From the Preacher

My mother taught me many things. When I was still in elementary school she taught me to thread her Singer sewing machine, and carefully cut and sew fabric from patterns she let me choose myself. When I was 15, she was the one who mostly supervised my training hours...

As many of you perhaps know, there is a pretty magnificent Meyer Lemon tree growing behind my office at the church. It really outdid itself this season, and has been delighting children and grown-ups alike with its prolific showing. (Particularly the grown-ups, in...

I was barely settled into my campsite in Moab—the start of a much-anticipated week away—when I got notice that we would be moving into the “Orange Tier.” This shift, finally out of not only the “purple” but also “red” tier should have come as great news. A relief....

Dear friends, Recently Tom and I went to Safari Park with Tawfik, who will be 3 years old in June.  This was the first time he had ever encountered large animals outside of a picture book.  He was all wide eyed and awestruck with the lions, giraffes, and gorillas. It...

Happy Easter! I’m delighted to have entered into the Easter Season with such a joyful weekend. On Saturday, we celebrated with more than 30 families from the Nursery School with a guided scavenger hunt on our campus, and a drive-thru pancake breakfast that served over...

Our journey through the Lenten season is almost over. The light is shining in the distance, but the most difficult terrain is yet before us—between us and the horizon. The mystery of our faith is perhaps most challenging here, in this “in-between”, as we acknowledge...

"Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” – Mark 11:9 For all the times we have sung or said “hosanna!” in our lives—whether as children processing with palm branches, or singing in choirs, or reading liturgy next to our loved ones in the pews—I...

This past Saturday marks the anniversary of the day the California shelter-in-place order was given. I remember, because that week had already been off to a weird start with the time-change, a full moon, and Friday the 13th. (Not that I’m superstitious or anything…..)...

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been really enjoying our weekly gatherings to deepen the discussion around our Lenten series “Choose Love.” I always leave with more than I brought, and hope others are finding this too. For instance, just yesterday, we opened the...

Dear friends, Recently Tom and I went to Safari Park with Tawfik, who will be 3 years old in June.  This was the first time he had ever encountered large animals outside of a picture book.  He was all wide eyed and awestruck with the lions, giraffes, and gorillas. It...