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  • Riding Shotgun ✓
    The holy golf bag rode shotgun in the mini-van for a couple of years. Who knew a golf bag could double as a holder for the processional cross and torches? Two Rubbermaid totes rounded out the portable church supplies, one filled with albs and the o…
  • Place
    Este artículo esta disponible en español aquí. There’s a particular scent I associate with Sunday mornings – dust and candle wax, a bit of incense, and aging wood. That was the smell I met every Sunday growing up, at St. Stephen’s, the ch…
  • Broken Windows
    Who would think that cleaning up graffiti and cracking down on jaywalkers could lower crime rates? This is the main premise of the broken-windows theory, which posits that a cleaner, more orderly neighborhood is less likely to attract criminals…
  • Be Ready
    Two nights ago I arrived home to find no power on the property. So much for plugging in the laptop and writing a blog post! But I got the flashlight, managed to warm up some dinner on the gas stove, then went to bed early. The power outage is a…
  • Inspiring Intersections
    One thing we’ve learned about disasters – in addition to the fear, suffering and disruption on lives and communities – is the ability of people to pull together in powerful ways. I learned this on September 12, 2001 when church leaders, n…
  • Program Year Start Up Checklist
    This time of year, I feel like my old elementary school principal. It was his job to get old Boardman School whipped into shape for the school year. It was an old, old building but when the kids arrived on the first day of school it smelled new. Ne…
  • Doing the Trim Work
    I hate to trim. While the kids are away for a week at the grandparents, my husband and I are toiling through a long-delayed to-do list. That includes painting several rooms. Since my husband is at least seven inches taller, he works on …
  • Blowing off Steam
    The air conditioner repair guys were lazy. They took the shortest distance to install the exhaust pipes – straight from the basement to the outside wall, right beside the entrance.  Don’t be alarmed: this is being fixed. Today. The…
  • Shabbat Shalom
    Two Fridays ago, I found myself walking through the doors of an Episcopal Church to attend a Shabbat service with friends.  Let me clarify...  Two friends recently invited me to attend a Shabbat service at their synagogue Congregatio…
  • Space invaders
    The air conditioner died, not with a bang but a whimper. Because of problems getting the parts, it would be a month before the company could install a new unit. With early June temperatures in the 90s – and the priest already prone to sweat…
  • Led by Children
    The nursery renovation began with a 5-year-old. Our church is nearly 200 years old, and some of the toys in the nursery surely witnessed the first service. We even considered carbon-dating. But to be honest, our attention was on the adu…
  • Undercover Rector
    I’d love to see an episode of Undercover Rector. Taking a cue from reality TV, the rectors would cast off the alb, dye their hair and magically  transform into someone unrecognizable. They would visit the church a few times during the week, …
  • Going Green: A Step at a Time
    Hearing the rumble outside my office window, my first thought was that the recycling truck had arrived. When the noise continued longer than expected, I looked up: it was the oil truck. Living in the northeast, I have a love/hate relationship wi…
  • Buildings as Tranformational Tools
    The question at our church is not who has a key to the building – but rather, who doesn’t? We’ve joked that we can’t change the locks; we’d have to order enough keys for the entire town. Our church facility is in constant use …
  • Proceed with Caution
    The front page photo shows a car buried in snow. TV news reports tell stories of collapsed roofs, frozen pipes, and hazardous travel conditions. In my neighborhood the snow piles are getting smaller. Walking home from an appointment, I saw de…
  • The Church at Rest
    If your church is like mine, it gets a lot of foot traffic over the course of a season. If there isn’t a discipline in place of putting things back in their place, a church can take on a pretty rag tag feel and look. One key concept I have bee…
  • Going Green
    The Hope Conference (Healing Our Planet Earth (HOPE): Singing a New Song of Hope) was held in Seattle in 2008.  Featuring keynote speakers Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Bishop Stephen Charleston this event put the Episcopal Church …