Pray for the Republic
We pray for the republic where each voice is heard speaking freely from the heart, where each ear is bent upon the task of understanding, where the stranger finds a …
Bishops, Kings, and Tyrants
On January 21, 2025, Bishop Mariann Budde of the Episcopal diocese of Washington DC turned to the newly inaugurated President Donald Trump at the end of her homily during the …
Cosmic Christ and New Creation
On November 24, the last Sunday of the church year, I collaborated with our worship leaders in organizing a service that would move us from the symbolism of “Christ the …
Coming to the Table
Three strands of my life have coalesced in the recent publication of two books. First, in 2000 I built my first round communion table, which was followed by several more …
Buried at the Keyboard
You haven’t seen any new postings from me for the past month because my fingers have been busy typing up two books that I probably mentioned sometime earlier. This is, …
Rededication of the Andover Newton Table
I recently got news that the communion table I built for Andover Newton Theological School in 2000 was rededicated for its new use in Marquand Chapel at Yale Divinity School. …
Ketoctin Grace
As long-time readers of this blog know, a small brick church in Virginia’s Loudoun County has been a singular presence in my entire life. Ketoctin Baptist Church was founded in …
Poetics, Liturgy and Lent
At the invitation of the pastors at my church, I provided the opening call and prayer for our worship services from Ash Wednesday to Easter this year. It became a …
Twenty Years of Roundtable Worship
Last Sunday was the twentieth anniversary of the Roundtable Worship Gathering at First United Methodist Church in Waynesville, North Carolina. Whether by dogged perseverance, habit, or the winds of the …
A Prayer from Ukraine
In response to my previous posting, my long-time friend Gerd Decke, a retired pastor in Berlin, sent me a prayer he had received through a German church-relief agency from the …
Christmas in Ukraine
There are times in our individual lives, in the lives of communities and nations, and now even on this planet, when a catalytic flash seems to weld together our fitful …
Framing Anxiety
Anxious feelings pervade our lives these days. The impending climate catastrophes, the horrors of Putin’s war on the people and land of Ukraine, the Trumpists’ efforts to destroy our republic …
Righteous Anger
Our recent Roundtable Worship focused its conversation on “righteous anger.” While the Bible attributes this emotion to God throughout Israel’s record and it is referenced many times in the Christian …
Roundtable Call and Remembrance
Some of you have expressed appreciation for receiving elements of the liturgy for our monthly Roundtable Worship here in the mountains of North Carolina. After the lighting of a candle …
Bodies Together at Table
We are all weary, bone weary, from the sense of loss, of powerlessness, of the shadow of doom that hangs over the earth. It is another “end of the age” …
Giving Thanks for Desmond Tutu
Another Great Soul has burned through the flesh of this world to dwell forever in the heart of God. As for so many thousands around the world, Desmond Tutu’s death …