Painfully Hopeful

Over Six Summers

I’m about to start my sixth “school year” here in Palmyra. Believe it or not, but this is the longest I’ve lived in any one place since I started dorming at LMH when I was 17 years old. It is certainly the only home that my son remembers, and the only one that my daughter…

Oh the bad Church Experience.

On Sundays, I worship with other believers. It is a spiritual discipline that I practiced even when I wasn’t a pastor, and it means that even when I’m on vacation I’m still engaged in worship somewhere. For many years when we were out at my wife’s parent’s I’d just join them on Sunday mornings –…

Things that make me go, “eh.”

I’ve been seeing a lot written about why Evangelicals are leaving “the Institutional Church” in droves. I find the stories interesting, given that most the people sharing their stories tend to be my contemporaries, and yet their tales also fale to capture my heart. I really don’t need convincing that a good number of the…

Ephrata Cloister

Even though I went to high school in Lancaster, I’d never been to Ephrata Cloister (I stayed home when the dormies went there my Junior year). As I grew in my faith, and in my appreciation for the heritage of Christian spirituality, I also grew in my desire to go and visit this unique place. …

Camp Netop

Camp Netop was a summer camp operated by a friend of my mom’s family for many years. My uncles all went to it, and when my cousins and I came of age we all travelled up to Maine for our own Netop experiences. I had many high’s there, and a few lows, but to this…

Watching from Afar

We’re at home temporarily in the middle of our vacation. I’ll be joining some friends down at Circle of Hope this evening for worship, so I just stayed home this morning – which gave me an excellent view of what our outdoor worship looks like to our neighbors. Now, I usually hear from our neighbors…