Priorities: The change we say we desire and what it requires of us Pastor Phil's Thoughts for the DayIn May of 2019 we finished a major effort to gain a sense of Grace and the dreams of those associated with Grace. We had an extraordinarily high level of participation. The overall priority for people in terms of where our energy should go was to “Make necessary changes to attract families with children and […] Read More
Celebrating Communion Digitally: Break so very broken Pastor Phil's Thoughts for the DayThis week we tried something new in our worship. Well, it was a very old thing, but the way we did it was newish. We celebrated communion via a prerecorded internet service. And next week that will air on television This is not ideal. I would have so much preferred eye-to-eye contact as those words […] Read More
What bus are you taking? Pastor Phil's Thoughts for the DayRecently I heard a talk by local author BJ Hollars. He was discussing the personal stories of freedom riders from the sixties who got on buses with a dangerous insistence that all people are created equal and therefore should be treated equally. (Hollars tells these stories in his book The Road South.) At one point he […] Read More
The Stewardship of Risk Pastor Phil's Thoughts for the DayStewardship is the call to care for that which God has entrusted into our hands. Today’s reflection won’t go where stewardship-talk often goes: the use of our time, talents, and treasures in service to God’s mission in the world. Rather today I’d like us to think of risk and the ability to assess risk as […] Read More
Six Words of Thankfulness Pastor Phil's Thoughts for the DayOur prayers this last week were built on something I had come across in the New York Times around Thanksgiving. They knew that 2020 had been harsh for most of us, but they urged us to register and name things to be thankful for in the midst of pain and to distill their appreciative memory […] Read More
Circling Around the Place of Our Longing Pastor Phil's Thoughts for the DayI worship along with our recorded service at 10am, the time we were accustomed to gather. Since I’m an early riser, once light breaks on the horizon, my dog and I head out on a walk to return before that time. This Sunday I walked across bridges and through the park to Grace Lutheran Church’s […] Read More
Hopes and Fears Pastor Phil's Thoughts for the DayA verse from O Little Town of Bethlehem speaks to me: O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie! Above thy deep and dreamless sleep The silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth The everlasting Light; The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee to-night. […] Read More
On your mark, get set, go! Pastor Phil's Thoughts for the DayEvery year the passages we listen to in worship come from one gospel, either Matthew, Mark, or Luke with regular interruptions from the last of the gospels written, John. This coming Sunday we begin our year in Mark. Mark is my favorite gospel. Yes, pastors and all faithful people will have their favorites! This is […] Read More
Catching Up To God: On Ordaining, Not Disdaining, Women Pastor Phil's Thoughts for the DayCatching up to God: On Ordaining, not Disdaining, Women This month our national church celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the ordination of women in our ministry. We confess that it took us another thirty years after doing that to celebrate the ordination of a black woman. And it wasn’t until only ten years ago that […] Read More
God’s Next Wonderful Thing Pastor Phil's Thoughts for the DayYesterday, Grace Lutheran issued a call to me as Lead Pastor. In the remarks I made before the vote, I mentioned a God-experience I had which opened my heart to new possibilities. Four years ago, my wife, Lori, was offered a position at University Lutheran Church. We had talked about her dream to have such […] Read More