I love the church.  Since I was a teenager I have never waned in commitment to the church or hope for its future.
Believe me, I also know the dark side of the church.  I know its history.  I know its flaws – up close and personal.  I am one of its flaws. 

Elijah is my patron saint.
That’s a line I have used several times recently in speaking to or about my calling as a pastor in the mainline church.  Last month Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte invited me to speak in chapel about the upcoming conference, “Renewing the Call,” to be held in Chicago August 8-10, 2010.  [...]

The Board of Directors of Faithful and Welcoming Churches (FWC) met last weekend in Cleveland, Ohio.  Linda and I came back very encouraged.
FWC is a network of ECOTs (those who consider themselves evangelical, conservative, orthodox, or traditional) in the United Church of Christ.  I chair the board.  Linda is a board member.  Charissa Loftin takes [...]

The UCC needs its ECOTs.
January 23, 2010 – New Braunfels, TX
Courage and rules
Last summer at the UCC’s General Synod in Grand Rapids, Lauryn Farris did something very courageous.  As a transgendered person, she ventured over to the display table for Faithful and Welcoming Churches (FWC), a coalition of UCC members summarized in the acronym ECOT [...]

(The following is an excerpt from the introduction to my upcoming talking at a retreat in San Antonio, Texas.  The retreat is sponsored by the Open and Affirming [ONA] coalition in the UCC’s South Central Conference.  ONA churches advocate for full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of the church, including ordained ministry, and [...]