This year, for the first time in decades, an otter was spotted in the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio. After a history of pollution and neglect made famous by the 1969 fire that in many ways resulted in the environmental movement, enough fish had returned to a stretch of the river that otters could again …
Category: faith & leadership
the last Episcopalian
"Monks are accustomed to taking the long view," writes Kathleen Norris as she describes a massive storm slowly lumbering towards a monastery on the open prairie in Dakota: A Spiritual Geography. Whether in storms or sunshine, the spiritual life means making our way through a very different - and far more patient - time horizon. …
the right people
How do we find the right people to rebuild a church? Or even build on something that's plugging along fine? Do they need to be of a certain generation? Have a certain income or skill set? Do you prefer lifelong members of your church or new blood? I've found that they need to be none …
good stress & bad stress
Church work is hard. It should be hard, as any meaningful work is likely to to be. Writing a novel is hard. Being a parent is hard. Doing surgery is hard. Building a business is hard. But is church work is the right kind of difficult? It's stressful, but is it the wrong kind of …
the missing manual
If I could set my time machine back about twelve years when I became the pastor of a church for the first time, I'd pack the missing manual that I could have used back then. I've had wonderful mentors and teachers and colleagues and parishioners who along the way, supported me as I became priest, …
BJ's Blog 