Happy Sabbath!

With hands upraised, open to receive all that the Creator has to offer, we sing our praises.



"Do not live in fear, little flock, it has pleased your God to give you the Kindom."
Luke 12.32

Live this day with the joy, the sure assurance, of those upon whom it has pleased our God to offer blessing.

Meet the Family

In the Spirit of “Getting to Know You” commensurate with a newbie like yours truly, I take the opportunity to introduce you to my family. Each of them is unique. And while I will be careful what I say about our children, I don’t have to worry about what I say about my beloved, Mimi (she doesn’t do this whole computer thing).

So, starting with Mimi, here we go.



It was just last week that Mimi and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary. What can I say – I got lucky. She attacked one night on a parking lot outside my brother’s apartment, and we haven’t left each other’s side since. (She tells a different story – but this is my blog and she won’t figure out how to change it – so I’m safe.)







John Jacob is our oldest child.


He turned 23 last week. He is a jazz composer, band teacher, and trumpet enthusiast (though he plays many other instruments). He graduated from Elmhurst three weeks ago, Summa Cum Laude I will have you know. His own beloved is a young woman named Kelly.






Adam is next.

Smart guy, this one. Loves baseball, like his old man. Studying Environmental Sciences at Mizzou in Columbia, MO. He’s an artist, and does some amazing work. He will turn 22 in July. Here he is with his buddy Rei, whose living with Mimi and me until he can find an apartment that lets him keep pets.







And then there’s Molly – the girl with the ‘tude. Toughest person I’ve ever met. Beat up the class bully in Kindergarden when she caught him picking on someone smaller than he. She loves to sing, and has a beautiful voice. She’s got a new buddy – a King Charles Cavalier pup who just adores her (yeah, I had never heard of one either).



Well, that’s the family. I love ‘em all, and am damn proud of each for very different reasons. I may bore you periodically with stories about them

Some random thoughts

I spent a marvelous few days in Albuquerque this last weekend to share worship and fellowship with the good folk at Church of the Good Shepherd. They were warm and hospitable. Their worship was lively and engaging. The sacred conversation on race we shared was honest and insightful. It was my first visit with them, and I enjoyed it very much.

The trip was also an opportunity to honor the ministry of Rev. Dr. Sue Gallagher. A pioneer in ministry, she was among the very first and very few women that the Board for Homeland Ministries entrusted a new church start to - in Tallahasse, FL (it is still going strong today!). She has a real passion for stewardship, and has served as an able ally in the effort to teach us all the principles and practices of giving that make good ministry possible. Under her leadership, the COGS has raised its OCWM offerings 15% each year she was there. We thank her for her years of dedicated service to the Gospel, and are proud of all that she has done for the sake of the Church.

I am off to Orlando for a week with my colleagues in Conference Ministry. Pray for us all. I would expect that by the time we all return next Tuesday evening every challenge, every difficulty, and every problem currently facing the denomination will have been addressed and solved. Expect membership rolls and endowment contributions to swell. I am bringing my golf clubs in the hopes that we will have all that accomplished by early Monday - leaving just enough time for a round or two in the cool Florida breezes.

In the certain hope that we in the Southwest Conference will, with the help and through the impulses of the Holy Spirit, grow in love, succeed in mission, embrace our future, embody Christ's compassion, empower the weak, and elicit the creative spirit within us all - I bid you all a fond farewell till next time.

Hello, Gentle Soul

Good day to you who have happened upon this site.

I have decided to start my own blog. Each day, I will post thoughts, musings, and ramblings in an effort to empty my head and share with you ideas about current events, insights into biblical texts that inspire me, accounts of personal moments that move me, or revelations that have reshaped how I view the world around me.

Feel free to post your own thoughts and reactions - but let us be kind, honest, mild-mannered, and forever conscious of the dignity and worth of all.

In a poem I love by Emily Dickensen, she writes that her "little toil of love is large enough." I do hope that when all is said and done, this will be little more than a piece of what will become known as my own 'little toil of love.'

Enjoy.