Bert Miner pointed out something to me that I had missed. We had been looking for places where we might gather for worship around Port Orchard, and I had naively valued location, price and ease as the top of needs for a temporary location. Bert, however, having worshipped with us with his wife, Cathy, since […]
God provides… again!
Who would have thought that two days before Christmas Eve that it was even possible for twelve pastors, school administrators, and ministry leaders to reply to an urgent email? And yet, that’s exactly what happened. Subject Line: SOS! Response: (universally) We’ll see if we can help! Every single person was on vacation and/or preparing for Christmas. I was overwhelmed […]
Worshipping with Hamilton
My wife Megan and I watched Hamilton, the hit Broadway musical that blew away the box office and made cultural waves, now available on Disney+ in these strange times. We’d heard positive reviews from friends who’d gone to see it in person, read articles about it, saw the memes and other ways it had filtered into the […]
Four steps to re-open Chapel Hill
Since COVID-19 made it impossible for all of us to meet together for worship, you have taken the words “beyond these walls” literally and embraced this moment by worshipping in your homes, gathering in LifeGroups over Zoom, praying for one another virtually, and even changing the way you give money to Chapel Hill so that […]
The return of classic worship…online!
One of the things I try to teach my young colleagues is the importance of being nimble in ministry. When cultural shifts occur, too often the church is scrambling to keep up, much less get ahead of those changes. The gospel message is timeless but you MUST remain light on your feet in order to […]
Defiant hope
A week ago last Wednesday as Cyndi and I were on an airplane flying to North Carolina to visit our daughter, the governor of our state of Washington was announcing the first of the restrictions intended to blunt the impact of COVID-19 upon the residents of our state. By the time we had landed in […]
Let’s make it an adventure!
One of the most interesting sites in Rome actually lies UNDER Rome. 90 miles of catacombs were carved in ancient times as burial sites. But these underground cemeteries were transformed into churches when persecuted Christians began to worship in them during the first and second century. It was certainly not as convenient as an above-ground […]
Worship is weird!
There’s something a little weird about worship. Now, for those of us raised in the church, it is almost second nature. Worship is what you do on Sunday; church is where you go. I remember the purple hymnals, the mimeographed bulletins with runny print, an unmistakable aroma—and always a few typos. I remember purple velvet […]
Saturday in the Sanctuary
This weekend we will once again move our Saturday service to the Sanctuary for those who would like to have their Sunday morning free to watch the Seahawks crush the Panthers. It’s worth noting that every week, our Saturday service is identical to our 10:45 am service, so if you normally come to 10:45 but […]
Haiti Worship Night
Friday evening, April 28 After taking a red-eye flight, we arrived in Port-au-Prince on Friday afternoon greeted by torrential rains, but they lightened up by the time we reached the guest house. After settling in and having a light dinner, we went to a “Night Watch” prayer and worship service at Joseph’s church (he is […]