Anabaptist and Quaker essays, sermons, and other writings
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, […]
Metaphors and figures of speech are not just the tools of poets, but the fabric of our everyday life. In the previous sentence alone I employed two different metaphors to talk about metaphors (i.e. tools and fabric). We use linguistic images all the time, often without realizing it, and we […]
One of the great joys I have had in the last year is to be a part of a monthly check-in call of women in ministry among the Church of the Brethren. We have a monthly check-in call to share how we’re doing and provide comfort in community. Many of […]
Introduction This was a sermon preached on my first Sunday back after maternity leave. That week as I transitioned back into ministry, I found myself reflecting on my new dual roles: mother to my new son Leo and pastor to Pomona Fellowship Church of the Brethren. I have been the […]
The coming of the new year, from New Year’s Eve throughout the entire month of January, is always a challenging time for me which requires taking some extra time for contemplation and grounding. As someone who grew up in a fundamentalist and apocalyptic tradition, the end of each year often […]
My wife and I celebrated our twenty-first anniversary in late November this year. As I reflect, I continue to thank God for his faithfulness in our lives. I wouldn’t want to say that it has been a bed of roses either. Without God’s intervention, there have been challenges that we […]
Chibuzo Petty How do you understand the difference between writing and writing as ministry? Nick Patler I am not sure I can explain the difference. For me, particularly as a historian whose interest is largely in African American history, writing is about telling stories, giving voice to persons and narratives […]
How many of you have been on an airplane since 9/11? A lot of things have changed in airports since then. Not just going through metal detectors, but pat-downs, body scans, scans of our luggage and purses… whole arenas for security procedures have been set up in every airport, and […]
In 2017, I was blessed to be able to travel to Europe for the third time in my life. My first trip was in early 2005, when a companion and I went to visit a relative who was studying at the University of Uppsala in Sweden, and from there spent […]
This past week, I was party to a conversation with a relative that turned to the Black Lives Matter protests. This relative, an older person, commented, “I don’t understand where all this is coming from.” Brothers and sisters, let me tell you, I was flabbergasted. For so many reasons. Having […]