Dear First Baptist Family: I am still marveling at last Sunday and the giant step we took together into a new season of life and ministry for this congregation we love. Deepest of thanks to our Moderator of the past seven years, Rod Coates. During Rod’s tenure, FBC affirmed full inclusion of LGBTQ+ siblings; began the process of renovating the sanctuary building, tearing down the old office and education building and replacing it with a new, fully accessible community building; launched a capital campaign; and hired Ministry Architects to help FBC reimagine congregational life in the 21st cen ..read more

Dear First Baptist Family: As you likely are aware by now, Pastor Eric has shared news of his departure at the end of July for First Baptist Church of Greensboro, North Carolina. I’m sure this news stirs a mix of emotions, as Eric has become a cherished part of this congregation and has led with grace, skill, and love. During his tenure our young adult ministry has flourished, weekly worship has nourished our souls, and our work with Ministry Architects (with whom Eric first connected us last year) has brought First Baptist Church to a bright moment of new possibility. Some of you have asked E ..read more

FBC family, after a year of anticipation and planning, it’s hard to believe my sabbatical is just five weeks away. I continue to pray that each of you will find your own souls refreshed in surprising ways this summer.  As a reminder, this Sunday in worship we begin a 5-week series of messages—The Powerful Pause: Reclaiming Your Soul Through Sabbath—intended to help all of us become more attuned to the holy rhythms of advance and retreat…stepping in and stepping back…breathing out and breathing in. I hope you’ll join us ..read more

Dear FBC Family: I am beyond grateful to you for partnering with me in my upcoming sabbatical, now just 10 weeks away. In almost 40 years of ministry this will be my second extended rest and renewal experience. Thank you. Perhaps you are curious about this renewal leave (at least I hope so!). In his book, Planning Sabbaticals: A Guide for Congregations and Their Pastors, Robert Saler names some common congregational questions when a pastor and church are preparing for the pastor’s renewal leave. These are just a few: Q: What is a pastoral sabbatical? A: A pastoral sabbatic ..read more

When it comes to my own dust, I tend toward one of two responses... ‌ More than a few years ago in Waco, Texas, a couple hundred of us gathered for a crack-of-dawn Ash Wednesday service led by a team of seminary students. All kinds of folk—university students, doctors, construction workers, grandparents—gathered at the shoreline of Lent, sleepy-eyed and somber. Fiddle music beckoned, “Come, ye sinners, poor and needy…” No Ash Wednesday service would be complete without the imposition of ashes and pronouncement from Genesis: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” We spilled into th ..read more

Shortly before Thanksgiving this year, Brenda Rozier Clark said to me, “I’m ready to let them go.” She arrived at my door holding the clergy robes and stoles worn by her husband, Paul, throughout decades of ministry. Paul Clark, a pastor, poet, leader and dreamer, passed away on April 3, 2020, from ALS. I wrote about Paul and shared one of his poems in a blog post There is Wonder in the World in December 2019, four months before he died. Throughout this holy season, it has been my joy to wear Paul’s beautiful Advent stole around my shoulders like a hand of encouragement. I ..read more

I ran across this meditation on Love years ago in an Advent booklet. It’s a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13 and is applicable to all of us whose busyness during the Christmas season outpaces our commitment to love: “If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another decorator. If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook. If I work at the soup ..read more

Reinhold Niebuhr once said that at Christmas time he wanted to go to a church where they had as little sermon as possible, mostly just poetry, music and liturgy. “I want to hear what words cannot tell,” he said. If it’s true that the Christmas story is best told by poets and musicians, then FBC’s 65th annual Christmas Candlelight Carols is one hour you won’t want to miss. This Sunday afternoon, the artists will lead us to Bethlehem. Through the music of organ and brass, choirs and congregation, Candlelight Carols invites the Spirit of God to speak to our souls in the deepest of places. At th ..read more

Just three days from now we begin the great season of Advent. Because it's good from time to time to remind ourselves what we are up to and why, I want to offer again some words about the meaning of this season for us.   Advent means "the coming."  Advent is the season of expectation and longing, not for the birth of Christ, but for Christ’s promised return. Preparing ourselves and our world for that coming is the meaning of Advent.   And what a gift this season is to us! For one thing, if observed intentionally and with heart, Advent can keep us from ruining Christmas. America ..read more

Dear FBC Family, we are just a month away from the official launch of our 18-month congregational coaching journey with Ministry Architects. This experience is inviting our congregation on a spiritual pilgrimage. In the months ahead, more than revised logistics and metrics, more than new procedures and processes, I pray our church will experience the God of new beginnings in surprising, transformational ways. As you prepare for your own participation, I ask you to set aside any preconceived assumptions about what the process will involve and what the outcomes will be ..read more