What did we expect? Expectations can sabotage ourselves and ministry by N. Graham Standish She was disappointed and deflated as she reflected on three years of pastoring her church: This isn’t what I thought ministry would be like. Trying to be as gentle as possible, I asked, “What did you expect?” “I don’t know,” she replied,… Read more »
September 1, 2020
Hopeful Church
What did we expect? Expectations can sabotage ourselves and ministry by N. Graham Standish She was disappointed and deflated as she reflected on three years of pastoring her church: This isn’t what I thought ministry would be like. Trying to be as gentle as possible, I asked, “What did you expect?” “I don’t know,” she replied,… Read more »
The pumpkin and the bee An observation by Ken Rummer The pumpkin is bigger than a softball now, in dark green with a few warty bumps. It’s something of an accident. Last fall, when our porch pumpkin sagged into mushy flatness, I carried it out back on a shovel, and deposited it, without eulogy or ceremony,… 
When words collide Bumping through the Lord’s Prayer by Ken Rummer In my pastoring days, I often invited the mourners at the graveside to join in praying the Lord’s Prayer. I suppose it was a vestige of Christendom culture, the assumption that most everyone there would know the prayer by heart, but in our rural… 
Bellowing cows and closed gates God is offering a new field of opportunities by Donna Frischknecht Jackson My neighbor’s cows were bellowing the other morning. Curious as to what was causing the ruckus, I went out to the porch and, looking over at the field bordering my pasture, I discovered the problem. There was… 
Becoming an intercultural congregation One church’s story by Aart van Beek About eight months ago, I left a congregation after a 23-year ministry. I believe it is significant to underline that the congregation in question was made up of a culturally non-dominant group and even as the church succeeded in becoming multicultural, the… 
Listening to the pines Tree wisdom for pandemic life by Ken Rummer From my favorite pew at church — yes, even retired ministers tend to sit in the same place on Sunday — from that special spot I can look up and out through the clear windows around the cross and see the tops… 
Feeling steadier now What I learned from walnut and light by Ken Rummer The bench seat feels smooth under my hand. Finally. It’s been a journey. The three walnut boards that form the seat started out rough-sawn, still sporting splinter fuzz and tooth arcs from the sawmill. I brought them through jointing and… 
Pastoring in viral times Are we harried or hopeful? by N. Graham Standish I met by video with a pastor the other day who told me how exhausted and overwhelmed ministering during this virus crisis has been. He’s struggled with figuring out what to do with worship and how to deal with new technologies of… 
The goldfinch and the virus With a word and a prayer by Ken Rummer Walking the trail yesterday, I caught a flash of yellow in the wild plum stems—a goldfinch, the first I’ve seen this season. After last week’s snow, I took it as a welcome sign of spring. Red-winged black birds perched along…