Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
During one of the meals at the Bishop’s Retreat last week, each place setting included a 1-2-3-4 card which is intended to describe United Methodists. The folded card is designed “to provide talking points about our church and its mission,” states … We are the people of The United Methodist Church. We believe in— making … Read more
The snow continues to pile up here in central PA. Ethan hasn’t played in the snow too much other than a day a earlier this month and yesterday. It just keeps on piling up, giving Ethan more to play in … How are you enjoying — or coping with — the weather? 🙂
If you’ve had a chance to read my post about the World Help Children’s Choir, whom we heard and experienced in Tennessee last November, you’ll understand why I was thrilled when the opportunity availed itself to bring a similar choir to West Side UMC. The Watoto Children’s Choir will perform a “Concert of Hope” at … Read more
While visiting Randy’s family in Tennessee over Thanksgiving we had the privilege of hearing one of the World Help Children’s Choirs (YouTube Channel). Randy’s family was also host to two of the girls from Uganda (Ritah and Juliet) and a chaperone. It was a wonderful experience. One of the things that touched me most was … Read more
At the Bishop’s Retreat last week, I was reminded about a particular verse that’s held an important place in my heart since the beginning of my Christ-following journey. When I was a junior in college, having just transferred to a Christian college to pursue training for my call to leadership in ministry, I remember the … Read more
Between November 23, 2007 and February 2, 2008 (a few days before we flew to Korea to get Ethan), I wrote a series of 6 posts reflecting on and dreaming about the kind of culture we wanted to shape in our home, once we welcomed Ethan into our lives. Nearly a year into our parenting … Read more
At the Bishop’s Retreat this week, Tex Sample talked about how we are formed by our practices (see other learnings here). Because of that, we need to choose good practices. I think this is one reason why habits, disciplines, systems and routines are important to me. It’s not just about finding an easier, faster way … Read more
At the beginning of this week, we arrived at the Bishop’s Retreat at the Willow Valley Resort in Lancaster, PA. While there, we witnessed the history-making inauguration as a group by way of the TV. And we also experienced some great teaching by Tex Sample, focusing on telling the Story. Here are some quotes and/or … Read more
Today is an important day in the history of the United States. It’s not about politics, Democrats, Republicans, or Independents (things we don’t generally blog about 🙂 ). But it’s about history. Today, we’re at the Bishop’s Retreat in Lancaster, PA, and we actually concluded the morning session a bit early so we could watch … Read more
After church services on Sunday, we ate lunch and hurriedly packed for our trip to the Willow Valley Resort, the location of the Bishop’s Retreat (an annual gathering for clergy families from our conference). This is our first time attending the Bishop’s Retreat. Tex Sample is the guest speaker this year; he was also the … Read more