Unfinished Business
I’ve been thinking about this image all week. It’s another image that was presented to me at the Prepare conference. Sure, I’ve […]
Tag: spiritual formation
First Things First
One of the mental images I took away from the Prepare conference last summer was this. How many times have we traveled […]
Social Networking as Ministry
Last summer I had the chance to lead a couple of workshops on Social Networking as Ministry at the United Methodist Collegiate Ministries ‘Prepare’ Conference.
It was a lot of fun and generated some great conversation.
I made sure that they knew I did not consider myself to be an “expert” in the area of social networking and let them know that there’s a lot for us to learn from one another as we think about having a pastoral e-presence.
Are Your Expectations Too High? Probably.
It’s a unique call that we have — as pastors — one that necessitates our interest, and even interjection, into some of […]
The Americanization of Congregation
Do you ever find yourself wondering: “how, exactly, did I end up here?” I know that I do. Sometimes the question arises […]
A Story Among Stories
I am a pastor of college students on a university campus.
It’s what God has called me to be — and if you’re reading this — then you have likely experienced a similar call.
And as pastors within this specific context, we often see ourselves as participants in the stories of our students — maybe even shapers of their stories — in some small way.
But if you’re anything like me it can be all too easy, at times, to overlook the ways in which students (and the campus community at large) play a role in the unfolding of our own story.
Pastoring in North America
Today I come offering another excerpt from Eugene Peterson’s memoir. I know that most of us love the work that we have […]
Helping Students to Identify a Call to Pastor
Do you remember when it was that you first realized God was calling you into ministry?
More specifically, do you remember when it was that God was calling you to be a pastor to college students?
My guess is that God started to plant that seed deep within us long before we ever realized it.
We likely experienced different things — events, conversations, moments of clarity or divine appointment — that seemed odd or out of place at the time… but were actually pointing us toward the very thing that we now find ourselves doing.
Every Step An Arrival
I’ve been sitting with this phrase today… every step an arrival.
It’s the subtitle for Eugene Peterson’s Memoir entitled: The Pastor. I read this book for the first time last summer, and am planning to reread it this summer (and probably every summer to come — it’s one of those books).
Peterson credits a poem written by Denise Levertov, in which she gives an account of her development as a poet, for the origin of the phrase. As you might deduce, Peterson now uses it as a way to encapsulate his vocational unfolding as a pastor.
Every step an arrival.
Every step.
An arrival.
What’s Your Theology of Vocation?
It’s an inevitable question/conversation for every college student — especially as they prepare for graduation: What do you want to do with […]