Lent’s invitation to take an honest look at who we are Advent the Apostle Peter asked a question that has been following me ever since. It wasn’t really a formal question with an official punctuation mark. It was a phrase […]
Guest Author
The Problem of Plugging In
David Swanson is pastor of New Community Covenant Church in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. Reclaiming an old metaphor to face today’s challenges Your church has problems. So does mine. It takes little observation to know this is true; a […]
Reversing the Mission Experience
Derek Mueller is pastor of student ministries at Rochester (Minnesota) Covenant Church. Although committed to their partnership with a congregation in Mexico, one Covenant church felt something was missing. I’ll be honest. I’ve always been a bit conflicted about cross-cultural […]
There’s No App for That
James Amadon is pastor of Highland Covenant Church in Bellevue, Washington. Uncovering the fallacy of efficient ministry Last year, having been hooked by the marketing geniuses, I found myself infatuated with one of the new touch-screen tablet computers that was […]
Singing the Story: Sightings in Christian Music
review by Philip J. Anderson, professor of church history at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. Glen Wiberg has written a book, several years in the making, about lovely hymns and stories. One of its author’s favorite adjectives in describing […]
Moving Beyond a Sentimental Peace
Steve Norman is the lead pastor of the Troy, Michigan, campus of Kensington Church an independent congregation. He blogs at stevenorman.org. What does it mean to take the angels’ Christmas proclamation seriously? I’m not a huge fan of Christmas cards. […]
Facing the Christmas Confusion
Bob Anderson is senior pastor of Redeemer Covenant Church in Orangevale, California. What happens when God’s miracle breaks through our expectations? The great American preacher Howard Thurman once said, “Christmas is a mood, a quality, a symbol. It is never […]
Grandma’s Time with St. Ignatius
Lessons in living a life of gratitude Margaret Einerwold, my maternal grandmother, taught me how to sew and bake and even how to iron a shirt. She taught me how to cook and how to pluck feathers (yes, even pinfeathers) […]
The Divine Work of Wasting Time
Steve Wong is pastor of Grace Community Covenant Church in Los Altos, California. Reflections on reorganizing the way we live together I think my daughter’s hamster just died. Actually, it may have died a couple of days ago, but no […]
A Profile in Courage and Compassion
Stan Friedman is the news editor for the Department of Communication. A horrific collision involving the high-school wrestling team reveals the true character of a small town in Iowa. I’ll always remember where I was on 9/11, I’ll always remember […]
The Vista Sisters’ Fruitful Mission
In retirement, two sisters were looking for a way to connect to their community. They discovered a way to make a difference in the world. Bleak. That was the word that sprang to mind for twenty-six-year-old Virginnia Swenson when she […]
Coming to A New Land
The story of immigration in the United States and Canada is a richly textured one. People come from all walks of life, from varied corners of the globe. They come from war-ravaged countries and from neighboring nations. They come both […]