Because of my work for the Covenant Network, I was interviewed this week about same gender marriage in the Presbyterian Church. I was happy to take the interview, when it was offered. I confess I was a little ambivalent, though, about who wanted to interview me. Cosmo That’s right. Cosmopolitan Magazine wanted to interview a…
Worship this morning at the NEXT Conference was wonderful, and not only because my good friend Brian Ellison preached one heck of a sermon. We also sang two hymns I love. I recognize not everyone gets excited by good hymns, sung well, in the midst of people one loves. But I sure do. Many people…
I’ve never paid much attention to St Patrick’s Day before. My family is Scottish and Norwegian, primarily. It wasn’t our day. Then I discovered my birth father was of Irish descent. His last name was McCourt. So this is my first St. Patrick’s Day. I will be spending it in Chicago, where I am…
I’ve just returned from a week at Mo Ranch, in the Hill Country of Texas, for a conference called CREDO, a program of the PCUSA Board of Pensions. If my clergy friends get an invitation for this, please accept it. It was a blessing of a week. Here’s their description: A unique conference held in…
A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho March 1, 2015 Mark 8:31-37 Before our story you heard this morning, Jesus has just asked his disciples “who do people say that I am?” And then he asks them, “who do you say that I am?” And right after this passage, Jesus is transfigured…
Twice this week, I had the privilege to hear a young woman testify at the statehouse. The first time was Monday morning, the ill-fated session when Rep Barbieri seemed more than a little unclear about how women’s bodies worked exactly. (Of course, his confusion does not seem to keep him from thinking he’s qualified to…
One of my good friends, Rocky Supinger, has a podcast, in which he talks to people about the things they do that are interesting to him. The link to the podcast is here. We talked about my political advocacy and how that fits with my pastoral call. We talked about my experience meeting President Reagan…
This morning, I sat in on a hearing about House Bill 154, which would limit a woman’s access to health care. I testified against the bill. It is intrusive. It does not raise the medical standard of care but interferes with access to health care, which is a real problem in a rural state that…
Lawmakers in Oklahoma are seemingly in the process of enthusiastically banning Advanced Placement US History classes in Oklahoma schools because they don’t teach American “exceptionalism”. As reported in the Tulsa World: “Rep. Dan Fisher, who has been active in a church-and-state organization called the Black Robe Regiment, said the AP U.S. history course framework emphasizes…
I’ve written plenty of posts about why I think marriage equality is a Christian value. And I recognize my privilege to speak about it from the comfort of my 22 year old, heterosexual marriage. Nobody put up roadblocks when Justin and I wanted to be married. I invite you to take five minutes and watch…
Glass Overflowing 