To Be a Star

My relationship with the media is rocky at best. This is usually not the fault of whichever reporter is interviewing me; rather, it’s the fault of my own inability to thoughtfully choose my words rather than trying to wax eloquent off the cuff. Since I talk for a living you would think I would have that down by now . . . such is not the case. They did not teach us about these things in seminary.

With practice, though, the situation seems to be improving. My latest brush with the media was an interview for an article in the Washington Examiner published today.

Reporter Andrea Useem called me earlier this week to talk about Advent and what the season means for our congregation. Andrea was great to talk with; I enjoyed trying to fill her in on the fact that many Baptists do not celebrate liturgical seasons like Advent–since we come from the “free church” tradition we have often eschewed practices of the “institutional” church. But in recent years there has been a move toward rediscovering the meaning in these ancient Christian practices.

This is my third Advent at Calvary, which is what I tried (apparently unsuccessfully) to communicate to Andrea. I can’t take credit (or responsibility, as the case may be) for introducing the practice of Advent at Calvary. In actuality Calvary has been celebrating Advent for years. But, in the Baptist world, there are many congregations that do not celebrate Advent, so I think this is something that makes Calvary special.

Assessing this interview I guess that overall I dodged a bullet again–nothing overly stupid seems to have been attributed to me this time. Maybe rather than sighing with relief I should start looking for a media advisor?