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Me

WHAT I DO: Pastor, Community Organizing, Justice Advocacy, Parent, Spouse, General Adulting Stuff

THINGS I ENJOY: Good food. No. I mean REALLY good food. Being a Presbyterian. Movies. Jazz. A really friendly local coffee shop with free WiFi

DISCLAIMER

Contents may be inflammatory. If you suffer from 100% confidence in the what you learned in childhood, or 100% doctrinal certitude, or if you don't like it when someone nudges your metaphorical cheese, consult somebody else.

Recent Posts

  • Filed Under: Things They Never Taught Me In Seminary
  • I need coffee
  • Reparations and Repentance, part 1
  • Reconciliation Ambassadors
  • What it means to be “woke”: An activist’s confession for this time
  • Follow the Magi
  • What Are We Going to Do?
  • Repentance is Now
  • Things that Make for Peace: Thoughts on a Department of Violence Prevention

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  • About
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  • Sermons
    • A Message from the Grave
    • Ah, Lord God!
    • Can I Get A Witness?
    • Change is Hard
    • Do You Believe?
    • Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
    • Following Jesus: The Chaos of Discipleship
    • Heating Up the Lukewarm Church
    • If only you were here…
    • Magically Transformed: Eastertide Sermon Series
    • Not Heroic, Just Faithful
    • Not What We Expected
    • Passing Through
    • Rainbow Connections
    • Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs
    • The Boring Story of the Prodigal Son
    • The Dreaded Plumb Line
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    • THIS is the Year!
    • We’ve heard it said…
    • What to do about hope.
    • Willing to be loved
  • Weddings
    • 13 Coin Blessing (Arras)
    • A Christian Wedding Reflection
    • Formal Religious Ceremony for an Older Couple
    • Garden Wedding (Christian with humor)
    • Lasso Blessing
    • Non-religious simple, multicultural ceremony
    • Sample Bilingual Spanish Non-Religious Ceremony

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Category: hope

Follow the Magi
hope, pcusa, presbyterian

Follow the Magi

Here’s the thing.
The Magi were mistaken.

Continue reading Follow the Magi

Things that Make for Peace: Thoughts on a Department of Violence Prevention
community, Election, hope, Justice, Oakland, politics, Root Causes, Transform

Things that Make for Peace: Thoughts on a Department of Violence Prevention

This Spring, when the Oakland City Council was wading hip-deep into budget negotiations, Councilmember Lynette McElhaney proposed a new Department … Continue reading Things that Make for Peace: Thoughts on a Department of Violence Prevention

Sideways
church, community, Election, hope, Justice, Oakland, pcusa, presbyterian

Sideways

These are my opening remarks from the #120hours Interfaith Vigil to #ReclaimMLK Radical Legacy. It was stormy. The wind was blowing and it … Continue reading Sideways

Following a Different Messiah
hope, immigration, Justice, Oakland, pcusa, Poetry, politics, presbyterian, sermon, Social Media, Twitter, church, #chsocm, Transform

Following a Different Messiah

The truth that for Muslims, for LGBTQ people, for People of Color in our country, this has always been the reality of their experience. For these communities, none of this is new. None of it. Continue reading Following a Different Messiah

Credibility Gap
church, community, hope, interdenominational, Justice, Oakland, pcusa, preaching, presbyterian, sermon

Credibility Gap

A Sermon preached on September 25, 2016 Based on James 2:14-18, The Belhar Confession and The Letter from a Birmingham … Continue reading Credibility Gap

The speech I wish I had heard
community, Election, hope, Justice, Oakland, paradigm shift, politics, presbyterian

The speech I wish I had heard

(With gratitude for Martin Luther King, Jr., Odetta and the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures for their inspired and inspiring words.)  … Continue reading The speech I wish I had heard

Carrying the Paralyzed Man
community, hope, Justice, Oakland, paradigm shift, pcusa, preaching, presbyterian, sermon

Carrying the Paralyzed Man

A sermon preached on Matthew 9:1-8 at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland on July 10, 2016 And after getting into … Continue reading Carrying the Paralyzed Man

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