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...
Easter is here, Jesus is risen. To properly celebrate we need to turn to the Easter stories in the Gospels. A great example is the ending of the Gospel of Mark. You may notice (or remember) that in your Bible it has “other” endings to the Gospel, and we will get to...
It is really hard to imagine what the disciples; Mary, the mother of Jesus; and many others were thinking. Can you imagine what it was like to witness the entry into the Temple Mount on Palm Sunday, the events of Holy Week and the Last Supper? The arrest, the...
I guess Good Friday (the day of the crucifixion and death of Jesus) is good because of the theology that developed – that His suffering and death somehow pays for our sins. Or as Mark’s Gospel interprets, the death led to personal immediate access to God: “And the...
No matter how many styles of music that I listen to, I am regularly drawn back to the simplicity and beauty of Gregorian chant. One of my favorite chants to listen to for both the music and the text is “Ubi Caritas.” I was first introduced to this chant sitting...
Matthew 5:9: Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” On Palm Sunday, 2018, Tim and I went to Plains, Ga., to attend President Jimmy Carter’s Sunday School Class. President Carter asked me to begin the morning in prayer. It...
Scripture: Colossians 1:15-20 (The Message) I am not a world traveler. I would like to say that I am … or that, in another season of life, I will be. My 90-year-old Pop has traveled the world, in particular Europe and Asia, exploring and learning about...
Scripture: Luke 10:25-37 In 2019 I had the privilege of traveling to the Holy Land with an amazing group of clergy and educators from Greensboro. Many participate in the Greensboro Faith Leaders Council, whose mission is to build an interracial and interfaith...
