CCBlogs thinking critically, living faithfully

Jan Richardson has begun her annual Advent blog. If you're not familiar with her artwork, you should visit if only to see it.

I admit it. When I realized that Mark 13.24-37 was the gospel lection for the first Sunday of Advent this year, I cringed. Sometimes called the “little apocalypse,” this passage contains Jesus’ description of the end of the age. “But in those days,” he says, “after that suffering,... Read More.

Carl Wilton of "A Pastor's Cancer Diary" writes about an astonishingly graceful 11-year-old boy with leukemia.

This morning I have the TV news on while getting dressed, and I catch a CNN news item about the recent death of Brenden Foster, an 11-year-old boy with leukemia. It’s a sad story, to be sure, but there’s something very unusual – and powerful – about the way this young boy faces the reality of his own death. Brenden seems preternaturally calm, and incredibly accepting of the fact that his life is going to be far shorter than that of any of his peers... Read More.

James Lumsden is happy to be beginning the new church year with some new faces at his church.

Today I held a new member orientation gathering after worship... and 8 people attended. That was 10% of today's total - and another 3-4 told me they will be a part of our next gathering including a young woman who wants to be baptized (along with her baby!)

Now here's what I find fascinating: two people are leaving the Roman Catholic tradition, two come from fairly conservative backgrounds that have become too narrow, some are gay, one is recently baptized and another sees connecting with our congregation in community as the next step in embracing the spirituality of Jesus while affirming her Jewish roots... Read More.

Milton Brasher-Cunningham on Japanese food, intinction, tuning forks, and communion.

A group from our church got together tonight for dinner – actually, for a Japanese dinner. Of the eight of us gathered around the table, three had lived in Japan (one of them teaches Japanese at a local high school) and one had Japanese relatives. We had an authentic Japanese meal: sukiyaki and nabe. I’ve cooked a lot of different things, but I know very little about Japanese cooking other than I’m a big fan of the eel roll at our supermarket’s sushi bar.... Read More.

Drew Smith offers thoughts on Thanksgiving.

Perhaps, like many families, you and your loved ones take a few moments at the table, before you partake of the delicious food, to give every person a chance to express for what and for whom he or she is most thankful. These expressions of gratitude continue around the table until everyone has had the chance to share with the rest how thankful they really are. But when this national day of thanks ends, and the turkey, dressing and fixings are put in the fridge for leftovers, the expressions of the day are often put away until it is necessary to bring them out for the next Thanksgiving Day... Read More.