Sharing stories, experiences, resources, hopes, dreams, and prayers.

All Blog Posts (35)

Hi...again

I signed up here ages ago. I've never really been all that active on it though. Im not as 'web savy' as some. I know as an 'emerging' generation person i am supposed to be - and i do love my facebook, podcasts (Homebrewed Christianity and The Onion mostly). I became Lutheran in university thanks to campus ministry before going off to seminary (Vancouver School of Theology) and then spent a year at Simon Fraser University as teh Lutheran/Anglican Chaplin Assistant - though i was the only person… Continue

Added by Rev.Jason Derr on November 4, 2009 at 4:39pm — 4 Comments

Paid Pastors

One of the things that I have noticed in recent years is that there are many new church plants. It seems that these are the kinds of churches that are growing faster than many of the older churches. I can't help but wonder how these churches are paying the pastors. With all of the new people, I can not imagine that they would be willing to give much money. How do the pastors pay for Medical insurance and other be… Continue

Added by Cindy Fallsen on September 29, 2009 at 8:07pm — No Comments

Fool's errand

New blog post: Fool's errands http://bit.ly/mxmje Is it more foolish not to be prepared, or not to trust Christ to provide enough for us? Continue

Added by Bob Fisher on August 28, 2009 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Greenhouse Training, September 25-27, Saint Paul, MN

I'd like to invite anyone living in or near the Twin Cities to join me for the Greenhouse Training we're hosting at my church in September. It's a Friday evening, Saturday morning and afternoon, and Sunday afternoon September 25-27. What's a Greenhouse? In a nutshell, a Greenhouse training does two things: * Helps participants to reground their thinking about Church in "organic" terms as a simple, living organism that readily grows and reproduces. Much of the time at the training is spent exp… Continue

Added by Tim Thompson on August 7, 2009 at 1:22pm — No Comments

The Wounded Christ

Every Tuesday I have the privilege of meeting with the entire staff of the church I serve. This meeting offers us a wonderful time to catch up with each other, both personally and professionally. We begin this meeting every week with a conversation about the Gospel text for the upcoming Sunday. Our conversation today particularly spoke to me. Looking at Luke 24:36-53, we explored the idea that the resurrected Jesus is a wounded Jesus. Jesus doesn’t rise from the dead with no evidence of the pain… Continue

Added by Crystal Oxner on April 21, 2009 at 9:23pm — No Comments

Book Review: Postmodern Children’s Ministry: Ministry to Children in the 21st Century, by Ivy Beckwith

This is one of those books that I wish could be required reading for all people going into ministry - whether it’s children’s ministry, youth ministry or adult ministry. It’s incredible. Beckwith breaks children’s ministry into three poles: family, community, and worship. Her ultimate point in the book is that “the spiritual formation of children is never about how many programs a church has or even about the quality of those programs. It is about the attitudes and quality of the people the chil… Continue

Added by Crystal Oxner on April 21, 2009 at 4:55pm — No Comments

New post at Luthermergent

http://luthermergent.org/2009/the-case-for-not-being-emergent/ I thought Evan Curry did a nice job addressing the pitfalls that come with defining “emergent”. For those of you who don’t like to jump between two different articles, here’s what Evan had to say. I remember a story about a famous punk rock star, who was walking down the street as he was being interviewed by a journalist. The journalist asked this individual, “What is punk rock?” The rocker, hearing the question, turned to a nearb… Continue

Added by Erik Ullestad on January 14, 2009 at 10:06am — No Comments

Praying the Hours

I am quite taken with the latest tool I’ve found in my quest for spiritual discipline. The podcast from divineoffice.org offers wonderful readings of the hours. I adore their use of music throughout the podcast both incidentally under some of the prayers as well as at the time of the hymn. A bell chimes at the beginning and end calling the soul to prayer. I was reminded… Continue

Added by Chris Hooton on December 6, 2008 at 7:52pm — No Comments

Reflection of Faith

Reflection of Faith Your attitude about the Equality of Persons James 2:1-13 The core of the message in James 2 is that our attitude towards others, especially in how we see the differences in people, is directly related to our faith and to the quality of our relationship with God. The divisions we make between people should be the same ones God makes, not the ones our culture makes. We could be quick to judge that it is our attitude toward the poor that is at stake here, but that is not the cas… Continue

