by Lakesha Bradshaw Easter Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, our congregation, like many others, listed the names of our elder members and friends of the community who are home-bound due to physical and/or mobility challenges. These beloved friends frequently received...
by Christy Williams A youth worker’s spring and summer are traditionally filled with planning meetings, permission form retrieval, special gatherings, conferences, camps, and mission trips. During this spring and summer, in the midst of a global pandemic when churches...
By: “For centuries the church has faced difficult situations with great integrity and faithfulness. We are people of faith—not fear. Let us join together in faith to sustain thoughtful and equitable ways to address the current crisis and to support and meet the needs...
By: I’ve been in a number of conversations recently with persons lamenting what they see as the de-valuing of relationships taking place in our time and culture in North America. Indeed, so many contemporary processes seem to undermine the focus and cultivation...
By: In our cell-phone, Internet, Facebook world, connections are important. We connect with family and friends, even strangers. The goal is to link, to find out what others are doing and to let others know what we are doing. When we are deprived of our media outlets,...
By: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34–35, NRSV) When my wife and I moved to...
By: Some of my friends are becoming Christians and I am helping! I want to tell you how so that you can choose to practice those ways and teach others to do the same. But first, two stories. I arrived at the Subway restaurant a little nervous about my lunch meeting...
By: One Sunday during the adult education hour, our church youth group interviewed three elderly couples, asking questions about their lives and their faith. As the couples took turns answering the teens’ questions, the atmosphere in the room was electric. People were...
By: Youth ministry is the church’s ministry, not just that of specialists who can “relate” to young people. The mandate to be there for young people belongs to the Christian community, not to any individual or group of individuals.”...
By: Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding (Proverbs 3:13, Common English Bible). Can you believe she said THAT!?!” “I could not possibly imagine doing such a terrible, frightening, wonderful (fill in the blank)...
