After attending multiple worship services this summer where children were excluded, it was a refreshing delight for me to be in one where children were obviously welcome and heard. A friend of mine, his two pre-teen sons, and I attended the 8:00 am Mass at Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church in Denton. The sounds of babies and small children in worship, along with the youth serving in leadership roles as acolytes, open the door to worship as a community act.... Read more
It didn’t exactly set out to be a time of worship. It was simply a social evening where I joined a friend, my friend’s daughter, her husband, and their two children for a cookout. We sat at a large, round table, enjoying the lovely Southern California evening. The children–a daughter, 14, and a son, 11, and I had met before. For some reason, teenagers like me, possibly because I genuinely like them, and they readily entered into the relaxed conversational... Read more
The world is ever so much easier to deal with when everything divides into two neat categories. This is good, that is bad. This is heaven, this is hell. This is day, this is night.  This is right, this is wrong.  This is a wave; that is a particle, except we know matter can be both waves and particles! This is what much of the “holiness code” found in the Hebrew Scriptures is about: categorizing as much of the world... Read more
An article in the New York Times recently caught my eye. Titled, “Let’s Not Talk About Sex,” it is written by Paul A. Offit, a professor of pediatrics and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  He writes despairingly of the very low compliance levels for the HPV vaccine. He wrote: About 79 million people in the United States have been infected with HPV, and 14 million new infections occur every year. As a consequence,... Read more
My first hint that this might be a radically different place to go to church was the fact that I had to make a reservation to attend. And radically different it was–full of life, music, great greetings, welcomed earplugs, and the challenge to live without fear fearlessly given. On the recommendation of a Denton-area friend who follows their music, I drove to Los Angeles for one final Sunday to attend worship at Fearless LA, a one-year old church plant. It... Read more
As always, I arrived early. A friend and I had driven 40 miles to the center of Hollywood to attend the 9:00 am service of Saddleback Church, Hollywood site, located at the Palladium Theater. Clearly the set-up crew had already been working for several hours. Saddleback banners flanked the building, making it easy to find from its entrance on Sunset Blvd, just off Vine Street. A sign pointed us to the parking lot, already coned off and ready for visitors.... Read more
We listened to the preliminaries while still outside the sacred space, the sanctuary.  About 35 people had shown up ranging in age from eight to mid-70’s. Groups of two to four had slowly gathered, but did not enter into conversation with others. After an introduction, we were given a quick briefing of behavioral expectations, including an admonition to respect what I termed “the three-point doctrinal stance,” as this would provide for us needed stability in the mysterious time to come.... Read more
“Matter is mortal error.” I’m seeking to understand this phrase after attending worship at First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Thousand Oaks, CA. I arrived early, accompanying the friend of a friend who serves as summer vocalist. I had the opportunity to observe the two lay readers, the organist and the vocalist, all female, put final touches on the 10 am service. I sat in the small, unadorned worship center, which would seat 100 comfortably, and thumbed through the hymnal,... Read more
“No children or babies are allowed in the sanctuary and the youth go to a different place.” With those words disturbingly ringing in my ears, since I think children should observe their parents engaged in worship, I was escorted into the cavernous “sanctuary” of The Rock, http://www.sdrock.com/, the gigachurch founded by Miles McPherson, former defensive back for the San Diego Chargers, and former drug addict, now turned motivational speaker/pastor/author. I chose the Point Loma, San Diego, location of this multi-site... Read more
“Good Heavens! Do you know what the land under this parking lot is worth?” That reaction came from the mouth of my friend, a real estate professional, when we found the parking lot of Hollywood United Methodist Church, right in the middle of . . . yes, indeed, Hollywood. As in Los Angeles. As in sidewalks with stars on them and grungy-looking stores and famous landmarks. And a place where parking is nearly impossible to find. I am in Southern... Read more
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