This weekend marks the 500th anniversary of the young Augustinian monk, Martin Luther’s nailing 95 Theses on the chapel door of the Wittenberg Church. The theses were not demands or creedal declarations, but an invitation to debate abusive practices of Church officials who were selling certificates believed to reduce the time in punishment in purgatory …
They were probably the most trendy couple I’d ever joined in marriage. He was an airline pilot; she, a flight attendant. In their mid-30’s, they had probably been in every city in the world that had a large airport. I don’t remember why they wanted to have their wedding in my church. Months before their …
“Wow! That must have been a hawk?” That was the first thing that went through my thoughts as a large bird flapped grandly and landed on the ridge of a roof. It was about 7:30 a.m., I’d just finished my jog, and was absent-mindedly trudging up a quiet street. “He’s bigger than a hawk. …
My mother and father, at the time of their deaths, had very different services. Neither went to church. When my mother died our family felt a bit frantic finding a place and minister to conduct her service. One of her good friends was a member of a near-by Methodist Church with a great-hearted pastor. The …
I just finished a draft (see below) of my fourth personal Statement of Faith. I’m doing this to meet the requirements of the Peace River Presbytery so they may receive me as a member. It’s a Presbyterian thing. For a non-Presbyterian leader, preparing such a document may sound like torture. But, after 40 years …
Aunt June’s Vase My Mom insisted on it–“Aunt June will receive a thank you note.” That thank you to Aunt June needed to be first on long task list of wedding preparations 42 years ago. June wasn’t my aunt. Or, if she was, she was a great aunt once removed or something complicated like that. Unmarried, …
My fascination with providence—this idea of God’s kindly management of events, is similar to the enthusiasm of the Mark Twain character who preached, “There’s gold in them thar hills.” We just haven’t mined the gold. We’ve picked up this opinion about where history is headed from all the chatter—much of it political—that, if we’re sophisticated …
It didn’t take me long into my viewing of “Wonder Woman,” this summer’s mega-hit movie, to understand why it has resonated so deeply. The adventure that Diana undertakes is a fundamental human quest. We needn’t be distracted by Wonder Woman’s DC comic book origins or the video game quality of the combat at the movie’s …
Kim DeCelle, Contributer Writing that is transforming takes us into the darkest spaces of our conscious. It beckons us to own and celebrate the aspects of our lives that are most personal, and also most universal. As a thinker, scholar, and writer, it is my mission to use the written word to start a conversation, …
