No, this is not a Christmas-themed reflection. Although, be truthful, didn’t the thought of the need of a sweater or extra blanket or curling up near a blazing fire bring you a wee bit of relief from our record summer heat? Me neither. This is, instead, a message about vocation. As we near Labor Day, I thought I might share a few thoughts on the calling of each of us. In fact, the word vocation is Latin meaning “a call or summons.” It is, according to Wikipedia, “an occupation to which a person is specially drawn or for which he or she is suited, trained, or qualified.” Which of these definitions best fits you? A few years ago when I volunteered with Junior Achievement, one of the activities I did with my seventh graders was a vocational grid. On one axis was how much you liked or disliked an activity and on the other axis was whether or not you were good at the activity. I then...

One of the most humbling, life giving, and difficult parts of being a pastor is walking along side families as they face death head on and grieve the loss of someone they love dearly. Honestly, “someone they love dearly” doesn’t even begin to capture the love and deep intimate connection, the life changing impact that they had in the lives of those who gather to celebrate them. Words just aren’t enough. This past Friday I was blessed and deeply grieved to attend the funeral of a high school friend. We had gone to church together, served along side each other on mission trips, laughed and cried. I was deeply moved by the words of her pastor as he opened the worship service. He said something to the effect of “We are here because the world tells us that death has put a period at the...

There is plenty of evidence to support the idea that developing consequential faith does not happen once a week at Church or Sunday School or Youth Group — no matter how good your pastors and programs are. Even if you never miss a week of church or Sunday School there is never enough time in a single hour to reinforce and build upon the lessons of scripture and faith that we have to learn. Developing consequential faith happens in the rich soil of families, communities, and mentor relationships where we see those people we care about enacting a larger story of divine care and hope. Part of what that means is that the habits, actions, and rituals that make up our daily lives are some of the most powerful influences in shaping our faith. The rituals and habits don't need to be formal, holy, or serious. A ritual can...

Because of vacation, I prepared this week's Echoes entry early. As it turned out, I prepared it on the day that the official report on the Penn State athletics child sex abuse scandal prepared by former FBI Director Louis Freeh was hitting the press (July 12, 2012). As you'll remember, the case involved the now convicted coach Jerry Sandusky and those at Penn State who failed to follow up as aggressively as they should have (including legendary coach Joe Paterno). Anyone who leads programs for children must take the report seriously. Specifics of Penn State aside, anyone in that position is also well aware of how difficult it can be to protect everyone's rights in tough situations — including folks who've been accused of misconduct or crimes. Anyone following the travails of the Catholic church, or disturbing revelations about some church-related schools for Native American in the last century, or recent revelations...

I am just returning from two weeks of vacation. We took short trips here and there and then spent time catching up on projects around the house. The most life giving element of my time out of the office was being with the boys. Micah is now 3-1/2 and Graham is just 2 years behind him. They are active and loud and full of energy. A couple of year’s ago our one of our confirmands had a line in her statement of faith that has stuck with me (her’s isn’t the only one, I am in awe of the faith of our teens). She said in her statement that she sees God at work all around her in the little things, one example she shared was finding “God in the giggle of a small child.” Her words spoke to a reality I know well. I knew it before having children...

Mom: “Actually, it’s not bad. Johnny will be watching baseball for about an hour on Sunday mornings.” You: “Really? Don’t they have practice drills for the team to learn the game?” Mom: “Yes, but we are only able to carve out this much time from our busy family schedule. Besides, he can learn a lot by just watching.” You: “So he won’t be playing, just watching?” Mom: “That’s right.” You: “But he’ll be going every Sunday, right?” Mom: “Only when we don’t have another more important commitment. Maybe a couple of times a month…” You (to yourself): “I hope he’s not playing on my child’s team…” Was I too obvious? We all like to be members of something: country clubs, performance groups, volunteer organizations, social gatherings. Standards for membership vary from the very exclusive to the “fog a mirror and you're in.” What exactly are the requirements, benefits, expectations and responsibilities of membership in the church? Here’s what our Book of Order says about...

Last month, one of the local papers carried a story on the risks and symptoms of dehydration — important things to be on the lookout for with all the high temperatures sweeping the nation this summer. The paper listed several of the symptoms of dehydration to include, "weakness, dizziness, confusion, thirst, and sluggishness." Following the meeting of the General Assembly last week in Pittsburgh, Pa, I couldn't help but think that this list of symptoms sounded an awful lot like the state of the church. While there was energy and good work done by many faithful committees and commissioners to the 220th General Assembly, overall the church felt confused and sluggish. It lacked decisive moves toward creativity and openness that are necessary to launch the church forward. Many of the...

