Who are you? Alice, it seems, is not done with us yet…… or else the Spirit is manifesting as the Caterpillar and persistently, annoyingly blowing her frankincense-scented smoke rings at us to hold us in this space of self-discovery a little longer. Who are you? Whilst reading in Revelation, thinking about Jesus, and reflecting on…

As a pastor, I like to play around with the order of worship. I don’t ascribe to change for the sake of change, but there are good reasons to adapt the order from time to time. Looking back over the years, I realize I’ve almost always adopted a seasonal approach to this, giving consideration to…

These past weeks, I have been deeply immersed in the final days of the earthy life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated on this day in 1968. Some of that investment is of course due to the service we are holding tonight at 7:00pm, but much is also because his prophetic voice…

Alice got left out of this past Sunday’s sermon, an unfortunate casualty of the cutting room but one that ultimately resulted in a more cohesive sermon. But that omission drives me to include some ruminations that are not likely to fit anywhere else. Most of us are familiar with the Cheshire Cat’s famous line: “We’re…

It slipped by without my realizing it — the two-month mark. Only yesterday, while in conversation with another local clergy-person, did it occur to me that this past Sunday marked our second full month of Sundays together. Time has gone so quickly… and so slowly… somehow simultaneously. I’m embarrassed to admit how much remains in boxes. Those…

March proves transient, especially where the weather is concerned. “In like a lion; out like a lamb,” the voices of old recite, and yet neither they nor we are so naive as to assume any sort of linearity. This may be March’s curse — and gift — this erratic and unpredictable nature to its weather.…

I spent a couple days off my anxiety meds this week. It was not voluntary — a combination of not realizing I was that low until I went to refill my pill sorter, and then the time it takes for the prescription to be transferred to a new pharmacy and filled. I don’t recommend it.…

First, a note: I don’t know how other pastors have used this space, but I’m approaching it as an opportunity to share some of what has been taking up space in my mind and body and spirit each week. At times, you may find these notes dovetail with the sermon to follow on Sunday; at…

I am thinking about resistance. And because I’m me, I’m thinking about how resistance finds force and fuel through music. Now I know that not everyone connects with music in the same way, and as such this week’s column may have a more narrow audience than others. I hope there may be some relevance here…

Folks in our CBC family are being targeted in a texting scam. You may receive a text which appears to be from Pastor Michael, and has your name and asks for a favor. If you check, however, the originating phone number does not belong to him and has too many digits for a US number.…