Pastoring the Misfits

I pastor a strange church. A few years ago I began to refer to it as The Land of Misfit Christians 1. It’s about as good a description as any. Central Baptist is filled with people who have odd senses of humor, a goofy relationship with formality, and an uneasy truce with social convention. We…

Rethinking Roger Williams

This morning I finished reading Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul. It took me a while to work through the story as I gorged on fiction during a stressful late-summer and fall, but the book itself is an engaging read. My sentiments towards Roger Williams have not been generally positive in the…

Tradition…..(music)…..TRADITION!

My friend Chris just wrote a blog entry on the current (well, ongoing) wrestling match that Mennonites are going through regarding their particular tradition.  For decades, many Mennonites have toyed with the idea of going Evangelicalâ„¢ saying that Anabaptist distinctives didn’t speak to our cultural setting.  Chris, rightly I think, challenges this.  You should read…