This presidential campaign season—as in no other of recent memory—Xenophobic, exclusionary, fear of the Other has been used by politicians in an attempt to garner votes. Xenophobia is more than a matter of preference for people whom we enjoy hanging …
Tag: Hospitality
Welcome Your New Pastor, Bed & Breakfast Style
If you’ve experienced what it’s like to stay in a really nice Bed & Breakfast (B&B), you know that the best proprietors are hospitality experts. You’re a complete stranger and yet, within minutes of checking in, you immediately feel …
I’m Not a Mother
It’s Mother’s Day, and the preacher asks for every mother to stand up and be recognized for all they’ve meant to their family. As the congregation begins to applaud, someone leans over and whispers excitedly into your ear, “Why aren’t …
Spiritual Rows to Hoe
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is full of references about gardening, soil, plants, and planting; as Christians, then, it’s only natural that we often use the planting metaphor to discuss new goals, initiatives, or endeavors, particularly when it involves …
Making the Inside/Outside Connection
Who doesn’t love the close feelings of familiarity that spring up in a congregation of people who have been together for decades? Surely this sense of togetherness is the kind of community Jesus calls us to be, isn’t it? Perhaps, …
First Steps: Accessibility Tips for Small Congregations
It was one of those special-occasion Sundays, when almost everyone turns out to take a place in a church pew. The altar sparkled with the communion set, and the banners hanging over the choir added their messages to the sanctuary …
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Names Written in Heaven
A young man once recounted to me how, at age thirteen, he told his family that he was gay. His mother got up from the dinner table and, stabbing him with her fork, shouted, “This is a Christian home!” The …
