Which Harry Potter character are you? Which famous clown are you? Which “Friends” character are you?
Quizzes like this abound on the internet, claiming to tell us who we identify with most in pop culture. And they’re not just on the internet. I remember a rogue questionnaire — “Which Princeton Theological Seminary professor are you?” — that a couple of seniors with too much time on their hands wrote.
Willow Weston, the founder and director of a 1001 new worshiping community in Bellingham, Washington, remembers the day Collide began.
Someone who had wounded her when she was a young girl was knocking on her door. Immediately, she ran upstairs with her baby — and hid in the closet.
Like many pastors, the Rev. Mary Seeger Weese of Midway Presbyterian Church in Midway, Kentucky, had a vision of starting a youth ministry. And, like many pastors, she realized she couldn’t do it alone.
Several months ago, I purchased a used copy of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis. Bargain hunter that I am, I was thrilled, as it was only $3.50. It is my favorite of the “Chronicles of Narnia” series, and this version contains lovely color illustrations.
In scholar Matthew Desmond’s powerful book “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City,” the quote “the rent eats first!” speaks volumes about the crisis of affordable housing in America. The work of the City Roots Community Land Trust seeks to change this. City Roots is a community-led organization whose work and advocacy brings hope in addressing the lack of housing availability and affordability for low-income families.
World Day of Prayer is a global ecumenical movement that is celebrated in more than 170 countries and led by Christian women who welcome all to join in prayer and action for peace and justice. The day’s motto is “informed prayer and prayerful action.” World Day of Prayer is celebrated on the first Friday in March; this year, that is today, March 6.
At Caldwell Presbyterian Church, the walls of our sanctuary talk. The voices are those of enslaved African Americans owned by the Caldwell family on a plantation north of our city of Charlotte, North Carolina. Before emancipation, their forced labor, blood, sweat and tears created the fortune that was later given to this church to build its sanctuary in 1922.
I’ve been working with a pastor for a number of years, helping him invigorate a somewhat stagnant church. We’ve talked about a lot in the process, and the results of our conversations are showing signs of breathing new life into the congregation. But it’s still been a frustrating ministry for this pastor. He’s struggled because much of what he’s tried hasn’t worked.
How long, O Lord? This anguished cry flows from the mouths of millions of beleaguered folks in this, the richest nation in the world. We hear reports of the wealth of our richest citizens and see on our streets those who have no place to sleep. We pass beggars at intersections with their cardboard signs asking for a pittance. Our star athletes are offered monumental amounts of money to play the sports we so avidly watch, and even those among them who grossly misbehave can afford fines in the millions of dollars.
I hadn’t read this poem in years and so, when a friend recently included it in an email, it brought back memories.
It was during my Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in Manhattan that I was introduced to the work of Robert Frost. My supervisor, realizing — as I did — that I didn’t have a call to chaplaincy work, but was there to fulfill my presbytery’s ordination requirement, would refer to the poetry of Frost during our weekly check-ins as I grappled with where God was leading me. “The Road Not Taken” was his favorite poem to quote.
