Well, today was my first regular day back in the office. I’m glad to say that my fondest hope–that I’d feel reenergized and excited again–has come true. It was great to meet with my staff and begin looking ahead to what is sure to be a great church year. I felt a bit like [...]

I ran across this hymn in my research for today’s sermon, and though I didn’t use it, I didn’t want to lose it either. And I thought it might spark a bit of conversation here. God of Queer, Transgressive Spaces Title: “God of Queer, Transgressive Spaces,” Edward Moran (2005), alt., CONVERSE, 8.7.8.7. D, C. C. Converse [...]

I’m a little groggy, having not gotten home until 3 a.m. due to repeated flight delays.  And today is a big day–the Juvenile Justice System recommendation for my son will be revealed to us–so I’m a bit distracted.  But I wanted to write something about the clergy retreat down in San Antonio. It was good.  So [...]

Now that we’re done I can live blog without feeling rude. It was a retreat after all. More later.

with nervousness.  Which is unusual for me.  But I’m still nervous about the clergy retreat that begins tomorrow.  It’s been a long time since I’ve been this anxious about anything.  Which means that it must mean a lot to me.  Which, at other times in my life I would think was a setup.  But not [...]

I was feeling pretty sad after that last post. I got home and did some packing and ran across some unopened mail from months ago. Oops! One of the letters contained all the evaluations students wrote about the courses I taught on sabbatical. They were amazing. Thoughtful, caring, vulnerable, deep. And they reminded me how [...]

I’m sitting in the nearly empty living room of my new apartment. I came to putter here while the inspector is at the house we are selling. Please, please let that go well! I’m listening to music from long ago in my life. Random setting on iTunes. I was just thinking about how I feel like [...]

I’m writing this entry on my iPhone using the wordpress app. So now I can blog anywhere about anything. Like blogging a bored…err…board meeting. Or blogging while waiting in the checkout line. Beware!

The Hon. Takashi Hiraoka, who was mayor of Hiroshima at the time of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city, will speak Sunday, August 3 at South Valley.  Mayor Hiraoka was out of the city at the time of the attack and returned to witness the utter destruction of Hiroshima. The service will include performance of [...]

Church gunman says he acted out of ‘hatred for the liberal movement’ It will be interesting to see if this qualifies as a hate crime, since he is not expressing hatred at religion, per se.  Clearly, he was full of hatred, but since it is aimed at “liberals” rather than “Christians” or even “Unitarian Universalists,” it [...]

Police cordon at Tennessee Valley UU Church A candle of sorrow, concern, and hope.  May spirits and bodies heal and may the community emerge from tragedy with new strength. I will pray, as Rev. Chris Buice asked. I hope you will all join me.

from Iowa… (AP) Des Moines police arrested four people Friday who attempted a citizen’s arrest of former White House adviser Karl Rove. Rove was in Des Moines to speak at a fundraiser. A news release says a retired minister and three members of the Des Moines Catholic Workers community were cited for trespassing and released. The four accused Rove [...]

There is a myth that Unitarian Universalists believe nothing or anything. I think Randy Pausch made it clear that’s not true.  He’s the man who’s “Last Lecture” became an internet phenomenon and then a best-selling book. This interview on the Unitarian Universalist Association’s website is a bit to honor him and I’m afraid, a bit [...]

Pastoral care is the hardest part of ministry to quantify.  That may seem odd.  After all, can’t you just add up the time you spent visiting people?  Well, yes and no.  I can add up the hours spent in hospital rooms or in people’s homes, but that would miss the majority of the pastoral ministry [...]

Again Learning again to learn. again. Unsure about being unsure. again. Wondering why I’m again wondering. Wasn’t I supposed to be sure by now? Wasn’t I supposed to find an answer or two? I sought and found I knocked and doors opened I asked and much was given. And now Back to the seeking, knocking, asking. But this time With less fear, more faith that the labyrinth will circle to the center again and I will find something at the heart.

My friend Satchel talks about God in fruit, which reminded me of this poem I want to share an excerpt from: “Were I to Teach a Course on God” by Nancy Shaffer I would teach God with plates of pomegranates, Both before they were opened and after. I would bring wet washcloths. We would bury our faces and eat- All that luminescent [...]

Another topic I think the Bartlett’s do a good job of exploring is our habits of worship.  This description seemed particularly insightful: Event the attenuated Protestantism from which about half our members come, retains many conventional religious symbols, which in our rebellion we reject. This leaves us with little representational art, few anthems acceptable unfumigated, and [...]

I found this book tucked away in the church library.  It was published–by the authors, I think–in 1968.  I started reading it out of curiosity. Josiah and Laile Bartlett are giants in the history of Starr King, known for envisioning and implementing a new model of “student-centered” learning with roots deep in Unitarian and Universalist [...]

I spent the day at the office.  I just gave in and went to the church because so many of the resources I needed were there.  Today, I dealt with: A recommendation from the ad hoc Personnel committee for hiring a new bookkeeper and responses to the recommendation. Correspondence from a group that wanted my opinion on [...]

So, besides writing sermons, what does a minister do?  The term “administry” comes from a class I took way back when from Jaco and Barbara (Wells) ten Hove.  It encompasses all the administrative and management tasks of the church, but claims them as ministry. It’s sometimes hard to remember that all these little things that [...]