Category Archive

Today through Sunday, Barbara Barrett, David Tokar, and I will be at Annual
Conference. My appreciation of this huge gathering of clergy and lay members from
throughout the California-Nevada Conference has grown… from overwhelm and dread
to awe and gratitude. We gather for a business meeting, bringing our own theological
and political agendas, trying to leave our calendars and to-do lists at home, doing our
best to be present to the work of the Holy Spirit, and to each other.

It takes a lot of emotional energy for this closet introvert.…

Yes, this is the title of an 8-week JustFaith class Keith Calara and I are co-facilitating
this summer. On Tuesday I had the opportunity to practice my communication tools in a
difficult conversation. A man came into the church office to talk with the pastor. He was
young, nice looking, clean, with a friendly, open face. But he came to tell me that flying
rainbow flags “all around the church” was more than wrong… it was unchristian,
disrespectful, pagan, and promoted a sexual agenda.…

I’m going on a walking pilgrimage in Scotland next month, and I’ve been
reading Richard Rohr’s reflections about pilgrimage. “Pilgrims move in two
directions at the same time – an outward direction toward a holy destination
and an inward journey seeking an encounter with the sacred. Embarking on
such a journey, we become untethered not just from our physical normalcy.
These uncertain, trusting steps also move us out of our spiritual familiarity.
The pilgrim is invited not only to walk out of boxes of dogmatic beliefs, but
also to walk away from practices of comfortable spirituality.”…