In families with young children, it’s tempting to focus on Palm Sunday and then skip straight to Easter. These are joyous occasions and easy to discuss with children. However, we often shy away from the topics of Holy Week because they are not so happy and easy. I...
FPC Family, Believe it or not, Easter is upon us yet again. A year ago, none of us would have expected that we would spend two Easters apart from each other, unable to gather in person as a community celebrating our risen Lord. Unfortunately, we will have to...
In 1937 the church struggle (Kirchenkampf) was ostensibly over. The Deutsche Christens had triumphed over the Confessing Church. The church Dietrich Bonhoeffer grew up in no longer resembled itself. Most of Bonhoeffers professors and theological mentors at the...
Over the course of the pandemic, we have all discovered personal limits that we may not have known about before. For example: As a person who lives alone but loves comfort food meals that do not reduce to one serving size very easily, I have learned that I can eat...
Some of our young families delivered Valentine’s kits to 70 of our members who continue to experience isolation during the pandemic. “I was treated yesterday morning with a sweet visit from the King children – delivering a lovely Valentine gift bag...
Luckily for my husband, I have never been a big fan of Valentine’s day. My philosophy is, if you love someone, you should show them EVERY day – not just on a particular, commercialized date. He, of course, is very supportive of my ideology on the matter....
Friends, We are about to re-set for Lent, assess our priorities, examine our lives, and prayerfully attempt to better align them with God’s will. It seems a bit redundant this year to talk about human finitude and mortality. Every day we see evidence of these truths,...
They say that music is a window into the soul. Music indeed is one of God’s greatest poetic gifts that offers expression of emotion, especially for those with the gift of song or playing instruments. Growing up in New Orleans, I was taught an appreciation for jazz...
Siblings in Christ, As we stand on the cusp of 400,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States, I want to take a moment and acknowledge the impact of this reality in our own congregation and community. At our staff meeting this morning several people shared that...
My husband Grant, being a fan of all things over-the-top-Christmas, has a large collection of Christmas-themed ties, both secular and sacred. One of his favorites looks understated, what with its diagonal red and green stripes and block letters that repeat the...
