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  • Gifts from God: Passing them on ✓
    Sunday’s Gospel reading (Luke 17:11-19), tells the story of the ten lepers healed by Jesus and the one who said ‘thank you.’ In response to this act of gratefulness and humility, Jesus said, “Rise and go your way, your faith has made you we…
  • Everything...
    I'd like to share James Lee's story with you: a story of a young boy, devastating circumstances, and how a community - of children and adults - pulled together to help. It is a story that speaks for itself and exemplifies the importance of immediate,…
  • World Malaria Day: April 25
    Fighting malaria and ending hunger are my priorities for charitable giving and volunteer work. Memories of waking up inside my mosquito netting \at Girl Scout camp and finding the net full of mosquitoes that had entered through a tear are as fresh …
  • Imagine
    Imagine if every church meeting began by asking the same question: “How will what we are doing here affect or involve people living in poverty?” In 1991 the late Roman Catholic Bishop Kenneth E. Untener of Saginaw, Michigan, issued a decr…
  • Communication is Mission
    Author's Note: Last week I was at the Episcopal Communicator’s Conference at Kanuga. Our conversations, plenaries, and workshops celebrated communications as mission with the goal of sharing this message throughout our Church. On March 24, Kerry …
  • Weaving Straw into CDs*
    The baskets were breathtaking. Even more so when we saw what the straw looked like before Monica split it (with her teeth), then soaked, twisted, and sometimes dyed, before weaving into a beautiful, and functional, work of art. Monica, a widow …
  • The Bishop Danced
    As the men and boys dance group in Yelwoko were winding down their dramatic dance of rhythmic stomping and leaping, Jacob Ayeebo, the Anglican bishop of Tamale stepped onto the stage and performed the traditional steps to the enthusiastic applause …
  • The (Written) Word Made Flesh
    Sometimes telling the story can feel less important and more removed from the mission field. After all, a story about repairing a roof in Appalachia or cooking meals for the homeless isn’t dirty-hands, feet-on-the-ground ministry. Or is it? A…
  • Feeding Others – And Ourselves
    Feeling a bit down today – the grayness of the day, pressure to write my weekly blog post – and, not wanting to resort (at least not yet) to the chocolate zucchini cake in the kitchen – I let my mind wander…. The iTunes gift card on my …
  • One Church One School
    In 2010 our Presiding Bishop called on the Church to respond to Domestic Poverty in her keynote address at a three day conference in Newark titled Called to Serve: The Episcopal Church responds to Domestic Poverty. As part of this address she pointed…
  • Suddenly Single: Cooking for One
    A warden heard it on CBC radio, how a northern community took the needs of the bereaved seriously. Men seemed to suffer nutritionally when a spouse dies. “We are of a certain age, “said Douglas. “where we would barbeque but mostly we had a sp…
  • Little Church, Big Mission
    I used to think I belonged to a small Episcopal Church. Both the parish where I grew up, in Lake Geneva, WI, as well as my congregation in New York City probably have about 60 people in worship on Sundays. I’ve known the rectors and their familie…
  • Ugandan Hospitality
    In the four days that I have been in Nakiwogo, Uganda, I have already visited in the homes of 14 members of St. Stephen’s Church. At every home, I am offered wonderful hospitality with snacks and water or soft drinks provided. Last evening, I fea…
  • Changing the Scorecard
    Does your congregation’s parochial report represent what is really happening in your parish? How might you change your ‘scorecard’ to represent the many ways your congregation is serving God’s mission? These questions were raised at the…
  • What is ABCD?
    After reading the book, Community—The Structure of Belonging by Peter Block, I’ve been consumed with learning more about ways to live in and build better community (for myself and others). Shortly after having been transformed by the words I re…
  • A New Church Begins
    After weeks of praying and planning our vestry and bishop on Tuesday night founded GEORGE: The “Church in the Round” Community Center. With a unanimous vote a new model for ministry was born. Here is a brief description of what has come into be…
  • What's Your Next Step?
