Dear friends, I looked out the window at about 2:30 this afternoon and it was as dark as night. Thunder boomed, the wind blew, and rain swept sideways across the parking lot. Now, an hour later the Beech Grove is bathed in dappled sunlight. From light to darkness back...
Dear friends, As I suspect many of you did, I spent much of the day watching the funeral for John Lewis, a remarkable service for a remarkable man. It was long, very long, but I don’t remember the last time I heard so much eloquence — beginning with the...
Dear friends, Today is a special day on the church calendar for a couple of reasons. First, it is the feast day of Mary and Martha, the sisters who were among Jesus’ closest friends, who provided him with a safe place of hospitality, study, and rest. These...
Dear friends, Once again, scammers are sending out emails in my name. This is getting very tiresome, but there seems to be no way to stop it. Apparently there are rings of scammers who target churches. Almost all of my clergy friends reports the same problems. Please...
Dear friends, You won’t find today on any liturgical calendar, but for many families (including ours) it’s a holy day, one we’ve been anticipating for months. I’m talking about Opening Day of baseball, of course. It’s God’s favorite...
Dear friends, Today on the church calendar we remember the first of the apostles, that is the first person to see the risen Christ. That is Mary Magdalene, who is known as the apostle to the apostles. Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus’ closest friends. Scripture...
Dear friends, As we begin a new week in this strange time I remind you of some ways that we can be helpful to our neighbors in need. First of all, we are preparing for our time to host Family Promise, which is August 9-16. As I’ve said before this is a different...
Dear friends, It was four months ago today, March 15, that we held our last in-person worship service. That is a mind-boggling statement. The week leading up to that Sunday on the Ides of March felt like the proverbial snowball rolling down the hill, getting bigger...