Chuck Knows Church is a relatively new educational resource funded by the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church. Every Thursday, a somewhat goofy yet always personable, pastoral and knowledgeable man named Chuck shares a new 2-4 minute YouTube video on a basic topic related to Christianity. Past topics include liturgical colors, the offering plate, the Narthex, the baptismal font, and Lent. The latest video is on the Lord's Prayer: So What? In Read More …
Discipleship
Core Sermons (#1017)
Have you ever thought to yourself (or perhaps even vocalized the idea to others) "my pastor preaches a different sermon every week but really only has a handful of messages to deliver?" In reality, most clergy gravitate to specific themes. Nanette Sawyer, author and the founding pastor of Grace Commons (Chicago, IL), recently shared her own understanding of the five core sermons she preaches. Be here now. It’s where everything is, including God. God loves you and you are Read More …
Unusual Lenten Discipline (#1014)
In recent years more and more people have chosen to embrace something new rather than give up something for Lent. The list of possibilities for Lenten disciplines is nearly endless. The most unique discipline I have heard this year is that chosen by Shawnthea Monroe. Monroe is senior minister of Plymouth Church - a United Church of Christ Congregation in Shaker Heights, OH. She has chosen to wear a collar for Lent. In doing so, she realizes many she encounters each Read More …
Friendly Churches (#1010)
In small congregations it is easy for long timers to recognize newcomers. In very large congregations, including megachurches, no one knows everyone. While these contrasts may suggest that smaller size is correlated to more friendly congregations, research has shown that how first time guests perceive their experiences is based on far more than just size. Faith Perceptions work finds that, overall, the most effective congregation sizes for positive first time guest experiences Read More …
What Would You Die For? (#1009)
A week ago today, I reviewed Not Less than Everything: Catholic Writers on Heroes of Conscience from Joan of Arc to Oscar Romero (2013). A few days after writing that piece, I received a request from Duane Arnold to take a look at what he and others are doing through "The Martrys Project." The project has released a CD featuring prayers from a “great cloud of witnesses” from across the centuries and around the globe and include Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a child from Read More …
Praise Songs = ? (#1007)
I appreciate a variety of music styles in general and in worship. I do not, however, like praise songs that are little more than a musical excuse to repeat a few lines over and over again or sound like something anyone could have written in five minutes or less. The following video makes fun of what can be seen as the worst of so-called contemporary praise songs. So What? Developing a Christian service of worship around a key theme or Scripture in ways that all elements Read More …
Ashes of Transformation (#1003)
Dawn Hutchings, one of the pastors of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Ontario, recently shared an Ash Wednesday homily she wrote from a progressive perspective. On this day when the most familiar words serve as reminders of our mortality, Hutchings suggests another way to receive and embrace the ashes that will adorn our foreheads: Let the ashes you wear be the ashes of transformation; of awakening to the beauty and love of seizing the moment and living it to the fullest. So What? This past Read More …
Denominational Apology Sunday (#1001)
Lillian Daniel, UCC pastor and author of When Spiritual but Not Religious is Not Enough: Seeing God in Surprising Places, Even the Church (my review), recently wrote a humorous piece for the Huffington Post entitled "The Church Year: New and Improved." In this article, she lists and briefly explores eleven completely made up prospective additions to the church year including Bad Preaching Sunday, Jesus, My Buddy! Sunday, and Not Everyone Has a Nice Mother Sunday. My Read More …
Call to Worship for Sunday, February 10 (#1000)
Something - someone - some force drew us here this morning. Regardless of what compelled our presence, we are now in a holy house - a sacred space that can become a temple of transformation. On the mountaintop and in the clouds, On common paths and in familiar places, God is speaking. In embraces and through stories of others, In our experiences and through our imaginations, Help us hear. Together, as the beloved community, let us worship God. Notes: Read More …
Stunning Sacred Spaces (#0997)
Best College Reviews recently published a list of the 30Most Beautiful College Chapels/Cathedrals. While their list is presented in rank order and features sacred spaces with very different histories and architecture, the corresponding article contains no information about the criteria by which the spaces were selected or ranked. So What? I have visited several sacred spaces on college campuses and far more that have no link to an institution of higher education. I suspect most of my Read More …