I suppose that you have already ordered your plane ticket, or charted your route with great anticipation of joining together with us, your faith family, at next month’s National Gathering.  It is going to be an absolutely great time of encountering the Lord, being refreshed as we sit together under the Word, finding encouragement in “fellowship,”…

I wonder how you feel about Lent right now. We’re about 3/4 of the way through this season leading towards Easter. Holy Week is approaching. For some of us, Lent doesn’t mean much beyond a mention or two in worship on a Sunday morning. But others are practicing various disciplines, reflection or confession, and that…

“Things are a wreck, violence is everywhere, morality is at an all-time low and the Church of Jesus is more problem than solution.” One way or another, I hear some version of this every week. Most of the time, I have to just nod and agree. Are things worse than at other times in history?…

It was nearly a year ago, when I found myself immersed in the conversations of how and what’s next for TFC. At the time, serving as a Board member, many were talking about how to diversify, how to grow younger, and how to become increasingly better neighbors. Those conversations eventually gave way to the opportunity…

I love the New Year. I do. I love fresh starts, new beginnings, a resetting of priorities. Everything is possible. The snow (not in Santa Rosa, CA, of course) feels fresh and the skies look blue. I’ve organized new calendars for home and office, paid the bills, run a lot of miles, finished a couple…

Just before Advent, I finished a sermon series on King David. It wasn’t long, just eight sermons, but for those two months I lived and breathed David. After I finished the final sermon, a friend asked “So, what did you take away from the David story for yourself, your own life?”  My unfiltered answer was…

TFC is excited to host an in person AND online gathering with Dr. David Emmanuel Goatley, President of Fuller Theological Seminary Christ-centered Faith and the Mission of God Thursday, January 11, 2024 11:00 am – 2:00 pm pacific In person at La Cañada Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall La Cañada Flintridge, CA $20 for lunch Online…

Pastor, you are God’s beloved. Even if your church like mine faces overwhelming odds – in deep need of soul revival, visionary co-laborers, and ministry re-birth. God knows these burdens are too big for you and me. If we make these our goals, we might feel deeply unloved, overlooked, unheard. Some of us may even…

Anne and I recently returned from a 2-month sabbatical. It was the third one I’ve had since being ordained, and in a word it was–epic. We ran and rested, biked and hiked and toured. I read and wrote extensively while Anne (a studio artist) sketched and painted. We spent time with our family and close…

The churches of TFC in the Northeast (along with contributions from a few TFC Board members) have created a devotional for Advent that is available for your congregation to use. Please feel free to distribute the devotional (either electronically or by downloading and printing hard copies) to your congregations. We hope that this will be…

Having open hands and an open heart can be a scary thing—especially when it comes to your Call.     About a year and a half ago, I began sensing the Holy Spirit prompting in my spirit the readiness for a change. By then, I served a church in Coronado for just over 13 years. It…

I can remember 10+ years ago being gathered in a room with hundreds of fellow PCUSA believers aligned around our faith and specifically tied together by the cadence of our historically evangelical heartbeat. As a newly ordained pastor, serving in my first (and only) ordained call, I wanted to find a tribe that radically lived…

Thursday, Nov. 9 – Friday, Nov. 10 at Refreshing Mountain Retreats Our time together will be led by Rev. Jason Tucker (a 2022 National Gathering speaker). Together we will explore the ‘what if’s’ that God is asking each one of us and our churches. Registration and payment deadline is Oct. 15, 2023. (NOW EXTENDED TO OCT. 24!)…

We live in a complicated world. You don’t need me to tell you that. The overwhelming speed of technological advances, climate change requiring unprecedented international cooperation to reverse, wars and famines, bitter polarization and on and on. It’s a confusing world which seems to spin faster and faster. Followers of Jesus get caught in the…

The Jewish Sabbath prayer says: “Days pass and the years vanish, and we walk sightless among miracles. Lord, fill our eyes with seeing and our minds with knowing; let there be moments when Your Presence, like lightning, illumines the darkness in which we walk.” I don’t know about you, but the older I get, the…

I know that you know that scripture often uses repetition to emphasize something important. If the same word or phrase appears several times in a row…pay attention. It turns out the same thing is true in life. If something keeps coming up repeatedly, I’ve learned to pay attention. It may be a coincidence. Or not.…

I was in Plano (Dallas area), Texas last week for The Fellowship Community’s National Gathering. The first morning there I went out for an early run, using exercise as a way to get to know the area. I found a route from the hotel to Grace Presbyterian Church, which was hosting our event. Ducking off…

Gracious and Loving Lord, thank you for the gift of TFC and all the powerful ways you continue to use us as your ambassadors for Jesus. May we continue to be faithful to your call on our lives, to live joyfully in your presence, and to be generous with your grace. Fill us with your…

After ministry adventures in Minneapolis, my hometown of Seattle, and nearly a decade in Hollywood, CA, we now live in Santa Rosa, CA. That’s Northern California for the unknowing (as I was until 2019), about 45 minutes north of San Francisco. We are in Sonoma County, home of the most vineyards I’ve ever seen–425 different…

During Lent, the prayer podcast—Pray as You Go—is closing each of their daily meditations with the following prayer. I hope it blesses you the way it has blessed me. You have given all to me, To you, Lord, I return it. Everything I have is yours, Do with it what you will. Given me only…