This morning, I was a first time guest at Mosaic Community Church (a United Church of Christ affiliated congregation) in Oklahoma City. My wife and I attended their sole Sunday morning service, which begins at 11:00 a.m. When we arrived in the parking lot fifteen minutes before the hour, we were surprised to find a few dozen vehicles already in place. Since the lot in use was located adjacent to the sanctuary, no exterior signage was needed to help us find our way. Once inside Read More …
Discipleship
A Pentecost First (#2124)
Today I worshipped at First United Lutheran Church in Dallas. It was my second time to worship with this congregation (the first was last April on the occasion of the celebration of their first 100 years of ministry). And, this was the tenth congregation I've worshipped with in 2024 (for the ninth and links to the others check out My Visit to Trinity Presbyterian Church). Preaching During my years of parish ministry I had a number of opportunities to preach on Pentecost. Today, however. Read More …
My Visit to Trinity Presbyterian Church (#2123)
This morning, I was a first time guest at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City. My wife and I attended the 10:55 a.m. service of worship. While we have no real links to the congregation, I have considerable ties to the congregation’s denomination – Presbyterian Church (USA) – and, some time ago I connected with the congregation's pastor, Rev. Richard Mize. Mize, like myself, is an ordained United Church of Christ minister. (For those not familiar with Mainline Read More …
God’s Wisdom (#2122)
Passage for Reflection: James 3:17-18 There is no shortage of worldly wisdom. Scroll through any social media platform and you’ll see person after person claiming expertise on a wide variety of topics. Open e-mails and other more formal professional correspondence and you’ll find an alphabet soup of degrees and certifications alongside the sender’s name. Walk into a public library and you’ll be greeted by books as far as your eyes can see. Wisdom is everywhere. James contrasts this Read More …
Preaching Love (#2120)
This morning I completed my month of preaching every Sunday morning at a Presbyterian (PCUSA) congregation by preaching at St. Mark Presbyterian Church at 9:45 a.m. followed by Eastminster Presbyterian Church at 11:30 a.m. This was my first visit to St. Mark and my second to Eastminster (see Preaching Difficult Discipleship for more on my visit last summer). Both congregations have supported the ministry of White Rock Center of Hope, the organization I serve as CEO, for many Read More …
My Visit to Westminster Presbyterian Church (#2113)
This morning, I was a first time guest at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City. My wife and I attended the 10:30 a.m. service of worship in the sanctuary. While we have no real links to the congregation, I have considerable ties to the congregation's denomination - Presbyterian Church (USA) - and, I have mentioned Westminster's senior pastor here on So What Faith well before he started in this role. I was raised, confirmed, and preached my first sermon in a Presbyterian Read More …
3 Worship Firsts (#2112)
Since we are now in the third month of the year, I'd like to share three new to me worship experiences. So far in 2024, I have experienced at least three firsts in worship. These include the first time in my life to So What? I am grateful for the opportunity to grow in my faith and to expand my religious experience. And, I'd love to hear about your recent opportunities and/or to receive an invitation to visit your worshipping community. For more about my experiences over the Read More …
An Unusual Way to Begin to Lent (#2108)
I have spent my entire life in Mainline Protestant denominations that observe Lent. While every congregation I've been a part of brings its own unique context to this observance, certain elements have never changed - including the date of Ash Wednesday. Both/And This morning I provided pulpit supply for West Fork Presbyertian Church (PCUSA) in Grand Prairie, Texas. And, for the first time in my life, I led a service on the first Sunday in Lent that incorporated elements of Ash Read More …
8 Meaningful Quotes (#2105)
For nearly a decade I've engaged in the spiritual practice of tweeting meaningful messages from the new books I'm reading (for example, Tweets Worth Thinking About) in the form of short quotations. I invite you to read through the seven tweets below, which I shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) over the last two months. (All but one of these quotes comes from a book published in 2023 or 2024. The Seth Godin quote was from a blog post he published in 2024.) So Read More …
So Many Churches! Getting Started in 2024 (#2104)
We are now three weeks in to 2024 with today serving as the third Sunday of the year. And, I've been blessed to have encounters with several other congregations including two that served at White Rock Center of Hope yesterday Additionally, I hosted and facilitated a small group (aka life group) in my home as part of the ministry of Cathedral of Hope (UCC) in Dallas, TX. How Many Churches? Just counting the churches mentioned above, I've had meaningful experiences with 6 Read More …