    What are you doing after graduation? Do you remember this question? Did you dread it like I did? I confess that 15 years ago I was one of those college seniors who had no idea what I was going to do with my life after leaving the safe confines o…
  • Doing a New Thing
    (The next in a series on the new Church in the Round Episcopal mission in the Lake City neighborhood of Seattle.) The most exciting outcome of the design process that we have used to create the Church in the Round has been the impetus to begin …
  • Midnight Breakfast
    It’s getting closer! In this time of preparation, it’s hard not to think about what’s coming: final exams. In the next week or two college students will hunker down into reams of paper, laptops, and group projects, trying to finish semeste…
  • December 2011 Editor's Letter
    Advent is the season for preparation and waiting: Watching for signs of God’s presence as we await the birth of Christ. And, as we wait and pray and listen and look, opportunities to heal and reconcile the brokenness in the world appear. For …
  • Partnership in the Round
    Monday night we completed the nine-week design process to launch the Church in the Round. It has resulted in a concept of partnership that will invite in three new ministries or programs to join our existing groups and launch five more brand new e…
  • In All Things
    Give thanks in all things….St. Paul exhorts us. "And whatever you do, in work or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus; giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17). Our actual work – all we do – should become a …
  • Veterans Day: 11.11.11
    Veterans Day: Is there a better time for congregations to ask how they might support returning troops and their families?  In today’s Huff Post Religion, G. Jeffrey MacDonald explores some of the ways faith groups…
  • Editor's Letter: November 2011
    “Can you hear the heartbeat? Mission, mission, mission.” Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, used this metaphor at her opening sermon at the Church’s 76th General Convention. More recently, this phrase ser…
  • The Spanglish Congregation
    NPR is currently doing an excellent series on how Latinos, the U.S.’ largest minority group, is “making their mark on religion, technology, education, Hollywood and the workplace.” There are many good stories in this series, but I believe tw…
  • Damon and Clint: Asset Based Community Development
    Real change can happen when we make the shift from meeting needs to recognizing and accepting gifts. I’d like to share a story I heard last week during a workshop on Asset Based Community Development at the Everyone, Everywhere conference … …
  • D.A.N.C.E.
    Our communities need our help. But in some places, the needs are so many, so overwhelming, that we don't know where to start. So we never move past conception stage to get into the gritty work of helping people. One way to move past this mi…
  • Charting a New Path
    The economic news in Dayton, Ohio, isn’t good. Long a manufacturing hub, the city has acutely felt the national financial woes. One in 10 workers are unemployed, and job loss is among the highest in the state. But leave it to the Epis…
  • Postcard from Memphis
    I’ve been traveling this past week. From New York to Memphis to San Antonio, I am visiting friends and family after a lengthy time away. In the process, however, I’ve also had the opportunity to check out a few innovative ministries taking plac…
  • What to Do When a Ministry Outlasts a Church?
    Editor's Note: Earlier this year, Bishop Rickel (Diocese of Olympia) approached Peter Strimer and the vestry at St. Andrew's to ask if they would consider taking over operations at St. George's Episcopal Church which closed in May.  Peter wrote abo…
  • Three Cups of Coffee
    This past July, Tim Schenk, Episcopal priest and blogger at Clergy Family Confidential, tweeted “Forget the tea. I should write a best-selling book called ‘Three Cups of Coffee.’ Subtitle: A Day in the Life of Fr. Tim." As might be expected,…
  • Crossing Generations: August Editor's Letter
    I’ve been thinking about summer camp. My earliest memories of camp are as a toddler. My grandmother directed the local Girl Scout day camp; I recall being on the beach at Lake Quannapowitt as campers prepared for their swimming lessons and have b…
  • Work Hard, Play Hard
    I am writing from New Orleans where I am chaperoning a youth mission trip through the Beacon of Hope program founded by St. Paul’s, New Orleans. It is my fourth trip to the city to help rebuild after Katrina. Once again this incredible, tragic, b…
  • 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…
  • Getting Started
    Our vestry voted last night to accept Bishop Rickel’s offer to take over operations at the former St. George’s Episcopal Church in the Lake City neighborhood of Seattle. Here we go. The mission is daunting. We start from zero in a neighborho…
  • Why I Won't Sell a Website to your Church
    If you're like most churches, then spending $2,000 for a new website can seem like a lot of money ... and it is. But as you know, more and more consumers are researching online the products they buy offline before they ever head to a store. …
  • Going Global: Where to Begin?
