Church done well can be a community of support and hope. Church can provide people with a sense of inclusion, identity and purpose. Church can be a place of resurrection. In my own ministry and preaching, I endeavor to remind people who they are (created, known, beloved), whose they are (God’s), and what they are […]
Easter
TRAUMATIC LOSS: Holy Week’s Lament
25 “For [j]what I fear comes upon me,And what I dread befalls me.26 “I am not at ease, nor am I quiet,And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”(Job 3:25-26) (TRIGGER WARNING) TRAUMATIC LOSS: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Traumatic grief /bereavement is defined as when there is a death […]
The Sunday After Easter
As a parish minister, I always looked forward to the Sunday after Easter more than Easter itself. Of course Easter is wonderful, the celebration of the very heart of our faith. Of course wherever I served we had special music, Easter lilies, and my most well-rehearsed sermon of the year. And of course we had […]