A Pet Blessing is a great way for a church to meet its neighborhood. Today, St. Benedict hosted its annual Pet Blessing. Two of my wonderful leaders set up plates of dog and people cookies, a water bowl, lemonade and coffee. I put on a stole and we gathered under our driveway portico to welcome […]
Funerals at Home 
August 18, 2013 by
Episcopal Cafe’ ran this piece I wrote as “The Daily Episcopalian” last Friday. Funerals at Home Recently, I presided at a tiny home funeral. Twenty people gathered in the living room of a mother and son, approximately aged 90 and 60, who had died on the same day. I’ll call them Leona and Joe. They had […]
Cross Stitch Samplers 
August 9, 2013 by
Some mottoes the Vicar is considering immortalizing in needlepoint for her study wall… Stop trying to fix everything. You’re not as important as you worry you are. It’s about you, but it’s not about you. – Marie Fortune God, please help me not to be such an ass. – Anne Lamott There […]
Solitude and Crowds in Orlando
July 16, 2013 by
We came to Florida on a two-day road trip last week with some dear friends for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) General Assembly, a biannual meeting of my husband’s entire denomination. Denominational assemblies are giant conventions. Instead of business people, dentists, or people in Star Wars costumes, you have a motley crew of church […]
Why I Can’t Bring Myself to Wear My Collar Into Target
June 12, 2013 by
This morning, I wrinkled my brow in the driver’s seat of my car, considered my options, and took off my clergy collar before walking into Target. I don’t wear a collar every day, but when I do, this is often a choice I have to make. Pumping gas, going into restaurants and stores, walking across […]
Can Pastors Be Honest? (article link)
February 7, 2013 by
The Young Women’s Clergy Project published a piece of mine today at their blog, Fidelia’s Sisters. It’s just as relevant for non-clergy types: Telling the Truth “Wait, you mean you still haven’t fired him yet?” I burst out at my colleague. She was having a meeting with her music director. The same music director. The same director, who, over […]
What a Pastor Does
January 9, 2013 by
“So, what exactly do you do as a pastor? Do you do a lot of counseling?” Adam and I were on vacation the week after Christmas and the man who ran the B&B where we stayed asked me this. It’s hard to explain. At least this guy didn’t ask if I only work on Sundays. I […]
Inside My Church
January 9, 2013 by
On the Sunday before Christmas… probably during announcements. We had the children’s pageant that morning, so it was a full house. That second shot – wide angle lens! – makes it look more narrow that it really is. Actually, it’s almost a square. My husband, Adam, took these pictures from the back, where he sits […]
Take 12, December
December 14, 2012 by
Our tree, daytime. House ornament! I got this “Advent box” (?) from Target a few years ago, and each door has a slip or two of paper with verses that match the Jesse Tree ornaments I’ve been collecting… Jesse tree — a bare branch with ornaments that represent Old Testament stories — creation, the ram […]
Church Is Where They Tell You What To Do
August 29, 2012 by
“Why would you want to go somewhere where they just want to tell you what to do?” A friend of a friend’s husband asked this, when his wife was thinking about attending church with their children. My friend, a churchgoer with a rebel soul, happened to be there. She came back with: “Mark, you know […]
