The World's Okayest Pastor

In a conversation with a more conservative Christian then me (take in mind I call myself a bed-wetting liberal and I’m also a big time Process Theologian) the person started rambling off scripture quotes (proof texting really) to make a point. I have never claimed to be a great memorizer of anything. And even though I have read the Bible many times and own many copies of the Bible, I am still not a person who can just pull out scripture references in mid conversation. I do have several verses that I turn to and love dearly but I can’t tell you word for word what John 2:5 or Ruth 1:4 says. This got me thinking, why do Christians really feel the need to qualify their faith based on the amount of scripture that they can recite from memory? While it may be very handy to be able to quote scripture in a variety of situations, I believe that this can be dangerous. Proof texting (pulling scripture, from any religion, to support an argument without careful and learned consideration for its cont...

I can’t believe 2009 is over. It has truly been a busy year for me. I started it off by attending an immersion experience class that spent 15 days touring Kentucky’s Appalachia looking at the issues of faith, health and economics. Headed up by Pacific School of Religion this was a truly beautiful experience. I learned so much about an area that was only 2 hours away from where I was residing. I also meet many new people and am blessed to have been touched by the PSR community and faculty. In May I completed my last on site classes for Lexington Theological Seminary and in June started my Clinical Pastoral Education course at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Lexington. It was a busy and challenging 11 weeks, but the 5 other classmates and I became a family. Although we may have wanted to kill each other at times, we pushed each other and I believe we’re all better people now because of the experience. I know that my ministry will be forever shaped by the people I meet and ministered with. After...

These are some of my favorite quotes that I use in a variety of places. Enjoy! "Put on your big girl panties and deal with it." "Sometimes you have to make hamburger out of sacred cows." "I'm going to hold my hand out. Would you please just run into it? I'm too tired to smack you myself." "Wow! That was all kinds of dumb rolled into one." "Don't put a period where God puts a comma." - God is still Speaking Campaign UCC. "What do the Gospels say about homosexuality? _____" United Church of Christ "My momma didn't raise no fool!" 10 Things I Hate About You

Scripture Reading 1 Samuel 1:4-20 (New Revised Standard Version) 4On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; 5but to Hannah he gave a double portion, * because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. 6Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7So it went on year after year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8Her husband Elkanah said to her, ‘Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?’ 9 After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord. * Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. 10She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly. 11She made this vow: ‘O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the miser...