Camino Diary, Day 10

(Sorry for the delay, life has been rudely interrupting my plans. Day 10 was our last day with Derrick on the Camino, a day we chose to take slowly and to savor.) This was a day for sleeping in. Derrick had been celebrated the night before and rest was very welcome. We had a room

Trailblazers and Opportunists

(It’s Pastoral Ministry Tuesday when I share a post about life as a pastor and some of the things that make this life so challenging. I’ve been a little busier than usual but hope to be back on track with posts this week.) One of the beautiful and horrible things about email is that I

Black Lives Matter

(It’s Pastoral Ministry Tuesday. This is what is on my heart and mind today about pastoral ministry in America.) I live in fear for all of my black friends. I fear for their physical safety and for their emotional and mental well-being as they experience an endless stream of threats and the daily additions to

Ordination (the process)

(Today is Credo Friday. The Credo entries are meant to give a glimpse into or an explanation of the things I believe. The things that shape me. The thoughts that lead to practices that form who and how I am.) It has been more than a week but I’m finally back for part two –

Getting Out of Bed

(It’s Pastoral Ministry Tuesday, time for a mostly weekly post about pastoral ministry – the life and the challenges, the highs and lows of living this pastor’s life. Step up and take a look behind the curtain.) There’s an old joke that goes something like this… One Sunday morning, a mother went in to wake

Camino Diary, Day 9

We left Torres del Rio in the darkness of the early morning. The three of us rolled out of our bunk beds and packed our gear to get an early start for our walk to Logrono. The skies were overcast, and we relied on Bill’s headlamp to illuminate the way. This was our last day

Driving the Bus

(Every Tuesday I try to post something here about pastoral ministry. Sometimes I’m reacting, sometimes sharing from my experiences and sometimes I’m spouting off about my philosophy of ministry. And sometimes it’s all 3 or none of the above.) During this season of pandemic there have been a lot of voices coming at us with

Clarification

I hate that I am writing this today. I hate that I feel that I need to. Here’s the story – I have received a few private messages from friends and colleagues in ministry who have kindly stopped by to read a blog post or two. Their takeaway from some of my posts is that

Camino Diary, day 8

We left Estella and sadly, we left behind Derrick’s pilgrim credentials. A sign he would have to return another day to finish the Camino. The time was coming up quickly that he would be leaving us and returning home. To stay on our schedule, we used a “fast forward” and took a bus ahead to

Lizards

(Every Tuesday I try to post an observation on pastoral ministry. These are the thoughts and reflections of someone who has been involved in pastoral ministry for about 35 years. I get it wrong a lot which is how I learn to do it better.) It’s impossible to overestimate the amount of dysfunction in most