Added by Dr. Cheryl Durham on December 3, 2008 at 4:34pm — No Comments

Shot in the arm Christianity

I haven’t posted any real commentary lately, mostly because the school year has started and I’ve been almost too busy to reflect. My class at Pima Community College is going well, and it’s taken up my time as well. And, to make me an official suburban American parent, I’ve been substitute coaching for my kids soccer teams. All that said, I haven’t stopped wondering about the state of ministry today. My thoughts have gravitated towards issues of social compartm… Continue

Added by Lars Hammar on November 8, 2008 at 1:48pm — No Comments

Reclaiming Paul

I'm headed to my first non-Lutheran continuing education event. Reclaiming Paul is a joint venture between Emergent Village, Nazarene Theological Seminary, and Jacob's Well church. I'm excited to learn from some contemporary Pauline scholars, as well as talk with some people that are outside of my "normal" networks. To learn more about w… Continue

Added by Erik Ullestad on October 22, 2008 at 11:56am — No Comments

Where I blog

I blog at FeralPastor and I'd love to have you drop by. Continue

Added by Tim Thompson on July 17, 2008 at 1:01pm — No Comments

The Parable of the Salmon Berry

Last week I met with Sr. Mary. She is not my spiritual director though she is a spiritual director. She is also not my supervisor but I meet once a month with her for supervision, some directed talk about ministry in prison and with the incarcerated, both to keep my center/focus and to keep me from eating the carpet. I do my usual dump out of everything from the last month, the good and bad, practical concerns and theological challenges. With 15 minutes left, she asked me to give one word or ph… Continue

Added by Eric Wangen-Hoch on May 9, 2008 at 1:30am — No Comments

If you want to read my blog...

... go there: mattcleaver.com. Continue

Added by Matt Cleaver on May 6, 2008 at 1:44pm — No Comments

conversations

i am talking with two great guys from the luthern church about moving my ordination over to the lutherns - harvey blomberg and bill wong - and i have to say i am deeply impressed with both these men. over the past i have spoken with others in the luthern church that have "pushed me aside" - be it for my tats, peircing or shaved head - but those men were very open to who i was and were not even concerned about my "look" - they were centered on my heart and my call to ministry - which is exciting… Continue

Added by John O'Keefe on May 5, 2008 at 11:48am — No Comments

My Real Blog

Check out this blog for my thoughts on life, love, and the pursuit of discipleship... Continue

Added by Erik Ullestad on April 18, 2008 at 12:00pm — No Comments

my blog

http://someclearjoy.wordpress.com Continue

Added by ray on April 11, 2008 at 3:09pm — No Comments

Prayers for a Priviledged People by Walter Brueggemann

This post is a plug for a new book that I've been reading by Walter Brueggemann. This is a very prophetic book and I recommend it to everyone who is disillusioned with the institutional Church's alignment with the American Empire, White privilege, and consumerist individualistic culture. Brueggermann in his preface says,'As we acknowledge our privilege, name our anxieties, and recognize our brothers and sisters, we are surprised by a call from God." (preface Xiv) The book is a series of prayers… Continue

Added by Richard Kidd on April 6, 2008 at 9:30pm — No Comments

Art & Piety

My relationship to music has always been intense. It is at the center of my emotional, spiritual and intellectual well being. For this reason, seven years ago I decided that I needed to center my Lenten fasts around music. It would not have served to give up music for Lent as that would have only drowned my spirituality. I decided instead to choose one band and listen only to them. The year break down like this: 2002: Wilco 2003: Bill Mallonee/Vigilantes of Love 2004: Ani DiFranco 2005: Jars of… Continue

Added by Jason Okrzynski on March 19, 2008 at 10:30am — 4 Comments

Best Albums of 2007 #3-1

Back in January I begn posting my list. My grandma died and I fell out of the habit of blogging. Before I am making my 2008 list I wanted to finish, here are the top three...The complete list along with honorable mentions and biggest disappointments to follow later this week. 3. Okkervil River: The Stage Names Even if there had only been one album here it listen, the word dense would have been appropriate. Okkervil river’s penchant for brilliants lyrical expression and revealing esitenti… Continue

Added by Jason Okrzynski on March 18, 2008 at 9:30am — No Comments