Monthly Archives: August 2008
Buffy Is Driving Women from the Church
Allison Waldman of TV Squad (see link below) reports that a new study out of Great Britain blames “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and other shows like it, for tens of thousands of women quitting the church. The study, also reported on by the New York Post (Buffy Made Women Stop Going to Church Study) was [...]
Seven Things Men Say
A tongue-in-cheek response to “Nine Things Women Say,” here is “Seven Things Men Say.” “Okay or Yes, Honey/Dear/Sweetie/or any other term of affection” – It sounds like the man is agreeing with you, but he justs know better than to argue. Women always have the upper hand when it comes to arguements. “In just a [...]
A Poem for Today: “Comfort” by Terence Winch
I ran across this poem today from “The Writer’s Almanac,” which I wanted to reflect upon for a few minutes. Comfort by Terence Winch Father Ray Byrne quickly became a star. He played sports, danced, sang, told jokes. He was a man of the people, and we loved him for that. He came to our [...]
A Couple of Random Thoughts
It’s a beautiful day in Eastern Pennsylvania. In fact, it’s been a quite nice August, as far as I am concerned – not too hot during the day and temperatures in the 60s at night time. Just my kind of weather. It is hard to believe though that Summer is rapidly drawing to a close [...]
Ideas for Worship and Sermon Prep for Proper 16A, Ordinary Time 20A and Pentecost 16A
Theme – The Rock: Christian Life in the Here and Now Visual and Audio Ideas – Build a Cairn in the front of the sanctuary during the singing of "The Church’s One Foundation" just before the sermon. Use other "rock" or "stone" hymns . . . Rock of Ages, A Mighty Fortress, etc . . [...]
Singing Until the Cows Come Home: The Problem with Praise Songs
Image via Wikipedia At First United Methodist Church we have a small contemporary worship service that averages about 20 people on a good Sunday. In June we lost our contemporary worship leader Jim and his lovely wife, who together made up 2/3rds of the worship band. They provided the vocals, Jim played the guitar and [...]
"The Test" – My Sermon for Sunday, August 17, 2008, Proper 15A, Ordinary Time 20A, Pentecost 15A
The sermon is based upon the gospel reading for today – Matthew 15:21-28, in which Jesus basically calls a Canaanite woman a “dog.” ———- Today’s gospel lesson has certainly caused many people problems,because a casual reading of this text makes it appear that Jesus is being rude, even cruel in his response to a Canaanite [...]
A Short Book Review – Leaving Church by Barbara Brown Taylor
My review rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a must read book for anyone involved in church ministry, whether lay or clergy. Taylor discusses the joys and sorrows of ministry as a parish priest in the Episcopal Church, and her astute observations of congregational life are a joy to read. A few quotes from [...]
Way too Busy
I just noticed that is has been some time since I posted anything on my blog, and by now some of you may be wondering if I plan on maintaining this blog or or not. Rest assured that I plan to, but this last week has been consumed with the ordinary church work common to [...]
