Although it is our tradition to celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion primarily at worship on the first Sunday of each month, the Table remains central to our identity.  We are people who have been invited to sit with Jesus at a table fellowship and receive from him the blessing of our lives.  We are… Read More »

I love autumn.  I love October in particular.  It is a month that offers clear blue skies, crisp air, and a color palate that unfolds gradually, signaling the change in season. Even though slowing down is out of the question because fall also heralds the holiday season, it is a time to settle into a… Read More »

This Saturday, October 8, is the 22st Anniversary of my Ordination into Christian Ministry.  What a wonderful journey this has been and continues to be.  I have been blessed beyond measure.  In her introduction to a favorite novel, the late writer Phyllis Tickle wrote something to the effect:  we, who call ourselves Christians, are all… Read More »

In the 1930s the congregation of Sunnyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania decided to embrace a feeling of ecumenism popular in the wider church of that time.  They instituted the first Communion service to be designated Worldwide Communion Sunday on the first Sunday of October.  It would be a time to remember Christians around the… Read More »

This past Sunday I used a prayer written by Thomas Merton (1915-1968), an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, and mystic. The words of this prayer always resound with me at various times in my life. It was a prayer our Conference Minister, John Deckenback, would occasionally offer before we began a particularly complicated committee meeting.… Read More »

This weekend I am leading a training experience for our church Council on the subject of “Leading a Congregation in Times of Change.” The very word “change” tends to make us nervous. Change means different than it is right now, and we like things as they are. It is a very human reaction. Change is… Read More »

“Where were you when…..?”  The answer is driving up Interstate 95 after completing my food shopping task at Ft. Belvoir Commissary. Although I knew that there was a high probability the Supreme Court would rule to void Roe v. Wade, it still felt like a gut punch. Not because my personal past includes an abortion.… Read More »

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous quote “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, seems as appropriate today as it did in 1933. Then the critical issue was the Great Depression and the threat of American banking dissolving. The fears and anxieties were legitimate.  The new President faced a difficult challenge. He needed a change in attitude… Read More »

Young Thoughts from the Corner of Hillside and Crescent This weekend is one of those “hallowed ground” times for me. Memorial Day has certain traditions, certain memories that go along with it. The flag goes up that day. On Sunday evening I’ll be watching the annual PBS Memorial Day Concert from the Mall and yes,… Read More »