Reflections from Rick Lord on Leadership, Transformation, and Things That Keep Human Life Distinctively Human
“All things in moderation, with a few glorious exceptions.” – Robert Mondavi During my summer sabbatical, I have been exploring the relationship between the creative arts and the soul’s search for God. By “creative arts” I mean at least music, poetry, visual arts, architecture–the culinary and viticultural arts as well. Last week, Debbie and I [...]
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The Reverend Dr. Frederick W. Schmidt, Jr. Director of Spiritual Formation and Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality at Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas offers three positive qualities about evangelicanism today. What do Evangelicals have that we (Progressive, Mainliners) don’t have—other than larger churches, larger seminaries, bigger attendance on Sunday, more serious [...]
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From my Invitation to Holy Week on Palm/Passion Sunday: We have entered into Holy Week, the week of greatest depth, wonder, and solemnity in the Christian liturgical year. It is a week full of emotional highs and lows, a week that touches the depth and complexity of our human condition, our desire for love and [...]
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I love the season of Advent, and I am sympathetic with those who try to make room in their busy lives to give this short season some semblance of recognition and practice. Advent has become something of a “Cinderella” season. It gets squeezed out of contemporary life by the big sisters of commercial and social [...]
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There was a recent dust-up on the social network Facebook, when the legendary author Anne Rice publicly announced that she was giving up on Christianity. She was giving up because she could no longer stand to listen to people who in the name of Jesus were declaring themselves righteous and declaring others worthy of condemnation. [...]
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I’m in London for the Annual General Meeting of the Compass Rose Society which begins on Monday. Part of what I love about the Anglican Communion is its theological breadth and liturgical diversity. For me, the Anglican tradition is less about institutional preservation – though I believe the tested wisdom and organizational strength of that [...]
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While doing some research for my sermon this Sunday, I came across a unique web-site titled, The Sabbath Manifesto, a creative project by a group of Jewish artists in search of a modern way to observe a weekly day of rest. They have created 10 core principles and offer them to anyone looking for ways [...]
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Think for a moment about the significance of worship on Sunday (or any other day of regular worship for that matter). The gathering, the readings, the preaching, the singing, the breaking of bread – why do we do this week after week? I wonder sometimes with the amount of work that goes into preparing and [...]
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From Episcopal News Service In early August, New York Times religion writer Paul Vitello touched an ecclesial nerve when he launched a story, “Taking a Break From the Lord’s Work,” and raised a range of important questions on clergy wellness. His reporting, based on studies of clergy health, cut across the interfaith spectrum and resonates [...]
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The Episcopal Church gives significant support to its clergy through wellness programs such as CREDO, an eight-day conference that allows participants to focus on four areas affecting overall wellness (spiritual, vocational, health, financial). I’ve been fortunate to attend two of these conferences over the last ten years. I’m not sure one can survive in pastoral [...]
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