Three things I hold

I am a member of both my Annual Conference's Delegation to General Conference 2020, and of our Conference Task Force exploring whether and how Methodists in New England might become a new and inclusive Methodist movement. Between juggling these roles and my own passion for the future of ministry in my local Methodist church and…

Only Love Can Do That

Saturday night, I had an experience that I can only describe as something between a conversion and an affirmation, while sitting (briefly) on the floor of the Church & Society 2 legislative committee. Grace at General Conference? I know. I came in as a substitute for my friend and a member of our delegation, LaTrelle, who…

Sermon: Redeeming Blood

"Redeeming Blood" (March 13, 2016) I've never been comfortable with embracing the blood and suffering of Jesus' death, not because I'm squeamish, but because I don't like what that says about God. But if redemption is in Christ's blood (just like, as an Italian, hospitality is in mine), is it possible to redeem this image…

After Borg: How one lecture gave me atonement to believe in

There are many voices lifted up this week in thanksgiving for the life and evangelism of scholar Marcus Borg. Perhaps all the stories that need telling have been told. But this one is mine. The whole long post is now six and a half years old, and is worth the fun reading if you want…

But Have Not Love

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I…

Sermon: The Power of Power

"The Power of Power" (January 6, 2013) In any given injustice or imbalance, one must always trace the power dynamic. Who has power? Who is being dis-empowered? Who is afraid of losing power? Who willingly relinquishes it? Jesus' life is filled with the questions, and he calls us to think of true power very differently...…

Fragments for the Fragmented

Late last week, I was contacted by fellow pastor and blogger Drew "Pastor Mack," who was planning to write about the communion witness in which I participated at General Conference on May 3. He asked for my permission and to further pick my brain a bit, which I gladly granted, and I feel that his…

The Death Penalty and The United Methodist Church

In addition to being proud of my state, I am proud to be part of a denomination that takes a strong stance against the death penalty. On the subject of capital punishment, The United Methodist Church says: We believe the death penalty denies the power of Christ to redeem, restore and transform all human beings.…

Justice with Temperance (the Death Penalty and our Better Angels)

I'm proud to live in a state that does not have the death penalty. I'm a staunch pacifist, and I believe that nonviolence isn't weakness, but requires profound strength. It is by no means easy. Vermont State Police arrested a couple yesterday, and charged them with second degree murder in the death of Melissa Jenkins.…

Spirituality that speaks to the rest of us

I have bad days. Bad weeks, even. Last week was one such example. I was feeling like "church" was an old, dead concept (I still think this, at least in the way most of us think about church), and that progressives/liberals like myself would have no space whatsoever in the spiritual culture of the future--…