Things Cast Down are Being Raised Up

     For years, I have been seeing a meme that reads something like: "I survived another meeting that should have been an email."After a year and a half of some degree of social distancing, I would say the biggest learning for me is that meme needs to go into the dustbin.       About twenty years ago, when I first went before the COM (Commission on Ministry - the diocesan body that helps ordinands discern ministry), someone asked me, "What do you think priests do most of the week?"  I answered, "From what I can tell, it's meeting after meeting after meeting."  I got a nod of approval for that answer, and after a decade and a half of ordained ministry, oh how correct I was!     Clergy attend a lot of meetings. In fact, prior to the pandemic, I was already quite familiar with Zoom, as the Church had been using the platform for years. What better way to meet than to not have to drive for two hours to sit in a room for an hour.    ...

    I recently wrote about the possibility to revisiting Morning Prayer as a principal Sunday service .  This is in part a response to the reality of many small congregations who struggle to pay clergy, as well as other factors.  Last week, the Church of England released a plan to plant 10,000 new congregations all with lay leadership.  The rationale was not only using a model from African Provinces, but also to free them from what they referred to as "Key limiting factors", meaning building costs and clergy pay.  Today, I read an article from the Church Times (also Church of England), suggesting that the Church should phase out paying clergy altogether.     Now, this is not directly related to the workings of The Episcopal Church, but it is close to home when talking about a sister province of the Anglican Communion.  I do recognize a certain reality of the costs of salaries.  I have looked at many church budgets.  I also am a pro...

     I want to write a short post on this subject, because it has been rounding Episcopal social media as well as that of other denominations.  Within the last couple of weeks, the U.S. Conference of (Roman) Catholic Bishops had been working on a policy that would allow for the withholding of communion for politicians, particularly those who publicly support abortion.  They then backed off their position a few days ago.  I have many thoughts on this subject, but I also think it best to stay in my lane and not comment on the inner workings of another denomination.  My only comment on this is that I do find using the sacrament as a political bargaining chip to be hugely problematic.  I also understand that in the last couple of decades, opinions about this subject have shifted and it has become a polarizing issue.       The issue that I feel compelled to write on has been the reaction, particularly from Episcopalians, who have a much ...

The last year and a half has been a time that has shaken nearly all of society.  The global pandemic not only has led to four millions of deaths and as many reported illnesses as the population of  the United States, it has had ripple effects on every aspect of our lives.  Isolation led to mental health crises; changes in the way we consume products led to strains on supply chains; and many countries experienced political upheavals.   The Church was by no means immune to these ripple effects.  In fact, as many congregations are just now resuming worship, I doubt that the full effects on the Church will be seen for many years.  The immediate effects of this are lower attendance, lower pledging, as well as clergy burnout and turnover.  In many ways, the effects of the pandemic simply exacerbated trends that have been happening for years.   Perhaps one of the three biggest comments I have heard that people missed during the pandemic were that they mi...

I am a life-long Episcopalian and have always been involved with church at some level.  I just celebrated the fourteenth anniversary of my ordination to the diaconate.  (Episcopalians ordain priests after a time of being an ordained deacon.  It's called a "transitional diaconate".)  In my fourteen years of ordained ministry, I have served three congregations and in other roles, I have worked with numerous congregations.   One notion I have heard over and over from churches is that they're a "family".  It is almost always the first thing I hear when I ask a congregation what their identity is or what makes them who they are.  This is something I have heard across denominations and is particularly true of small congregations.  I believe the sentiment is in the right place.  The idea behind this is that people feel like in their churches, they love and support one another and that the church can be a place where they are able to feel safe and vu...

After about a two-year hiatus, I'm going to start this blog up again.  In the past, I tried to write on a "stump the priest" model, where I would answer questions.  I am still happy to do this, but I found that not too many people really had burning questions for me to answer.   Because I have been working on my doctorate in ministry and have taken courses in interim ministry, my thinking is starting to shift more toward congregational and church dynamics.  Over the last couple years, I have had a number of issues of congregational dynamics on my heart that I would like to write about.  I hope you enjoy!

Cheap Grace So, what does that mean, do you think, for us 'Piskies today? This question comes from Robert in reference to the above meme. This is the second part of my response to the question.  In my last post , I talked about civic responsibility and being a Christian - how we as Christians need to speak out when people in power use the Christian name but do not follow Christian doctrine and discipline.   As the old expression goes, "When one finger is pointed away from you, there are always three pointed back."  If we are to demand that others follow such things and call for authenticity in public religiosity, then we ourselves are compelled to the same standard.  Otherwise, we would make ourselves out to be hypocrites. So really, what about us Episcopalians? For us as Episcopalians, this is also a call to keep our own house in order.  This quote really is directed at Christians (not just Episcopalians) and our practices.  I...