I am writing this a bit early, because I know that when it is due, my life will be crazy. My daughter is getting married one week from today. She is my baby girl, the youngest of four daughters and the last one to get married. Now I know this is the happiest day of her life, but for a dad? Not so much.
Religious Liberty and Spiritual Manipulation
A local newspaper called me this morning to ask my opinion about the “Religious Liberty” executive order signed by the president this week. I am sure my opinion was vastly different from the highly evangelical / conservative Christian views of the majority in my area. You would think as a pastor I’d be delighted to see religious liberty expanded and to see the influence of the church exerted in more intentional ways. Yeah, you might think that… but then you wouldn’t know me. Why do I think this is a bad idea? For several reasons:
Religious Liberty and Spiritual Manipulation
A local newspaper called me this morning to ask my opinion about the “Religious Liberty” executive order signed by the president this week. I am sure my opinion was vastly different from the highly evangelical / conservative Christian views of the majority in my area. You would think as a pastor I’d be delighted to see religious liberty expanded and to see the influence of the church exerted in more intentional ways. Yeah, you might think that… but then you wouldn’t know me. Why do I think this is a bad idea? For several reasons:
The Spirituality of Capitalism
I have recently found myself on a spiritual journey of sorts. I’m not sure where its leading or if in fact it is a journey at all, but it started about two years ago, with the Democratic primary process for the recent presidential election.
Trump’s America: A Pastor’s Lament
I have struggled all day. I was concerned with not alienating people, not taking sides, being pastoral. And so I held my tongue. The reality is that I am an ordained minister in the Christian Presbyterate (priesthood). I am 96 hands away from Jesus. My ordination vows included this promise: “Will you, in the exercise of your ministry, lead the people of God to faith in Jesus Christ, to participate in the life and work of the community, and to seek peace, justice, and freedom for all people?” Today I failed in that mission. Someone recently told me that as […]
Saint Larry
This week we who are in the Christian faith tradition celebrated All Saints Day. It’s a day we commemorate the lives of those people who have particularly shown through their life and witness what it means to be a faithful Christian. But are “saints” limited only to Christianity? Technically the term originated to described those who were “holy” (sanctus) in Christianity, but what if we applied that term more broadly to describe those people whose lives have shown as an example for us?
Hagerstown Pride to Hold Interfaith Service
Hagerstown Hopes, the sponsor of Hagerstown Pride, is proud to announce that this year’s Pride festival will include its first Pride Interfaith Service. The service is being sponsored by local churches and will include participants from New Light Metropolitan Community Church, Veritas United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Hagerstown, Unity of Hagerstown, and the Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Center of Frederick.