the rounds. The man in the trench coat, Bible in hand, burst...

July 2019

July 20, 2019

Together In One Place: A 12-Point Survival Guide For Your Large Denominational Gathering

You'll be overwhelmed. You'll be exhausted. You'll look like you've been through a week of...

July 17, 2019

How To Be A Guest: 7 Things I Learned About Visiting A New Church

It was an alien experience for me, pulling in that "visitor" parking spot. But after...

February 2019

February 01, 2019

Worshipful Living: How a Church in the Netherlands Prayed Away Deportation

The concept of "worshipful living" is an underrated Christian practice. Most of us worship once...

December 2018

December 23, 2018

Magnificat: Revolutionary Mary

46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my...

December 21, 2018

For Goodness Sake: Preachers, Try Not To Ruin Santa

Last weekend, my 8-year-old cornered me, eyed me suspiciously and said "Ginger's handwriting looks JUST...

December 08, 2018

Singing In the Dark: 7 Christmas Songs You Never Saw Coming

What I know from years of blogging (and pastoring) is that people have some FEELINGS...

April 2018

April 25, 2018

Is Church for Extroverts?

Most churches are designed by and for extroverts. To be truly diverse, we need to...

March 2018

March 30, 2018

7 Last Words, Redux

Because for the real, the raw, and the unimaginable that this day brings... sometimes art...

December 2015

December 24, 2015

Meanwhile, Instead, Anyway: Christmas, the Great Conjunction

My high school English teacher--the one who showed me the wonders of eliminating 'to-be' verbs...

December 17, 2015

Let it Go: What Church Can and Can’t Be at Christmas

Here's what I did NOT need to see: that article from "Christianity Today" about how...

October 2015

October 07, 2015

Because The World is Hungry

This was Sunday's sermon for World Communion Sunday. As always, the table was filled with...

December 2013

December 23, 2013

In Church, At Christmas Time

It's Christmas week, and you know what that means--re-runs! I wrote this piece last year,...

May 2013

May 29, 2013

In Season

It's fixin to be June in Phoenix. Lord help us... Some of you know that...

March 2013

March 26, 2013

A Song and a Prayer: The Holy Week Playlist

Throughout the season of Advent, Christmas music (for better or worse) blares at us everywhere we...

December 2012

December 24, 2012

Go and See

God comes wherever we are: even if we've failed to pray the right prayer; even...

December 13, 2012

What We Never Knew We Needed

Guest Post: Rev. Andrew Shepherd is Pastoral Resident at Foothills Christian Church in Phoenix. He...

December 11, 2012

Week 2, Day 2: Magnificat

Mary's was the original Christmas carol. She is the reason that we sing our way...

November 2012

November 17, 2012

til by Turning, Turning, We Come ‘Round Right

Spoiler alert: if you are coming to Foothills for worship tomorrow and you want to be...

August 2012

August 09, 2012

A Good Word

The essence of being 'timely' has utterly changed, now that news can travel to us...

March 2012

March 20, 2012

A Primer for New Life: Painting Over Pastels

...it is time to get rid of the 16-year-old carpet. Because ultimately, at that point...

September 2011

September 10, 2011

Soul Seasons

A pumpkin latte in my hand. From Not Starbuck's. A cool crisp 62 degrees out....

September 09, 2011

For Such a Time as This

I was sitting on the floor of my crummy first-year-of-being-a-grownup apartment, doing grad school homework...

September 08, 2011

The Sacred Struggle

"The middle ground lies in the struggle. The acceptance that, when violence becomes necessary to...

August 2011

August 27, 2011

Saturday Night’s Alright (just alright)

One thing they don't tell you when you go into the ministry [wait--there are about...

August 24, 2011

And Paul Thought Corinth Was Bad…

Naked is all the rage. Naked Juice: great lunch in a quick and easy container....

August 23, 2011

Birth Order Bingo

We've all heard the rumor that first children are more successful. Well, it's not a...

August 22, 2011

The Greatest Sweepstakes EVER

My aunt has won vehicles in sweepstakes contests. Not once. Not twice. But THREE TIMES. Impossibly...

August 20, 2011

Too Marvelous For Me

On occasion, it becomes necessary to bring one's children to one's office. I may not...