I spent a a few days last week teaching a wonderful group of Doctor of Ministry students at Central Baptist Theological Seminary. The class was called The Vulnerable Leader, and as part of our work I asked my colleagues in the class to choose a passage of scripture that illustrates vulnerable leadership as we had come to define it, then write a short homily to deliver to the class. Here’s the definition of a vulnerable leader, we decided: A vulnerable... Read more
I had the great pleasure of spending a few days last week at the New Baptist Covenant meeting in Atlanta. We gathered to talk about congregations making covenants with each other, committing to the work of healing the world while building relationships with people whom they might not encounter otherwise. It was a hope-filled Baptist meeting, unusual in my experience of Baptist meetings, if only for the diversity represented. I also saw real and deep relationships there, the kind of... Read more
Relentless Jonah 3:1-5, 10 Mark 1:14-20 Today we find ourselves making our way through the season after Epiphany, leaning toward any light we can see, trying, along with Jesus’ first disciples, to understand what it means to be people who live in a world of darkness insisting that there’s enough light for at least one more step toward wholeness, reconciliation, hope. That’s who we are; that’s what we’re called to do…which all sounds so nice, until we have to gather... Read more
The following are remarks I shared at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Service at The Riverside Church on January 18, 2015. As you will see, Dr. King had a strong connection to this congregation; it was an honor to celebrate his legacy here. Special thanks to church archivist Ricki Moskowitz, who helped unearth historical details. Today we gather to recall Dr. King’s personal reach to this congregation and his greater reach to our country and the world. Surely, his... Read more
This post was written in January, 2006. The second grader referenced below is now an eleventh grader. But I still think his art is cute. Just for a little contextual reference I’d like to tell you that I clearly remember hot controversy the fall I entered kindergarten. The parents were talking in hushed tones, I remember, about “busing” but it didn’t mean much to me–all I knew was that this very cool new part of my life meant I got a... Read more
I freely admit that, along with the rest of the world, I stood in line to join the gym last week. I could offer many (valid, in my opinion) explanations for why I didn’t join the gym in, say, July of last year, but I’ll save the excuses for later in the year (when I suspect I’ll really need them). I hate to be so cliché as joining the gym the first week of January, but it’s a new year,... Read more
Spotlight Mark 1:4-11 I’ve been so moved in these past weeks by conversations I’ve had with so many of you about your personal responses to the new film, Selma. The film is a depiction of the efforts of Martin Luther King, Jr. and so many others as they undertook the history-making campaign to secure equal voting rights with an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965. Those of you who lived through the Civil Rights Movement and remember... Read more
The Light Moves With You Matthew 2:1-12 Happy new year, church! As we come to worship this morning, the first Sunday of 2015, we’re looking at the lectionary texts for the season of Epiphany, which begins officially this coming Wednesday with the familiar story of the star and the kings and a story of intrigue, espionage, and murder told in Matthew’s gospel. I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of the story of the Magi following the star... Read more
Just the other day I was remembering 11 years of Christmas Eve services at my former congregation. I recall the first year I was there, trying desperately to come up with a unique idea for a service that had become a bit tired, when one of the older members of the congregation offered to build a stable in his woodshop, bring it down to church, and install it in the sanctuary. With his help, the contribution of a couple of... Read more
I am so happy I got to share this homily with The Riverside Church tonight. This Christmas Eve homily is adapted from a story shared by friend and colleague Jim Somerville. My friend’s grandfather was a strict Calvinist preacher, a Primitive Baptist for those of you familiar with that tradition–stern, severe and, as my friend always described him, joyless. The gospel he preached was also joyless, uncompromising, and he preached it with thunder, lightning and hellfire rising most every time.... Read more
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