I met Tim when I was visiting Yale Divinity School as a prospective student. We became fast friends when I began my first year and he began his last. He was Southern Baptist from Back Swamp, North Carolina. After dinner he sat at the piano in the common room sang James Taylor Read More...
By Lara Schopp, Director of Communications The snow crunches under my running shoes. I exhale a white cloud, inhale ice crystals. My fleece, thermal socks and ear warmer have coordinating bright orange details. I have cabin fever and have decided frigid temps, gray skies and slush-covered streets won’t keep me from my Read More...
Dr. Mike Graves, Scholar in Residence and Minister of Spiritual Formation Among the church staff, there is something of a standing joke. When it’s your turn to write a piece like this one for the newsletter, if you don’t have it in by Tuesday noon when we meet, the draft will feature Read More...
The city came and chopped down the diseased Ash tree between the sidewalk and the street in front of our house. And just recently, a red flag appeared in the snow, and a note saying they would soon be replacing the tree with a new planting. I laugh every time I back Read More...
Mother Teresa, Janis Joplin and Princess Diana are three women I have admired from a distance but for very different reasons. Mother Teresa’s autographed photograph hung on my office wall for many years because of her devotion to loving the poor and lifting them up. One of my fondest family memories is Read More...
Their love was forbidden. Their marriage was a secret. They lived most of their days apart and in solitude. But nothing could thwart their devotion to each other. It was medieval France and priests were not allowed to marry. His name was Peter of Abelard and her name was Heloise. The story Read More...
Anne Haraughty, Ministries Coordinator If you were fortunate enough to attend Pathways to Learning last Sunday morning, you may still be digesting the information that was presented. Pakou Ker, Principal and Lead Organizer of the Tseng Development Group, led the first of two sessions concerning racial equity. She challenged us to name Read More...
By Joe Walker, Minister of Congregational Care Email ads almost never make my heart soar. But this one did. Late the other night I received an ad for t-shirts commemorating the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Apollo XI mission. The 50th anniversary of walking on the Moon?! Groovy! My whole being was Read More...
Sometimes I see life in different categories: my home life; my work life, my spiritual life, my physical health, my fitness, my financial well-being, my social life. Juggling all of these at once, I often to fail to achieve success in them simultaneously. There don't seem to be enough hours in the Read More...
Corey Meyer, Director of Mission Partnerships They told my mother I wasn’t ready for kindergarten. In Blue Springs they would do an interview-like meeting to assess whether children had learned some basic skills and were ready to be in the classroom. My “growing edge” (as we would say it today): social skills. Read More...
Two- year-old George bounded down the center aisle with his big brothers and plopped down on the red carpeted steps in front of the communion table. Two seconds into the children’s sermon George stood, climbed up and cozied himself right into Rev Joe Walker’s lap. Though we were only eight minutes into the 9:01 worship service, with offering, communion and sermon still to go, for me the worship was already complete.
I wish I read more poetry. Sometimes it seems like it takes too much concentration. But even as a novice poetry reader, I followed the work of Mary Oliver. She had an uncanny ability to paint a picture and awaken the soul with just a few words. After she died last week, Read More...
The snow, even days after it has fallen and as it turns brown and black from foot and road traffic, is absolutely wonderful to me. The frozen precipitation paints fresh beauty into familiar landscapes.
I have a handwritten copy of a history presentation about our church. It was written and presented by Marjorie, a charter member of our church. She was a little girl, living a stone’s throw from the church, in the early 1900s. She recalls that the land where our church stands was part of the Wornall Homestead.
I’ve just returned from Florida where I attended the annual conference for Disciples of Christ pastors. After a full day of intensive meetings, dialogues and lectures...
