Posts Categorized: Pastoral care

Healing the Wounds of Transphobia

“Do we heal?” asks theologian, Dr. Wendy Farley. In the religious & legal attacks on our trans siblings, we experience a communal wounding — an indulgence in hatred and contempt no one can evade. Read more »

Barn Boots and Blessings

And the steeple bell rang A rural church’s Holy Week witness in a pandemic by Donna Frischknecht Jackson   Frank, I really don’t think it’s a good idea to gather at the church. Yes, I know this is the holiest of weeks. You are correct. Easter is coming. Yes, I know you miss your church…. Read more »

Barn Boots and Blessings

Lenten ‘one mores’ Hope and love in the dark valley   by Donna Frischknecht Jackson   Even though I walk through the darkest valley … you are with me.  — Psalm 23 It is Lent and I have found myself walking in one of the darkest valleys one can walk — the valley of death…. Read more »

Hopeful Church

Building on a Blessed Community Recognizing the Church’s True Center by Graham Standish Years ago I read a quote by the Quaker mystic, Thomas Kelly, that changed my ministry: “Yet ever within that Society, and ever within the Christian church, has existed the Holy Fellowship, the Blessed Community, an ekklesiola in ekklesia, a little church… Read more »

Hopeful Church

  Are we yelling too much? How to train church leaders effectively by Graham Standish  I used to get yelled at a lot. Anyone who’s ever played sports has gotten yelled at, but I felt like coaches yelled at me more than most. Someone once told me that it’s when coaches stop yelling that you… Read more »

Barn Boots and Blessings

Finding God in the Junk Drawer A much-needed reminder to ‘watch for God’ by Donna Frischknecht Jackson    God spoke to me the other day. I wasn’t standing on some mountaintop. Nor was I lying prostrate on the floor. I wasn’t even kneeling in the quiet of the old sanctuary of the little rural church… Read more »

Barn Boots and Blessings

Someday is now Seeing the God dreams right in front of us by Donna Frischknecht Jackson   The Christmas tree is losing its needles and the cutout Santa cookies are beyond stale. Christmas 2017 is fast-becoming a memory. All eyes are now on 2018. That means our eyes are on the goals and dreams we… Read more »

The Unglued Church

Building new ramps Can we connect people who love God but not church?  By Susan Rothenberg   One of the reasons I am grateful for Facebook, despite its dastardly power to distract me from the useful tasks I should be doing, is that social media has reacquainted me with people I haven’t seen nor heard… Read more »

We need more shepherds to walk these dark valleys

An essay on how to care for the victims of shootings—by someone who has counseled more than 90 families in 10 years Joy comes in the morning for trauma survivors. We need more shepherds to walk these dark valleysAn essay on how to care for the victims of shootings—by someone who has counseled more than… Read more »

Small Matters

Stories of mustard seeds and mountains How the gospel showed up in a hospital roomWhat 80 years of church will do to a person by Sue Washburn I probably should not have had that third shot of espresso. My mind was going a million miles an hour. I paced as I made phone calls to… Read more »