Directing Music We are on the threshold of hiring a new Music Director. We have spent some time creating a job description, defining what we would expect this person to do as well as what gifts and skills we would hope this person would bring. There are tasks like playing, choosing, coordinating, leading, and collaborating. There are various constituents they need to coordinate: from children to adults, vocalists—solo to ensemble, instrumentalists, as well as helping to facilitate the worship of our congregation. Because of the configuration of our church, it is difficult to direct an ensemble ..read more

Notes on Notes This past week began for me with a request to republish some of my “Notes” from our previous Life on the Vine issues. After some consideration, I consented to one that they suggested, and you can now find last week’s offering on this week’s Pacific Northwest Conference blog. This invitation has given me reason to reflect on what it is I am trying to do in these weekly offerings.  ..read more

A busy summer Every year, I’m surprised by how quickly the summer flies by. This wasn’t always the case. When I was a child, it seemed to last a blessed lifetime. The sunny days were endless–filled with time for swimming, biking, visiting family and–most importantly–eating lots of ice cream. That all changed when I became an adult. Now the summer is over before it even starts. Part of that is the general passage of time which seems to speed up as you age, but I think another part is that my summers are much busier now. Between work, sports, and vacations squeezed in between, September comes al ..read more

A busy summer Every year, I’m surprised by how quickly the summer flies by. This wasn’t always the case. When I was a child, it seemed to last a blessed lifetime. The sunny days were endless–filled with time for swimming, biking, visiting family and–most importantly–eating lots of ice cream. That all changed when I became an adult. Now the summer is over before it even starts. Part of that is the general passage of time which seems to speed up as you age, but I think another part is that my summers are much busier now. Between work, sports, and vacations squeezed in between, September comes al ..read more

Words Susan and I are hosting Jurhee, Sang, and Alice for the week. Alice is on the threshold of two years old and has grown a great deal since last we saw her in person. She is certainly more verbal. Her parents are bilingual, Korean and English, and so they speak to Alice in both Korean and English. So Alice calls her parents “mother” and “father” using both the English and Korean words.  ..read more

Owning Up A myth is a story that may or may not be historically “true,” but contains truths about a people group, such as their values and their views of themselves and their world. One of our nation’s earliest myths is that of George Washington “owning up” to cutting down a cherry tree. That story speaks of the values of honesty and taking responsibility; qualities of not just our first president, but what we expect from all our presidents.  ..read more

Postcard from the San Juans Having a lovely time in Griffin Bay on our first day in the water. Praying you are paddling along well wherever you are and whatever you are doing. Grace and Peace, ~ Pastor Todd ..read more

Freedom, Unity, and Responsibility: A Covenant Resource Paper At the recent annual meeting of the Covenant Church, a proposed position paper was approved by the assembly. (For more about this meeting in general, see Aaron Nilson’s offering below.) I had seen early drafts of this paper as prior versions were sent to the ministerium. We had opportunities to discuss and offer feedback on these drafts, and revisit it when revisions were made. The version posted on the Covenant website still identifies it as a “draft”, though I am fairly certain it is the document that was approved. For most of th ..read more

Postcard from the San Juans Having a lovely time in Griffin Bay on our first day in the water. Praying you are paddling along well wherever you are and whatever you are doing. Grace and Peace, ~ Pastor Todd ..read more

Freedom, Unity, and Responsibility: A Covenant Resource Paper At the recent annual meeting of the Covenant Church, a proposed position paper was approved by the assembly. (For more about this meeting in general, see Aaron Nilson’s offering below.) I had seen early drafts of this paper as prior versions were sent to the ministerium. We had opportunities to discuss and offer feedback on these drafts, and revisit it when revisions were made. The version posted on the Covenant website still identifies it as a “draft”, though I am fairly certain it is the document that was approved. For most of th ..read more