I write a
lot of
words

Last month, Columbia Theological Seminary announced a restructuring that impacted 18 staff members. “[S]even employees accepted early retirement through an incentive program, and a reduction in force affected eleven employees.”1 That’s what Columbia’s official press release said. What it did not name was that the early retirees are mostly white, and nearly all of those who were let go are people of color. The changes go into effect today. Columbia has a very robust and growin

An update from Grounds for Hope: Over the past 9 months, we have worked with Proximity Project and Cite Design to engage the congregation and community in a process to discern a comprehensive vision for the missional use of our grounds, now and in the years to come. The deteriorating state of the parking lot has been a catalyst for this work, but we don’t want necessity to drive mission and vision. We are grateful for the participation of the congregation and community in thi

For those in the K-12 system, the month of May is kind of like a fireworks finale: everything all at once, which overloads the senses while also signaling we are nearing the end. In our household, one of the May tasks is meeting with a student success team to discuss Micah’s 504 plan [1]. My experience with this is limited to Bluestone, but I have only wonderful things to say about their support for students with special needs. They understand that each child has unique gifts

I’ve been thinking a lot about Mary Magdalene lately. Across all four Gospel accounts of the resurrection, she’s the only one named in each account as first to the tomb. Was she the most faithful disciple? She had the resolve and strength to stay with Jesus from cross to tomb, returning again to take care of his body. Jesus himself sent her as the first evangelist, the “apostle to the apostles.” Over the years, Mary’s leadership was downplayed or overlooked in favor of focusi

Dear friends, Are your hearts heavy today? If not today, I know heaviness is never far off, given all that is going on in our world. When I lack words, I look for better ones. I share these words from the Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman, and hope they speak to you as they do to me: "During these turbulent times we must remind ourselves repeatedly that life goes on. This we are apt to forget. The wisdom of life transcends our wisdoms; the purpose of life outlasts our purposes; the pro