~Olympics~ They make it look so effortless. Some of them absolutely fly through the air, whether it is on the balance beam, the bars, the vault or the floor. Many people have watched with utter amazement the gymnasts at the Olympics. We all know, however, that these athletic feats
Continue readingMy friend was visiting family in Arkansas last year when Emmanuel AME church people were brutally attacked and murdered in a Bible study at which they’d welcomed their killer. Conversation about the “rebel” flag surfaced. She was told that it represented their history, the lives of ancestors lost in war
Continue reading~Beauty~ My heart is aching. I can hardly keep the tears from pouring out of me. There is so much ugliness. I turn off the TV so I don’t have the visual playing in my mind’s eye like a rerun that won’t go away. Getting pulled over because a light
Continue reading~After Orlando~ “I won’t go to your church because it’s too liberal.” Someone recently shared that this comment was made about First Christian Church Pomona. More specifically, it had to do with the fact that our ministerial intern is openly gay and that the congregation is open and affirming. The
Continue readingBen Bohren is preaching very soon and when I read his sermon title “What Does Your Church Stand For?” my first thought was “With WHOM Does Your Church Stand?” FCC Pomona is more and more a place of relationality. Relationships with God, Christ and with people are primary. Issues come
Continue reading~Protecting Our Memory~ A deeply held fear people across the world share is the fear of losing their memory. We lament the loss of recognition in family or friend whose mind experiences the wasting of dementia. We grieve amnesia in people we know and we fear our own forgetfulness. Why
Continue reading~Elders on Evangelism~ Candidates for ordained ministry meet with the Committee on Ministry of our Region in order to get approval for ordination. Among the many requirements is a set of 16 competencies which the candidate is supposed to be proficient, in conversation and action. Ginger Eckeard, current chairperson of
Continue reading~Good Grief~ Mike and I attended a symposium recently at Claremont School of Theology. It was co-sponsored by Forest Lawn and the topic was “Traumatic Death and Suicide”. Over 100 people attended: nurses, parole officers, clergy – pastors and chaplains, and people who are surviving the grief wrought by these
Continue reading~A Welcoming Word~ How do most people find FCC Pomona for the first time? Over 90% of first time visitors find us on the internet. Many of them are looking for a church that is welcoming and affirming of people who are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender. Often they will
Continue readingWhat is the opposite of presence? Christian writer John O’Donohue writes that the opposite of presence is not absence. Absence leaves a feeling of longing, an energy that lingers for what or who is absent. For him the opposite of presence is vacancy. “Vacancy is neutral and indifferent space. It
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