Tag: Emerging Church

Emerging Church

Divergent Thinking

A mentor of mine once told me that part of my job is to leave the office sometimes and go to the movies, or go for a walk, or go to the lake so that I can get distance from what I am trying to do. It’s like leaving the main floor at a show …

Read more

A Dynamic Faith

About ten years ago I got an email about Grace Commons (then called Wicker Park Grace) that said this: Before our discussions I naively thought that Christianity was a one dimensional theology with minor shifts in beliefs across denominations; and I definitely thought that it did not coincide with my own world view. However, after …

Read more

Church for the 21st Century

I just returned from a 3-day leadership consultation with the national offices of the Presbyterian Church (USA). My good friend and colleague, Rev. Shawna Bowman was there too. She wrote/drew the amazing notes above, while we were talking about new things that are happening or that we wish were happening in the churches. The gathering …

Read more

New Place, New Ministry, New Possibilities

Soon I will celebrate my 10-year anniversary of ordination. Unbelievable. I have been serving Grace Commons and its predecessor, Wicker Park Grace, for ten years. Even as new possibilities open up, I will continue to serve as the pastor at Grace Commons–but things are changing! Beginning November 1st, I will also become the half-time pastor …

Read more

Visual Prayer–Dear God, are you here?

Dear God, are you here?

These original photos were taken at Lake Michigan on my iPhone 4 through the instagram app. I tweeted them with words of prayer, and this is how I prayed that day. I put the slides with words into a PowerPoint slideshow, then turned that into a Quicktime movie and uploaded it to YouTube. In the …

Read more