I feel lucky since I had two opportunities to celebrate All Saint’s Day at our ofrenda in the sanctuary. Once was in the morning with the adults of the congregation. It was bright, sunny, and even fun, especially when I spent time with the youngest children who were irresistibly drawn to the candles on the table. I hope that with a few…

Friday through Sunday was a whirlwind of activity with the youth on our annual Fall Retreat at Cazadero. Four amazing advisors joined me to lead it, and each of us had borrowed or rented a minivan to drive up, chock-full of teenagers, music, and excitement. The retreat was scary. From the drive up in the dark, with the teen girls in my…

A pictoral essay on all the various directions I’m going Thursday, Oct 16th: I attended a great conference at San Francisco Theological Seminary, focusing on games and innovation in ministry. In an “innovation lab” my group developed and pitched an idea for “The Listening Campaign,” with the tagline: Because your story needs to be heard. This has inspired me to spend more…

This past Sunday morning I took the Time With Children as an opportunity to work on the behaviors appropriate to church. Each week in Godly Play we remind them that “church is a special place to be with God… to speak with God… to listen to God… and to hear the stories of God.” We remind them that they can speak softly…

Aches and pains in youth group games, hurt feelings in the sanctuary, disruptions in Godly Play, and stretch-marks ripping away at every corner of the church calendar… What is wrong with us? Dear friends, in my eyes it seems that our church has been suffering from a serious case of growing pains. Ben alluded to this a few weeks ago in his…

This Sunday as we celebrate World Communion with breads of the world, we will also take the Peace and Global Witness offering. This is one of the four yearly offerings of the Presbyterian Church (USA) which we participate in. Each offering has a different purpose and together they maintain wonderful and very important ministries. One Great Hour of Sharing is the biggest…

We are coming up to World Communion Sunday, which is my favorite minor church holiday of the year. Perhaps because it’s the most delicious, or perhaps because being so minor has saved the holiday from being coopted or commercialized, I will always have a special place in my heart for the first Sunday in October. On this day we remember that we…

First, the good news: Kickoff Sunday was a terrific amount of fun, and our Godly Play and Youth Group programs are full to bursting. We had 16 children between the two Godly Play classrooms, and 28 youth meant the Youth Group room was barely big enough to fit us, much less play active games in. I am careful to steer clear of…

We are looking forward to seeing you all at Kickoff Sunday! This is such a great MPC tradition and I do believe everyone will enjoy the fun program we have planned. See below for details and reminders of what to bring. Kickoff Sunday is a good excuse to get together and be merry, but it also marks important beginnings for the year.…

Youth Group had our first evening meeting last night, a huge event with 28 youth present! Although we strongly believe in quality over quantity, it’s hard not to be super excited by such a big group. We got to enjoy the newly redecorated youth group room with its many chalkboard surfaces for drawing on. We enjoyed getting to know one another one-on-one…