When I was a chaplain, we were all assigned to create “toolkits” for our work. Many of my peers created more virtual boxes – verbal or intellectual – or binders, in fact, rather than boxes, full of words and ideas appropriate to the various tasks of a chaplain. I may be a little too literal sometimes, but I made a tangible kit…

Today, though the day is young, each of your pastors took a turn shocking the other, and in each case, the thing that caused the shock was some good music. I shocked Ben by not knowing who Waylon Jennings was (apparently, a country musician), and he shocked me by asking what “Seasons of Love” was (525,600 minutes! How do you measure a…

Three seminary classmates of mine were always up to no good. Challenging the academic powers-that-be, calling for change, generally shaking things up in the best possible “no good” way. And they’ve kept at it. Though they scattered to different areas of the country, they kept blogging together and even ended up writing a book together. And it’s a world-rocking kind of book,…

Dear friends, Michael and I were wonderfully overwhelmed with your kindness and love this weekend. Thank you so much to everyone who participated in our wedding, in ways large and small. It was truly a community event with a real family feeling to it, even though there was only one blood relative in attendance (Michael’s twin brother Brian). From the children who…

I’d like to thank everyone whose efforts made Kickoff Sunday a huge success! From those who brought their tools in for the “Blessing of the Tools” to those who created presentations and brought snacks in for the Committee Fair, we are grateful for your work. Our congregation is blessed with so many creative, talented, hardworking, thoughtful people – and with such diversity…

Talitha’s Take We’re coming up on Kickoff Sunday this week (or, the day which I’m hoping people call “bring your cappuccino machine to church Sunday”). As I wrote last week, we’re going to have a “Blessing of the Tools,” so you can bring a symbolic item to join in this fun ritual. So now I’m stuck wondering what item I should bring,…

Kickoff Sunday is coming soon: September 18th. If you were out of town and missed Rev. Ben’s sermon on Labor Day weekend (http://mpcfamily.org/sermons/honest-work/), you may not have yet learned that your work can be an act of prayer… particularly if your work is the preparation of a sublime cappuccino. Well, on September 18th I’ll be preaching, and in addition to calling it…

I’m home! Thank you for all the well-wishes. Between getting married and today celebrating my birthday, it’s been quite the amazing few weeks of celebration. It feels great to be married! Now Michael and I are settling into our temporary digs in North Oakland, and eagerly anticipating having a house of our own when the manse is ready later this fall. The…

Talitha is taking two weeks’ vacation and will be back in the office on 8/30.