저는 톰슨 윌더의  우리 마을 이라는 제목의 연극을 본 것을 기억합니다. 극중에 나오는 에밀리는 출산 중에 죽어 지역 공동묘지에 묻힌 죽은 영들 중에 하나가 됩니다. 그리고 그 영들이 서로 대화하는 배역 중에 하나입니다. 어느 날 그는 굵은 목소리의 무대감독인 해설자에게 혹시 그녀가 하루만 삶으로 돌아가기를 요청합니다. 그녀는 허락을 받았고 평범한 세상의 심오한 아름다움에 충격을 받습니다 … 그러나 살아있는 사람들이 그런 아름다움에는 전혀 아랑곳 없는 모습에 화가 나고 실망하게 됩니다. 하루가 끝나고 공동묘지로 다시 돌아왔을 때, 그는 무대감독에게 묻습니다. “그 어떤 한 사람이라도 자기가 사는 생애를 어떤 것인지 깨닫고 있나요?” 무대 감독은 잠깐 생각을 하고 대답합니다. “아니요, 아마도 성자들과 시인들만 그럴 것입니다”

I remember seeing the classic Thornton Wilder play Our Town. The character Emily dies giving birth, is buried and becomes part of a group of dead souls buried in the local cemetery who can talk to each other. One day she asks the narrator, a deep-voiced Stage Manager character, if she can return to the earth for just one day. She receives permission, and she is struck by the immense beauty of the ordinary world...but is upset and despondent that the people who are alive don’t even notice all the beauty, they pay no attention to it. When she returns to the cemetery at the end of her day, she asks the Stage Manager, “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?” He thinks for a moment, then says “No. The saints and poets, maybe. They do some.”

최근에 대화를 나눈 목사님들과 크리스천 리더들로부터 들은 말이 있습니다: “지금은 매우 힘든 시기입니다.”  미국에서의 대변동, 즉, 정치, 리더쉽, 세계의 정세, 사람들에 대한 열악한 취급 등은 이끌어 나가기에 너무 힘들게 합니다. 미국과-미국내의 교회-가 이처럼 짧은 시간 내에 양극화 되리라고는 아무도 예상하지 못했습니다. 지금 현재 리더쉽의 모습은 몇 년 전의 그 모습과는 본질적으로는 아니더라도 모양새에서 너무도 달라졌습니다. 거친 바다의 모습입니다.

I’m starting with the thing I’ve heard from pretty much every pastor and Christian leader I’ve talked with recently: “this is a rough time.” The upheaval in our nation, the politics, the leadership, the international scene, the poor treatment of human beings is making it very tough to lead. No one could have foreseen how incredibly polarized our country–and our churches–would be in such a short period of time. What leadership looks like now is very different from what it was a few years ago–in form if not in substance. The seas are rough.

앤과 저는 작년에 시애틀을 많이 다녀 왔는데, 주로 나이 드신 부모님들의 건강문제로 다녀 왔습니다. 시애틀은 정말 우리의 고향입니다. 우리가 자라난 곳이고, 고등학교 때 우리는 만났고, 결혼을 했고, 일을 하던 곳이고, 세 자녀가 태어난 곳 … 시애틀입니다. 무엇보다도 6년 동안 떠났다가 시애틀에서 11년 목회를 한 곳입니다. ‘고향’이란 단어를 들으면 바로 시애틀을 생각합니다.

Anne and I have been up to Seattle and back many times in the last year, mostly attending to health crises for our various parents. Seattle is truly our hometown. We were raised, met in high school, got married, had careers, three kids were born...all in Seattle. And then on top of it, an eleven-year chapter in ministry back in Seattle after six years away. So when I hear “home,” I think–Seattle.

