When I started working at the Baltimore-Washington Conference, one of the first people I met on my tour of the building was Tony Martucci. Tony worked with our Facilities Assistant, Ricky, and spent the bulk of his time completing tasks with him. As a mother with a child on the autism spectrum, I noticed right …
I love the story of Samuel because of God’s involvement in his life from the very beginning. Hannah cries out to God for a son at the altar. God hears her cries and sees her distress. Eli, the priest, confirms God’s blessing soon to come upon her, and she vows to dedicate the child to …
Bill and I attended the National Developers and Church Planters conference a few weeks ago in Denver, Colorado where we gleaned from the wisdom of successful developers and planters and exchanged ideas and best practices. North Georgia Annual Conference of the UMC shared five of their pertinent objectives when planning to plant a church. I …
I am slightly anemic so there are certain times of the month when I am extremely fatigued. No matter where I am mentally or emotionally, I just do not have the energy to meet the physical demands of my life. In order to prevent my body from crashing during these times, I have to be …
On February 8th, Asbury University held its regularly scheduled chapel service, and it turned into a nonstop worship service lasting weeks attracting thousands of visitors to Wilmore, Kentucky. The chapel service was already popular. It regularly attracted visitors from all over the country wanting to experience its worship. However, after this particular service, many students …
Many Christians are tired of hearing about social justice issues. They don’t want to hear about racism, sexism, homophobia, or police brutality. They don’t want to hear about what we should do collectively to empower the disenfranchised and level the proverbial playing field. Some churches even have “anti-wokeness” campaigns. We saw a multimillion dollar campaign …
The New York Times article “How to Focus Like It’s 1990” says our collective attention spans have been decreasing since 2004. We literally switch our focus in seconds. The younger generations are even worse. Marketing experts say advertisers lose Gen Z’s attention after just 1.3 seconds. You can blame it on technology or social media, but we have to …
Years ago, I sat in a local Cava on my lunch break and heard a conversation between two young men sitting next to me. They were talking about planting a church in Southeast D.C. Immediately, my ears perked up because after seminary, I spent two years working in Southeast D.C. with a faith-based nonprofit creating …
By Bill and Lauren Luke grew up in the preschool at my (Bill) last church. I saw him almost every school day and again on Sundays. Luke was a great hugger and would run at me from the other side of whatever room I happened to be in and wrap his arms around me in …
Read more “Leaving a Legacy: How do you want to be remembered?”
A few years before Covid-19 stopped the world, a preacher named Lon Solomon did a sermon series called “So What?” Now, I don’t know much about his ministry or about his theological and political leanings, but I thought his question and how he presented the series by answering questions of faith were powerful. So what? …
Read more “Launch Out Into the Deep: Preaching During a Pandemic”