In my "Echoes" entry of April 4, I outlined some ideas behind what's being called the "Missional Movement" in Protestant churches these days. Following the idea that if it's important, you oughta say it (at least) more than once, I want to talk about this some more here. But this time I want to take a little different turn, like looking at another facet of a jewel. I want to think about how we might rethink a few things about "church" in light of all of this. Theologian Brian McLaren is one of a handful of folks often quoted when the idea of "missional church" comes up. He was the morning speaker for General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) on Monday morning, July 2, in Pittsburgh. In his talk he described four thoughts about the church that are driving the missional movement. He was summarizing, so the ideas weren't all that new. But he crystalized

Last week I was in Western Pennsylvania for a family wedding, a place where Presbyterian churches are as numerous as Mexican restaurants in Phoenix. It is the cradle of the Presbyterian religion in the United States and Pittsburgh will host the 220th General Assembly on June 30-July 7. So I thought I might share a bit about our polity — how we govern ourselves. Our hierarchy has four levels- session, presbytery, synod, and general assembly. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has over 11,000 congregations which are organized into 173 presbyteries (district governing bodies) and 16 synods (regional governing bodies). The session is the governing body at the local church level. Ours is comprised of twelve ruling elders and all of the installed pastors. The senior pastor typically moderates the session. Pinnacle is in Grand Canyon Presbytery, a group of 70 Presbyterian churches in...

In her book, An Alter in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor writes, “I would rather show someone my checkbook stubs than talk about my prayer life.” I suspect that she is not alone. Prayer is an essential part of a life of faith. It is an important way that we communicate to God and God to us. Prayer keeps us connected to God and it is a discipline through which God transforms us and we (co-laborers with God) transform the world. As Taylor also comments, “To say I love God but I do not pray much is like saying I love life but I do not breath much.” But developing a disciplined habit of prayer can be difficult. Perhaps in part because there are so many other things clamoring for our attention that prayer easily gets lost in the shuffle. I also wonder if prayer is difficult because we struggle to know exactly how to or...

When I was in graduate school I stumbled across a Greek word for agreement that after a while became kind of important to me. The word is the root of our word homology. In modern use, the word has pretty much been relegated to science — biological patterns that are similar between two organisms. When you dig deeper into its Greek roots, however, homologia is not just about the goal of similarity or agreement. It also speaks of the process toward that agreement. Put simply, it's a kind of agreement that is patterned with, or predicted by, or dependent upon, or inseparable from the process of its achievement. It's basically the unity (homology) of means and ends. In a society so aggressively focused on results, measurement, calculation, ends that justify any means, winning at any cost, fear-driven achievement, individual responsibility...

If you ever have the desire to break out into song — in the shower, in the car, maybe at your neighbor's infamous karaoke night — you should embrace it whole-heartedly. This ancient art not only feels good, it can enhance your well-being, reduce your feelings of pain and even prolong your life. Using your voice to sing, rather than simply carry out a conversation, offers unique benefits. "When we sing instead of speak, we have intonation, melody line, and crescendo, which gives us a broader vocabulary to express ourselves," says Suzanne Hanser, chair of the music therapy department at Berklee College of Music. "Because singing is visceral (relating to, or affecting, our bodies), it can't help but effect change." Studies have linked singing with a lower heart rate, decreased blood pressure, and reduced stress, according to Patricia Preston-Roberts, a board-certified music therapist in New York City. She uses...

The day after my birthday my husband and I decided to drive to Sedona to hike the West Fork Trail. The weather was beautiful and it was good to have a day filled with fresh air and sunshine and exercise, a day away from the office, a time to rest. Imagine my surprise when we passed a pair of lady hikers who paused in our hearing just long enough to say something like “Yeah, I really don’t get that Christian thing. Do you know how much evil has been done in that name?” It caught me so off guard that I couldn’t respond. Perhaps I shouldn’t have anyway, since I was technically eavesdropping even though it was unintentional. But this was especially convicting to me since the Wednesday bible study I lead had just been discussing the importance...

