Women in Ministry
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A Sunday (11) in the Life of a Pastor/Mother: Spring Forward
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. (Ecclesiastes 3.1) I’m convinced that Daylight Savings Time is some cruel joke on either parents or pastors. And if you are both, then it is doubly cruel, especially when you lose an hour. Daylight Savings Time only seems to affect pastors…
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A Sunday (10) in the Life of a Pastor/Mother: Jesus & 3 Year Olds
41Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for Passover. 42And when Jesus was twelve years old, they all went there as usual for the celebration. 43After Passover his parents left, but they did not know that Jesus had stayed on in the city. 44They thought he was traveling with some other people, and they went a whole day…
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A Sunday (9) in the Life of a Pastor/Mother: Improvise
9 The headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine. He didn’t know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. (John 2.9) I can relate to this scene where a dilemma presents itself, in this case, they ran out of wine. And Jesus saves the day by turning water into…
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A Sunday (8) in the Life of a Pastor/Mother: Up Close & Personal
This picture was taken last year when we celebrated the 20th anniversary of my Head of Staff. The kids laid hands on him as I led them in a prayer. I love this photo because of what it represents. At my church, we take the baptismal vows very seriously, especially our commitment to nurture, teach,…
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Expanding Our Baptismal Community
9 The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other.) 10 Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you…
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A Sunday (7) in the Life of a Pastor/Mother: Hospitality
19 We love because God first loved us. . . . 21 This commandment we have from him: Those who claim to love God ought to love their brother and sister also. (1 John 4.19, 21) This morning, my daughter and I sported the side ponytail. Lately, she has been wanting to copy me in putting on lipstick,…
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A Sunday (6) in the Life of a Pastor/Mother: Sisters
This Sunday, I wasn’t actually at my church. I was away at a conference that was on a cruise ship. While my husband had his own Sunday adventure with the kids, having to take them to not just one but two churches that he serves at, I was keynoting a conference of 50 clergywomen on…
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A Sunday (5) in the Life of a Pastor/Mother: Community
Knowledge makes people arrogant, but love builds people up. (1 Corinthians 8.1) It’s been a while since I’ve preached. So, when I saw the options from the lectionary texts, I was scratching my head on deciding whether to preach on prophets, demons, or idols. I chose idols. Not because it was any easier than the three,…
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A Sunday (4) in the Life of a Pastor/Mother: Just Add Water
For Christmas, my son got Sea Monkeys in his stocking. Basically, you just add water to the packet and after 24 hours, little sea monkeys should begin to grow. Water has that effect on things. Just add water and life will happen. That’s what my Sunday was like. After months of no rain, we have…
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A Sunday (3) in the Life of a Pastor/Mother: Casualties
Today was one of those days in which I should have just crawled back into bed. Actually, the whole week was like that. Already my energy was low from having to plan and lead a 6-hour presbytery retreat for 50 council members and committee chairs a couple of days ago. With me being presbytery moderator…
Still Waters 