Every now and then, a metaphor pops into my brain that’s just too good to ignore. I love cooking and baking competitions. Lately I’ve been watching a lot of Chopped and The Great British Bake off. Chopped is a frantic Food Network show where chefs are handed a mystery basket of ingredients. As I was watching Chopped the other day,  I thought: Oh my goodness… this is also pastoring. To be honest, for a fleeting moment, I thought this metaphor applied during COVID pastoring too

Rev. Dr. Anna Howard Shaw Quote: "...hold fast to that which God had given you; let no power, no injustice, no obstacle, no scorn, no opposition, let nothing extinguish the flame... never take your truth down to the world's level." A colleague of mine, Jenny Smith , wrote a poem—a poem she didn’t want  to write. She said it felt too big, too heavy. And yet, she wrote it anyway. Because sometimes, silence is a luxury we can’t afford. Her poem, posted on her Facebook page , beg

Not long ago, someone asked me a question that stopped me in my tracks: “Why don’t preachers preach from the Bible anymore?” I’ll admit, I was taken aback. My first instinct was to laugh — not in a dismissive way, but in surprise. Because as far as I know, I do preach from the Bible. Every week, in fact. That’s literally where I begin. So, I took a breath and asked this person to tell me more — to unpack what they meant. I got curious. They weren’t able to fully articulate t

Warning: this is going to be a super nerdy post. Something remarkable just happened in The United Methodist Church—something that many of us have been praying and hoping for. The Council of Bishops announced yesterday that all four  constitutional amendments approved by the 2024 General Conference have been ratified by our annual conferences. Every single one. (You can read more about them here on the Council of Bishop's Website .) That means this isn’t just a policy update—i

A Christmas Tree Farm in Silverton, OR I grew up believing my calling was to be a teacher. I was the kid who lined up her stuffed animals and gave spelling tests. (They were excellent students, by the way.) So when I switched course in college and said I was going into ministry instead, people who only nominally knew me were slightly puzzled. “Why not teaching?” they’d ask. I usually smile and say, “I am still teaching." Because honestly, I never stopped teaching. Most Sunday

What does Christian perfection REALLY mean? As a United Methodist clergyperson, I have a love-hate relationship with the word perfection....

This picture is one of my absolute favorites of me in the midst of ministry. It pops up on my Facebook memories every year in late...

If you’ve been told “this is just how Christianity is,” know that it can be different. And you deserve to experience that difference.

...ministry takes more than a balanced budget—it takes bold imagination, a little holy restlessness, and a willingness to try things that might seem unusual, risky, or even a little wild.

A few weeks ago, my office manager Jill and I took a day trip to Oregon State University to attend a presentation by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB).

How long must the church wait before it joins the world that is spinning? I've been doing a lot of reflecting lately about midwives. Perhaps it's because a friend just had an adorable baby girl. I suppose part of the reason is that I am in my own transition time. I’ll post more about that later, but this theme of midwives keeps coming up for me. The theme of being a midwife in ministry isn't new. When I was at the Monastery of St. Gertrude many years ago for a clergy group m

God shows up - in the midst of the unknowing – right in the midst of chaos. When I was Ordained, Bishop Hoshibata placed his hands on my...

The people in my life have been midwives along the journey of ministry – conspiring with God to birth hope in me and others. Hi everyone!...

Ever wonder what a Pastor needs every week to do their job? Here is a peek at mine in honor of Labor Day (Yay Unions!): Ministry in the...