Our Best Financial Practices

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In the years Joleen and I have been married, we can highlight several financial practices that have proven valuable. While we can always be better stewards, we believe the following practices are an important part of being good stewards of what God entrusts us with … 1. Honor God with tithes and offerings!Tithing wasn’t a … Read more

Ethanisms 3.0

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Following up on previous posts (1.0 and 2.0), here are some of the latest Ethanisms we’ve recorded. Several weeks ago while pulling into the church parking lot at Centre Grove, Ethan said, “That was bumpy. It made me wiggle.” You have to watch the use of idioms, which don’t always make sense when taken literally, … Read more

Randy’s Ordination Project

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One of the requirements in the the final year of our ordination process is to complete an ordination project. The ordination project is the newest part of our conference’s ordination process, added (actually it replaced another requirement) earlier this year (as a result of the formation of the new Susquehanna Conference). In the future, ordination … Read more

The Overflow

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Lately, I’ve been reminded about a fairly common idea/phrase — leading/ministering out of the overflow. This is why preparation — ongoing personal growth — is so important. Last fall, I wrote about preparation in one of my posts on “The Nines” (specifically The Nines Marathon; see also More on the Nines) and continued the reflection … Read more

“The Future of The United Methodist Church”

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I picked up a copy of The Future of the United Methodist Church: 7 Vision Pathways at annual conference and read it a couple of weeks ago. The book is edited by Bishops Scott jones and Bruce Ough with contributions from eight other bishops. In a previous post, I listed 4 Talking Points about United … Read more

Ethan’s Repertoire

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It has been fun to watch (or hear) Ethan’s repertoire of worship songs develop over the last 13 months. At Annual Conference in 2009, I happened to be holding (then two-year-old) Ethan at the beginning of an evening service (giving him break from all-day childcare) as the band opened with “Trading My Sorrows,” a modern … Read more

Church Shopping on Vacation

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It’s Sunday and we’re on vacation so we needed to find a place to worship. It was an interesting process! First, visiting churches has multiple purposes for us. With both of us being pastors, it’s a rare opportunity for the four of us to attend worship together as a family. Because we are pastors, we … Read more

West Virginia Vacation, Day 6

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Ethan was the first to spot a deer during a picnic lunch today. It stuck around long enough for a few photos, including this one …