    Every once in a while, I come across a book that knocks the wind out of me. Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn’s Half the Sky is one such book. On the one hand, Half the Sky is a devastating account of global sex trafficking and forced prosti…
  • Sharing the Good News
    Do you remember the Pentecost story? I'll admit that at the beginning of this week, I had to look it up. If it wasn’t for Facebook and the various online theological resources I subscribe to, Pentecost wouldn’t make the list of things I would t…
  • Drawing Heaven
    “Heaven, oh heaven….” I close my eyes and hear in my mind the smooth style and soul filled music of Duke Ellington.  My first encounter with Ellington’s “Sacred Concerts” songs came during Sunday worship, when Caroline, a parishione…
  • How Does Your (Church) Garden Grow?
    I had lunch with Brian Sellers-Petersen of Episcopal Relief and Development and heard about ERD’s Abundant Life Garden Project. We are adapting that program along with the RENEW curriculum from the Lutheran Church for our Back to the Garden: Rene…
  • Ginormous
    When I saw Ephraim taking pictures of Ms. Scott, my heart just melted,” said Lisa, the organizer of my congregation’s second annual “Ginormous Flea Market.” We were standing by a tree in the small garden watching a neighborhood boy run the …
  • T.R.U.E. Stories (True Relief of Urgent Emergencies)
    Have you ever found yourself urgently needing cash assistance? Did you turn to your Episcopal Church? Last week, I found myself wondering about the major forms of outreach ministries taking place in Episcopal congregations. After reviewing the fol…
  • Lunch is on Me
    Each Eastertide I try to inject some fun and relaxation into the lives of parishioners. For the third year running, I will host “Joy Walks;” a four-mile trek around the glacial lake that gives our Green Lake neighborhood its name. But the n…
  • Strengthening Neighborhoods
    Three months ago, I was awoken by the distant sound of a woman screaming for help. Shocked and partially asleep, I opened the window: where were those screams coming from? Fourteen floors above a busy Brooklyn neighborhood, it was impossible t…
  • Where are the Young Adults?
    Maybe it was the lemon cake, but by the end of Friday’s dinner at Julian House in Chicago the constant hand wringing about young adults and the future of the Episcopal Church seemed a distant memory. Where are young adults in the Episcopal Church? …
  • Does God Love Facebook?
    I say ‘yes.’ And so does Jennifer McNally. Her Episcopal Café post, “More Facebook for Lent!,”  offers a well-reasoned and theologically sound alternative to ‘I’m giving up Facebook for Lent.’ Jennifer writes: In the l…
  • A Man Named Roscoe
    Roscoe doesn’t look like the rest of us. Whatever word he had tattooed across his knuckles has faded into unrecognizable squiggles. His hair, though neatly combed, hangs over his ears, several months past a cut. He talks about Jesus and the e…
  • Transition Towns...and Churches?
    The Holy Spirit is a renewable resource. It’s been fueling Christian communities for over 2000 years, since the first great unleashing at Pentecost. Fossil fuels are not.         Although they’ve been fueling our modern society for about …
  • 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 …
  • There IS an App for That
    Our diocese just added a mobile phone app. It’s not fancy – but it allows folks to have at their fingertips the key parts of our website: a news blog, upcoming events, directories of clergy and lay leaders, and a church finder with maps. …
  • Episcopal Foodies Network
    When I think of food and the Episcopal Church, I believe we’re much more than just wine and cheese. Within just the past few months I’ve come across:  John Hornbeck’s work with Episcopal Community Services in the Dioceses of Kansas & W…
  • What’s Your Church’s Economic Worth?
    When St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Waco, Texas closed their school in 2006, it impacted both the congregation and the community. Students and families needed to find new schools. School faculty and staff were unemployed. The empty school buildi…
  • Snow Days...
