Rustlings (August 10, 2020)
Lessons from a Covid Haircut. To be safe, the hairstylist came to my condominium—masked and sanitized. In the open air of the parking lot, she turned on her clippers. I told her, “You know you are about to disappoint and delight two different populations at the same time.” COVID Lesson #1—You can’t please everybody. It’s […]
Rustlings (July 20, 2020)
Without endorsing any political party, I need to give a little credit to the late Congressman John Lewis. I was an enthusiastic, up and coming, young pastor when I met John Lewis. He was visiting Georgia State University’s campus. Several ‘young leaders’ were invited to meet with him, and as a twenty-one-year-old, freshly ordained minister, […]
Rustlings (July 13, 2020)
Time is relative. It has never felt more relative—at least for me—than in recent months. As schedules are adjusted and normal activities are abated, the days and weeks seem to glacially drag by. (With South Carolina temperatures in the 90’s this week, ‘glacially’ may not have been an apt descriptor… but you get the point.) […]
Rustlings (June 29, 2020)
Pastoral Pandemic Putt Putt. Yeah, it’s a thing. I just made it up. In conversations with church members via telephone, Zoom, Church Chat, Facebook Messenger, Livestream sidebars, etc., people consistently share their grief over lack of social contact. They particularly express some sorrow over lack of face-to-face contact with their minister. Add to that, when […]
Rustlings (June 22, 2020)
On a recent pilgrimage to Greece, I meandered among the ancient ruins with a less-than-ancient ‘Whisper Headset’ on my ears. Through this miracle of radio technology, a guide provided detail and narrative to the statuesque rubble that surrounded us. I was reminded of the differences between Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns. I learned cultural details […]
Rustlings (June 15, 2020)
In the meantime… In the meantime… It’s a phrase that indicates things are not what they were nor are they what they will be. Between our past and our future, we dwell…in the meantime. It was just months ago that First Baptist Greenville was filling her pews each Sunday, planning meaningful Holy Week/Easter Services, putting […]
Rustlings (June 1, 2020)
Yes, I was glued to the television for the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket that carried the Dragon SpaceX capsule into earth’s orbit last week. In prior years, I was tuned in as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, as subsequent Apollo missions made it and missed it, for the first space shuttle launch, […]
Rustlings (May 26, 2020)
As we look forward to the celebration of Pentecost (Sunday, May 31) and the month of June, the voice of David Bowie is echoing in my head, ‘Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes…’ Some things will not change as we enter the month of June. We will not regather in our Sanctuary for worship during the month of June. (You […]
Rustlings (May 18, 2020)
Three years ago, our church evaluated its seminary/pastoral internship program. We discovered the model used through the prior decades did not adequately integrate with current seminary models or the needs of current seminary graduates. After much study and prayer, we embraced the ‘Residency Model.’ In the residency model, a seminary graduate is hired for a […]
Rustlings (May 11, 2020)
I enjoy watching children step onto elevators. If I’ve already boarded the steel box, I resist pushing any buttons. Inevitably, the child wants to push the buttons. The attending parent almost always allows the child to push ‘their floor,’ and then I politely speak the number of my floor. The child will look at the […]