Tag: church
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Sunday Morning
Reflections on Shuffle-Play (the thing where I write a reflection based on a song from that morning’s run) I didn’t lead worship today. I get a few Sundays off each year and while it is nice to have a Sunday now and then to not extend the mental energy toward preparing a sermon and not…
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Betty’s Diner
Reflections on Shuffle-Play Betty’s Diner By Carrie Newcomer During seminary, I was a bartender for a few months in a tiny northern town bar. My mother needed some major surgery and so I decided to take a few months off from classes to live back at home and help out – although I’m not sure…
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When it’s Time to Go
I have loved each of my churches I have served. I remember each of them so fondly and hold such a dear place in my heart for each of them. Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of South Newstead in New York was a great place to learn how to be a pastor. There was a lot…
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5 Words of Wisdom to a New Pastor
On the way home tonight, I was listening to a podcast in which the author, Tara Mohr, was being interviewed. She was talking about her most popular blog post which was entitled, 10 Rules for Brilliant Women. It includes some great advice for women to be brave about bringing their own particular brilliance to the…
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Of Course He Isn’t Safe. But He’s Good.
Sermon from Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church – 14th Sunday after Pentecost – August 30, 2015 Gospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 I remember having a conversation with a group of ladies at the first church I served out in Western New York state. We were sitting at a table eating soup and we started talking about…
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Okay, God, What Next? (a sermon from June 28, 2015)
I was ordained almost sixteen years ago. I had a shiny new call in hand from a little church in Western New York and planned the ordination service at my home church – Good Shepherd Lutheran in Henning, Minnesota. My pastor from all my growing up years, Rev. Darrell Vetter, preached. Bishop Arlen Hermodson of…
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The Church
I spend a lot of time trying to understand the church. There are so many things I love about the church. Here, I will list just a few: 1. I love the stained glass and the old architecture of churches. When churches are busy and full of life, that is great, but I’m also partial…
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Sweet Ghosts of Congregations Past
It’s been a whirlwind these last few weeks. Just two weeks ago I preached my last sermon at my lovely Norwegian country church in Texas, said a hundred difficult “goodbyes” and then feverishly packed and cleaned and then turned in the keys to our life there. We loaded up all our stuff into two moving…
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Preachers. Keep on Preaching.
I read a story yesterday about a campus chaplain, Dr. Randy Beckum, who was demoted for preaching about peace and the false god of patriotism during a campus chapel service. He had his role as Vice President of MidAmerica Nazarene College stripped of him because many saw his words as inflammatory, yet he retained his role…
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Stillness
I am the pastor at a country church in an area known as Norse, Texas. One of the things I treasure most about being at Norse is the quiet. I often feel like I have the best of everything. I get to be a pastor in a great church and I get to live in…