Talking about LGBTQ Inclusion
Dan Schrock
This afternoon from 4:00 to 6:00, our congregation begins a formal process to explore the possibility of becoming a more welcoming church to the LGBTQ community. The Spiritual Leadership Team, or SLT, is planning 3 of these Sunday afternoon conversations, one today, one in April, and one in May. No one on the SLT knows […]
Being Alone with the Alone
Dan Schrock
Most of us go into the wilderness at some point in our lives, but there are at least two kinds of wilderness experiences. The first kind of wilderness experience is the one most of us do not want. We get divorced, and the divorce is difficult. Our best friend dies, and we mourn for several […]
A Visual Discipleship
Dan Schrock
On September 19, 2016, our former pastor, Marilyn Rudy-Froese, began a three-and-a-half month sabbatical. None of us knew it at the time, but that day marked the beginning of seven pastoral transitions in our congregation. The first pastoral transition was receiving Ron Guengerich, who worked as a substitute pastor while Marilyn was on sabbatical. When […]
What Makes a Good Life?
Dan Schrock
What makes for a good life? You can find one vision of a good life at a blog called mrmoneymustache.com. Since 2011 the host of this website, who calls himself Mr. Money Mustache, has been handing out opinioned arguments on how people ought to be managing their money and their work lives. His basic point […]
Uncomfortable Questions
Dan Schrock
Jesus is the answer. That’s a message you might hear from other Christians, read on bumper stickers, or see on billboards. At least one contemporary Christian singer and songwriter, Andraé Crouch, wrote a song called “Jesus is the Answer.” A couple of years ago, Thomas Nelson publishers released a book called The Jesus Answer Book. […]
A Kerfuffle over Skin Color
Dan Schrock
When you imagine what biblical people looked like, what skin color do they have? For instance, what skin color do you imagine David and Solomon had? Or Ruth and Naomi? When you read the letters of Romans, Galatians, and Philippians, what skin color do you suppose Paul had? When you meditate on the stories about […]
Loss
Dan Schrock
In February 2016, Laura Kelly Fanucci gave birth to identical twin daughters, named Margaret and Abigail. Both babies were premature, both had twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, and both died in their parents’ arms within two days. Laura, the mother, was well-acquainted with loss and grief long before the death of her twin daughters. When she was […]
An Act of Resistance
Dan Schrock
When I was a child, we sang a song about Zacchaeus in Sunday school. Perhaps you know the song: “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. . . .” One detail about that song puzzled me. Why did the songwriter emphasize Zacchaeus’s height? Yes, I know Luke 19 says […]
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