Community

Two weeks ago I wrote about young people and the church, specifically about their (seeming) absence. Now, I want to focus on older adults and the church. The average age of mainline denominational churches is getting older. This is often referred to as the “graying of the church,” and it has some people feeling a…

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; Psalm 22:14           O Lord, have mercy! My hands have fallen numb My feet drag in the dirt. This sorrow is too heavy to bear. I cannot find words…

Young people are absent from the church. That is a broad enough statement that it is both true and untrue. It is true insofar as statistics show a decline (Barna Group estimates that only 9% of Gen Z is engaged in church). But it is untrue that young people are not interested in the church…

This Sunday our focus will be Peacemaking. The word is a verb as opposed to the word peace which is a noun. Peace is what we might experience as a result of the hard work of peacemaking (and it is hard work). In preparation for this Sunday, I have been reading a book by Donald…

In some Christian denominations the pastor’s hands are tied in terms of the passages she or he will preach on. For example, the Episcopalian Church and the Roman Catholic Church are required to follow the lectionary, which is a three-year cycle of Bible passages arranged by a large inter-denominational group. Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Methodists also…