A couple of weeks before we were to vote on the GA amendments our presbytery co-sponsored a zoom meeting in order to discuss 24-A and 24-C. The hope was for us to be able to more clearly understand what the impacts would, and would not be, if these amendments passed.  Like many of us, I am most concerned about 24-C and so was intrigued to see how this conversation would be framed.  By the end of the night, I was angry and the next morning I found myself (much to my surprise and awkwardness) weeping in front of three elders as I described the previous night’s event.  It took me some time to try and understand exactly why I was so deeply unsettled and emotionally raw.

This is perfect. Just perfect. By the time you read this, it will likely be mid-to-late January 2025, and you will have already failed at most, if not all, of your New Year’s resolutions, and are ready to think more seriously about the year stretching out in front of us. 

As we prepare to transition from Advent, our season of waiting turns to a season of wonder, a season of magnificent hope and expectation, walking in awe of the miraculous that we ourselves have been able to see and behold. We welcome the new year and with it, yet another reminder of God’s steady faithfulness for and unto each of us. Thank you, Lord!

“The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air…” That’s how The Lord of the Rings movies begin. I know this because I’ve seen them a hundred times. Or at least, I’ve seen the beginning a hundred times, before dozing off and waking up halfway through the movie. “There’s something in the air.”

“세상이 바뀌었습니다. 물속에서 느낍니다. 지구에서 느낍니다. 공기 중에도 냄새가 납니다…” 반지의 제왕 영화에서 시작하는 대사입니다. 저는 이 영화를 몇 백 번을 보았기에 다 외웠습니다. 최소한, 영화를 보다가 졸다가 중간 부분에 깨기 전에 시작 부분을 백 번 이상 보았습니다. “공기 가운데 무엇인가 있습니다.”

The Fellowship is family. Some of the most sustaining ministry relationships that I have are across the regions of The Fellowship. Speaking of finding the intimacy of family within the community we call The Fellowship, we are less than 2 weeks away from Advent. We are less than 40 days removed from Christmas, less than 50 days from…

We’re just a small church here in Northern California, 120 people or so. We’re probably a typical group of Jesus-followers, if there is such a thing. We’re good at some things, not so much at others. We have extroverts and introverts, mature believers and people just checking out the faith. We like to do things,…

I attended the Theology Matters conference in Hiton Head, SC earlier in October to gather with about 135 of my brothers and sisters in Christ. This was my first time at this conference. I was delighted to be reminded of the connectionism of the PCUSA. I bumped into the pastor who served at my church…

What a delight to see so many friends from The Fellowship Community at the 2024 Theology Matters Conference in Hilton Head, South Carolina! Ray, Cynthia, and Jim – all TFC board members – thank you for making the trek! It was wonderful to catch up and hear about ministry in your contexts, and to talk…

How do you explain an experience to someone, with concrete, factual, tangible and tactile language?  How do you share that which you experienced in a way that communicates the great value and the riches you found in it? This is exactly the situation I find myself in every week as I seek to respond to the…

Several decades ago, I attended a Christian discipleship seminar. The leader challenged us to think hard about what kind of music we listened to, so as not to be unaware of things which subtly influenced us. I still remember his litany of caution: “Anything held constantly before the mind becomes a part of you.” For…

I think I now have every single book that Frederich Buechner ever wrote, and they have been a rich trove of meaningful quotes for my faith, sermons or teaching. Despite having a decidedly cerebral approach to life and faith, a major turning point in Buechner’s life involved a miraculously mundane incident. In Telling Secrets, Buechner…

I had a lot of time to think, pray and contemplate this month, in a wide array of locations. Vacation took me to a rooftop deck in Jersey City, NJ while visiting our daughter Dana, son-in-law Ted and first grandchild, Ellie Anne!  (Just ask, I can send you hundreds of pictures). A train enroute to…

In my most recent conversation with an inquiring congregation, the question was raised: “Why would we join the Fellowship?” This was not the first time that I have received this question or something similar to it. Questions like, “What does the TFC have to offer us?”  or, “What will we gain from joining with this group?” I have to...