Second Church Steps

Our heroes always, almost always, turn out to have feet of clay.   They are not impervious titans of moral, ethical, and philosophical perfection.   Our heroes are always, almost always, men and women who are human and flawed and frail.   The Genesis story tells us that God formed the first man and the first woman out of the “dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7, NRSV). We are dust, and the Ash Wednesday liturgy reminds us that we shall return to dust (based on Genesis 3:19). What stands between dust and dust?   There is the breath of God, breathed into molded ground to give it life.   There is the water of baptism, poured onto this molded ground to form it into a life of service.   This watered ground becomes moldable mud; a clay for the Potter’s hand to fit us to our ministry and mission in the world. At no point, do we become other than what we are made of and made by.   We are clay footed servants of the living God. Lent is a time when the ...

The book of Esther is a difficult one, but it is important.  It speaks of power! There is personal power, royal power, and providential power.  It is a book that can be difficult to discuss with children and anyone who has been voiceless; however, it is not a book exhaulting the victim.  Esther is not a submissive girl who gives up.  She has inner strength and power.  She lives her life and draws on her community.  When the time comes, she uses her wisdom to be a vessel for the will of God.  Her uncle tells her, “perhaps you have been made royal for a time such as this.”  We often skip the “royal,” in our attempt to make the message universal.  However, we forget that we are children of "the king of all creation" and therefore “royal.”  I cannot help wondering how the Rev. Becca Stevens hears the book of Esther? Rev. Stevens works with women who have been commercialized and abused.  She teaches that "#LoveHeals." ...

Advent is about journey and anticipation and preparation. Christmas is about a gift and joy and the presence of the Living God breaking into darkness. Lent is about reflection and atonement and forgiveness. Easter is about life and victory and new life in Christ. Pentecost is about the birthday of the body of Christ, the Way, the whole church of believers. That is the church year in a nutshell.  What if they happen within the span of three weeks, or a week, or one night? This year Christmas and Easter collided. Twenty days is not long to go from confirmed diagnosis to  eternal life, but that was my father’s Advent, Lent and Christmas/Easter journey. He invited in friends, family and loved ones to witness his journey. He worked very hard to prepare my sisters and his twin brother’s daughters for a garden moment when he would die.  I have never wished for Advent nor Lent to be longer, but I wished for one more day--one more night--one more morning.  However, ...

Almost two years ago, Second Church asked me, “What’s next for Sunday School?” I've been considering it ever since. Then yesterday, in the middle of Presbytery Meeting, I was transported to the mountains of North Carolina.  Actually, I was transported to a specific instance in the mountains of North Carolina.   Christian Educators, recreation leaders, pastors, and prophets  gathered at the Arts, Recreation and Worship Conference at Montreat Camp and Conference Center, May 2016.  We  played, pondered and prayed over how the future of the church will reflect the past and then move beyond it.  Every participant wrote down an aspect of church life that needed re-imagining. The words were written onto strands of material; then we put these silk wish-bands into a hat. Later in the worship service, every participant was given or drew out one. We were charged to envision “what’s next” for the concern we received.  I got “Sunday School;” the cloth ...

Devotion for Smalls, Talls, and All on Psalm 46 (verses 1, 7, 9-11) There was a lot of violence in the news this past weekend-- from the accidental to unthinkable. I really avoided thinking about it all day. Then, my work was finished. I didn't have any other tasks to occupy my mind. Just as I was settling into a "think," I ran across this devotion from this summer. I wonder if it might help others to think about hard things. I offer it to you for you and your children. 1 God is our refuge and strength,     an ever-present help in trouble. 7  The Lord Almighty is with us;     the God of Jacob is our fortress. 9  He makes wars cease     to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;     he burns the shields [ d ]  with fire. 10  He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;    ...

Media coverage of Hurricane Harvey has had me checking on-line to see if the people and places of my Houston days are well.  Is St. Luke’s PCUSA on the south 610 Loop dry?  Is Northwoods PCUSA, on FM1960, up and running a relief effort? (Of course it is.) Familiar street names flash across the screen, and my heart goes back to the humid years of early adulthood.   Houston is where I weathered miscarriages and disappointments.  It is where I ventured into professional church work in Bellaire.  It is where I learned to “carol dance.”  It is also where I learned what it is to rise above the self and praise God with humility.  How do we sit with pain, anguish, disbelief, and loss? Even more, how do we help our children sit with this? We do this with prayer.  Prayers that name the pain and confess our need, give voice to hope and affirm the connectivity in Christ. Then, we lift prayers of praise—not in spite of the pain, but in the midst...

I am the kind of person who really likes to hit a mark.  Whether it is checking off a list or perfectly duplicating Martha Stewart’s Peter Rabbit cake, I love replicating excellence.  I also have trouble coloring within the proverbial lines.  Yes, it is an interesting dichotomy, and my brain is a playground of diversity which is most often a ping pong match between organization and innovation.  However, if there are enough undercurrents/challenges all bets are off.  Then it becomes a bob and weave of programming.   https://goo.gl/images/hgXDu7 This summer did not really go according to "the plan,"  after all life happens.  You've heard of Plan B, right? We ended up punting the (A through) “K Plan” aka the “Kat Plan” in its many manifestations.  I had a beautiful plan for coping with absences and summer staffing realities…and then after “Plan A” comes “Plan B” and so on.   I then realized we had skipped “Plan G.” Plan G...