In our tradition only a few elements are reserved to actions that only ordained clergy can conduct: officiating at the Lord’s Supper, baptizing, and marring couples. Each of these acts is mysterious and wonderful. Today I would like to focus on baptism. Over the last five year’s of my ministry, performing baptisms has been a privilege. I have been able to baptize infants and teens, participate as my children were baptized, and participate as teens confirm their baptism vows. All of these different views of baptism have lead to deep personal and professional exploration. How do you explain to a two year old what is happening when their little brother is baptized? How do you explain baptism to a teen that is participating in confirmation? How do you help parents to see baptism as more than a ritual, but an induction into a way of life, a relationship, a covenant? These questions, and so many more, have led me to read the thoughts of others on this mysterious sacrament, to dialogue with colleagues and church members about their views of its significance, and wrestle on my own with how to articulate the mysterious and ineffable. I was blessed in my searching to stumble upon a book..

“The miracle is not to walk on water but on the earth.” – Thich Nhat Hanh I am still thinking about bodies. Earlier this week I lead a discussion with several women about the Ashley Judd article that I had blogged about last month. My hope had been that in opening up a conversation on faith and bodies, or faith and our physical selves (yes, the two things are congruent), that we might talk openly about our culture’s obsession with women’s bodies that are accompanied by false standards of perfection, and in turn redirect the conversation toward something more authentic and hopeful grounded in the very God who created each of us in God’s own image, and whose most decisive revelation is not a theory but a physical person. Hopeful, but maybe a little off the mark. My base level instincts tell me that overall, the conversation did not go well. Perhaps in my enthusiasm for authentic conversation I had forgotten about the painful wounds that we all — men and women — carry about our bodies. I had also forgotten...

During the years I was teaching preaching at a university divinity school I was often struck by how eloquent many of our students could be when describing the human condition. They would wax lyrical, find appropriate metaphors, use telling examples of life experiences, and identify with their audience in ways that kept their hearers’ attention and interest. They could use classical rhetorical moves to great effect, taking us to worlds of poverty, illness, struggle, or anxiety with surprising deftness. If there were a preaching Pulitzer for that sort of thing, I’d have had some nominees. As I took note of my students’ persuasive skills, I began to notice something else too. I began to notice that many of these same students, most of them preparing...

Wow! I feel we are just on the heels of Easter, and my calendar is already filling up with the details and nitty gritties of Vacation Bible School (VBS). I don’t know how many of you have been part of a VBS – whether as a child, a parent, a volunteer, or a planner. My experience had been quite limited. When I was younger, I went to VBS with my best friend, Jill. I remember making crafts, doing a lot of singing, and hearing the bible stories each day. As a parent, our church didn’t offer VBS, and my children, Paige and Grant, didn’t even know what they were missing. But then we moved to Phoenix in 2005 and would spend our summers in Florida (why stay in the dry heat when you can escape to the humidity of southern Florida?). Paige and Grant participated in the VBS program at First Presbyterian Church of Bonita Springs, and they loved it! The first year the theme was “Fiesta” and was a perfect match for our new home in the Southwest. We listened to...

Apparently I wasn’t paying attention in my high school lit class, because on Sunday night at Junior High Youth Group I was taught about a genre of literature called dystopia. The genre is extremely popular presently due to the poster-child book/movie of the genre Hunger Games. So here is the back story... We began our lesson with the teens sharing their favorite book or movie and then we briefly chatted about their genres and what makes certain books/movies fit within a given genre (i.e., action-adventure typically keeps you at the edge of your seat and results in your heart rate raising a bit). From there we broke into small groups to explore how God’s story fits into different genres: romance, horror, comedy, action-adventure, and our final group chose dystopia. They were given...

Earlier this week actress Ashley Judd wrote a scathing rebuttal for The Daily Beast after several news and media sources went to town speculating that her “puffy face” was a result of plastic surgery or other cosmetic “work,” that she had let herself go “losing the familiar beauty that audiences loved her for,” and that she was lazy and fat and she had, “better watch out because her husband was looking for a second wife.” In response to these accusations, Judd writes powerfully about our culture’s normalized obsession with women’s faces, bodies and overall body image that privileges the...

Theologians like to make up words — or use old words differently. Some folks call these "neologisms" (how's that for a word?). Every once in a while one of those words catches on, goes viral, and makes a difference. The word "missional" is one of those. It's spreading through the church, with impact. Books written (Missional Church; Cultivating Missional Communities; A New Missional Era; The Missional Church in Perspective), conferences had, websites put up, and blog articles written. Over the course of about 20 years the word has become a part of church culture, at least among "mainline" (or "oldline") Protestants. Alongside this word "missional," another term has also arisen, and that's "emergent." Coming from different sides of Protestant life — "missional" coming out of the mainline and "emergent" coming out of Evangelical churches — the two terms try to describe a singular phenomenon facing...