Anabaptist and Quaker essays, sermons, and other writings
As previously examined, EYN is experiencing a paradigm shift regarding pulpit ministry. The contemporary pastors of the Ekklisiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria are dilapidated, and the pulpit ministry is about to collapse. The EYN modern pastors are increasingly abandoning the responsibility of keeping the flock attentive to God. Many who are engaged […]
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 […]
Living and working in Belize, I have the great joy of being right near the second largest coral reef in the world. A surprising new activity that I have been able to start enjoying, along with my husband and our oldest son, is scuba diving. We’ve only been able to […]
The Liberty Bell numbers among our best-known national icons. There is a biblical quote inscribed on the bell: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto the inhabitants thereof. Lev. XXV v. X.” Curiously, those words were cast into the bell about a generation before the Declaration of Independence, at a time […]
The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, […]
History is an essential aspect of human life. It keeps and sustains facts about a person or an event and seeks to answer the questions of what happened and why it happened, and also tells of the activities of the persons involved in the circumstances. It gives a clear and […]
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 […]
When I was in seminary, one of my assignments was to develop a Rule of Life. A Rule of Life is a thoughtful, practical plan for how we arrange our lives, giving special attention to what spiritual practices we are going to engage in to support the work of our […]
As musical instruments develop, some go out of fashion, others rise to prominence; as singing styles change to accommodate an ever-evolving collection of musical genres; and most importantly, as less and less music is being taught in our schools, churches, and homes: Now is a critical time in the life […]