pain Archives

The church from a doorkeeper’s perspective

Posted July 26th, 2021

Psalm 84 contains at least one oft-quoted line: “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.” The Rev. Keatan King figured she’d show, rather than tell, a crowd of 1,000 or so people attending closing worship during the first-ever online national gathering of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators. Her sermon, “Hope,” took APCEans from station to station inside the church she serves, St. Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston, from the perspective of a doorkeeper.

Trauma and grace

Posted August 1st, 2019

As I write, there are reports of yet another school shooting. The refrain “I never thought this would happen here” has become a mantra on the evening news. The circle of those experiencing trauma — or knowing someone who has — widens daily.

Rural Realities: Opioids on Main Street U.S.A.

Posted April 17th, 2019

Annalie Korengel was having a horrific week. Five funerals in seven days can push any pastor to the brink of physical and spiritual exhaustion. But for the pastor of Unionville Presbyterian Church in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, standing almost daily at the gravesides of young people who had overdosed on opioids pushed her into an indescribable hell.

Everyday epiphanies

Posted January 23rd, 2018

The word “epiphany” (from the Greek epiphaneia or theophaneia) means “appearance” or “manifestation” of God, and has roots in the word for sunrise or dawn. In our lives of faith, some epiphanies are dramatic and send our lives down a different path. Others are subtler, even commonplace, and influence how we see ourselves and the world. Either way, whether God whispers to us or knocks us for a loop, we are in for a change.