    Eastern Massachusetts is in the midst of its fourth or fifth ‘major’ snowfall since Christmas. The governor has asked all ‘non-essential’ workers to stay home; the TV crawl is filled with notices of closed schools and organizations, includi…
  • Mountains Beyond Mountains
    My weekend plans were simple: pack the remaining Christmas items away and visit my mother. Bake something to bring to my mother and to share with our next door neighbor who clears our sidewalk with his snow blower. That all changed when my husb…
  • Spreading Jesus’ Light
    I miss the tree burning. For many years my community celebrated 12th night by burning Christmas trees at the beach. As darkness approached people would add their trees to the pile collected by town workers. A member of the local clergy offere…
  • Strategy and Relationships
    We’re kicking off the year in a big way. Tomorrow I head to the Diocese of Spokane to spend three days training about seventy-five lay people, clergy, and bishops in organizing for mission. Why? To equip us to respond to God’s call to serve the…
  • What’s On Your Plate?
    Eight months ago I sent a response to a question posed by the White House on LinkedIn: “What are your ideas to end childhood obesity within a generation?” This query was part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s work with the Childhood Obesity Task…
  • Resolution: Believe
    My dad can hold a grudge.  When someone has really wronged him, it’s hard for him to forgive. And forgetting doesn’t even enter the equation. This is one of the reasons I believe in a God that changes hearts and transforms lives. …
  • Finding Room at the Inn
    “May I borrow some water?” Nine years ago, JT knocked on the back door of Christ Episcopal Church in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, a five-gallon jug in hand. JT lived in a HUD apartment next to the church; the city had turned off his water and …
  • Seeing with New Eyes
    We’re two days out from the celebration of St. Lucy, but her story resonates strongly in this season of Advent. A patron saint of the blind, Lucy was martyred around 304. Legend has it that guards, unable to move or burn her, poked out her …
  • Bringing Bethlehem Alive….
    Christians around the world can deepen their understandings of Jesus' birth – and the current context of Bethlehem and the Middle East – by making direct connections with Holy Land communities in Advent, Christmastide and year-round. Two quick …
  • Of Waiting and Ivory Towers
    I love Advent, now, but that hasn’t always been true. For almost my entire life, I described myself as impatient. “I hate waiting,” I used to say with a self-deprecating smile, as if this somehow made me a more productive person. Waiting. …
  • Winter Shelter
    I regularly commute by bike to work. The hour-long ride gives me a chance to see details of the city I’d otherwise miss: the older women practicing Tai Chi in a park; the amber sunrises seen as I pedal along the curves of the East River. Of course …
  • What Can One Person Do?
    A lot. Ask Eric Hillegas, former associate minister at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Upham’s Corner. Today’s new Fieldwork posting begins the story of how Eric is bringing his vision of free tutoring programs to an inner city neighborhood.…
  • Getting Hunger on the Agenda
    I recently heard a provocative interview with the Rev. David Beckman, Lutheran minister, President of Bread for the World and this year’s recipient of the World Food Prize, a prize frequently described as the equivalent of a Nobel in the field of…
  • Listen to Your Mother
    She said they were the best conversations she’d ever had with her three kids. And the best birthday present ever, in all her 70 years. Little did I know when I suggested to my brothers that we tell stories for mom’s birthday last November, …
  • Tree of Life
    I spent the Saturday night before our All Saints celebration as the stage manager for an event at our cathedral entitled, “A Celebration of the Tree of Life in the Time of the Great Turning.” It was an incredible event anchored by a talk by Joa…
  • Church and Sate
    The separation of church and state is a key cornerstone of the U.S. government. At the same time, everyone at my noonday meeting on Tuesday had cast their vote in a local church. This juxtaposition struck me today as we move from one of the most…
  • Know thy Neighbor
    It’s easy to assume you know a place until an unexpected encounter, story or statistic startles you awake. In the end, it probably the most familiar places that hold the greatest surprises.
 For this reason, I lov…