Here are a few of the titles that my clergy friends have posted lately on their Facebook pages:
“5 Things Millennials Wish the Church Would Be”
“Millennials leaving church in droves, study says”
“10 Reasons Churches Are Not Reaching Millennials”
Yes, everyone is worried about attracting young people to church, bringing […]
Our Lenten Sermon series is Sticks and Stones, and we’ve been looking at the words and phrases that Christians use that might be confusing or even off-putting to other Christians, people of other faiths, or people who claim no faith. We began by being honest about the very word Christian […]
During Lent, we have been offering a corporate (as a body) prayer of confession prior to our communion feast. Some of you probably wonder why we’re having a confession every week. Others haven’t noticed. Since part of Lenten practice is being mindful, I wanted to remind you about why it […]
In his book Sabbath, Wayne Muller recounts this story: In the early 1990s, many hundreds of people in the US sent donations to help the poor, unfortunate children in the Sahel region of Africa after seeing heart wrenching images on television. The nomadic peoples of the Sahel were being pushed […]
This weekend, we celebrate Mardi Gras at MCC Austin with our annual Fat Sunday service. Mardi Gras, French for “Fat Tuesday,” is the final day of the Carnival celebrations as well as the last celebration day before the Lenten season begins for Christians on Ash Wednesday. In faithful New Orleans […]
I’ve had this dream that our new sanctuary would have a dedicated prayer space. In my mind, this space will serve as a place for people to pray with Deacons during communion or by themselves at any time. I’ve imagined water, candles, and a prayer wall.
At first, I thought the […]
I’ve told you before how carefully I choose bumper stickers. In fact, with one brief exception, I’ve had multiple copies of the same sticker on my vehicle for years: HOPE. In rainbow colors.
I chose that bumper sticker because it says so much about what I am for in my life. […]
Everybody’s talking at me
I don’t hear a word they’re saying
Only the echoes of my mind
~Fred Neil
I wish I could turn off the radio, TV, and computer and trust that all the stories about death, violence, and intolerance would go away if I no longer heard them. But of […]
Note: This is the second part of a two-part series on Progressive Christianity, and it is written to answer a question asked directly of me: If you, like many Progressive Christians, “reject” the Substitutionary Atonement theories of what the cross means, do you still believe in the cross?
I again encourage […]
Note: This is the first part of a two-part series on Progressive Christianity. Next week in Part II I’ll write about my own understanding of what the Gospel is and what the cross means within the context of the Gospel. I’ll also offer, for anyone who wants it, a more […]