Caring for the Poor and the Mission of the Church

June 13, 2023 By Frederick Schmidt

connor-hall-r-HLeGnbY-8-unsplash-scaled.jpg In watching the church assist the poor, I have noticed that there is always a substantial number of people who surface, over and over again. Their circumstances never change. They seemingly make little or no progress in rebuilding their lives or in moving forward. This troubles me. It feels right and good to help people who are struggling to meet their basic needs. But when people become dependent upon that help and fail to make progress in transcending... Read more

Our Lives and the Life of the Triune God

June 6, 2023 By Frederick Schmidt

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Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash Trinity Sunday. Every year the liturgical calendar gives preachers the opportunity to lose their congregations, bore them to death, and lead them into heresy, leaving them with the conviction that the whole thing is irrelevant to daily life. And that’s a bad thing. Because the God of Christianity is triune. How did the church arrive at that conclusion? Big picture: In one way the early church was thoroughly Jewish. The first Christians believed... Read more

Loneliness and the Church

May 4, 2023 By Frederick Schmidt

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Photo by Vusal Ibadzade on Unsplash Loneliness is the new enemy. Or so the latest surveys suggest. And life in community is the solution. In many ways this is no surprise. Modern American cities and suburbs are more about infrastructure than they are community. And rural America is rapidly evaporating. So, while there are exceptions, of course, we have been spiraling toward loneliness for a long time. And Covid accelerated the trend. The lack of information that we possessed made... Read more

“This is the Way”

April 23, 2023 By Frederick Schmidt

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When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him… (Lk 24:30) I grew up a Methodist and when I felt called to ordained life, I inevitably started out as a Methodist. But six years in England and worshiping with Anglicans left me with a spiritual life squarely focused on receiving communion on a weekly basis. So, imagine my surprise... Read more

“I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.”

April 10, 2023 By Frederick Schmidt

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“I believe in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” (Nicene Creed) I cannot argue that I have suffered more loss than others. Yes, I have lost both of my parents, my brother, and some of my closest friends. I have been through unemployment – twice – and I have spent my fair share of time in the hospital. Enough of those trips involved broken bones that my brother, who was an orthopedic surgeon, once described me... Read more

“We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.”

April 3, 2023 By Frederick Schmidt

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Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash “We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” (Nicene Creed) When I was still a Methodist, I served a small church in rural, northeastern Ohio. One of my colleagues was a pastor who served a nearby church and appealing to the practice of the Methodist church she had an adult, male parishioner who asked to be immersed. She found a place to do that but as the day for the baptism drew... Read more

Foot Washing and the Nature of Liturgy

March 28, 2023 By Frederick Schmidt

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Photo by Shawn Pang on Unsplash On social media there are those who suggest that we replace foot washing with some other practice, maybe hand washing. The reason offered is that people are weirded out by foot washing or are unwilling to participate. But suggestions of this kind fail to grasp the logic of the ritual. By design, worship, sacred space, and liturgy – in all its forms – draws us into a liminal space and challenges our sensibilities. It... Read more

How to Navigate Denominational Decline

March 24, 2023 By Frederick Schmidt

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In a recent article, Anglican theologian, Ben Crosby says something I’ve said elsewhere about the decline of Mainline Protestantism. But – usefully – he does it by focusing on the answers to two critical questions. 1. Do we think that a relationship with Jesus is necessary to achieve certain goods (traditionally, salvation)? If the ‘relationship’ language concerns you, feel free to substitute ‘connected with’, ‘joined to’, or what have you. 2. Do we think that the church is... Read more

“With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.”

March 20, 2023 By Frederick Schmidt

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With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. (The Nicene Creed) Why does the church waste its time worshiping and glorifying God? Let’s face it. Lurking just under the surface, even among people who go to church on a regular basis, that’s the question. It’s reflected in the habits of the average American: In 2019, 34% of Americans attended a religious service at least once or twice a month. That fell to 31% in 2020 and 28%... Read more

On losing our four-legged friends

March 14, 2023 By Frederick Schmidt

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Participating in social media, one of the things that has struck me is how often we are forced to share that we have lost our four-legged friends. Over four years ago Hilda, our Gordon Setter became desperately ill, almost instantly after we moved to Tennessee. She stopped eating and, at first, we thought that she was disoriented or sulking. After all, we were staying in a hotel while we settled on a new home, and we were disoriented, too. A... Read more