Tag Archives: ministry

Preaching the News (NOT)

Posted on March 1, 2019 by tmrichmond3

  In my previous post I confessed my addiction to the news. Throughout my day I keep up with national and international events, from a variety of sources. I talked about how the news helps form my prayers, and my … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, Church Growth, Current Events, Karl Barth, Musings, News, Preaching, religion and politics, Social Ministry, Spiritual Growth, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Total Depravity and Redemption

Posted on February 23, 2019 by tmrichmond3

I have a Facebook friend who regularly posts about the inner peace he finds by avoiding the news like a plague. He has a kind of evangelical fervor about it (you too can enjoy this serenity, and all you have … Continue reading →

Posted in A River Runs Through It, Compassion, Current Events, Evil, Growth, Hope, ministry, News, Social Justice, Social Ministry, Spiritual Growth, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mighty Mites

Posted on November 13, 2018 by tmrichmond3

  Lucifer vs. Tit for Tat During the Cuban missile crisis in the early 1960s, social scientists were working on how to respond to the nuclear threat in ways that would stop either side from blowing up the world. If … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, Church Growth, Community, Compassion, Courage, forgiveness, Jesus, ministry, Mission, Pastoral Ministry, Preaching, Sermons, Social Justice, Social Ministry, spirituality, Theology, Wealth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Making the Right Mistakes

Posted on October 27, 2018 by tmrichmond3

The great jazz musician Thelonious Monk once told one of his sidemen, “You’re making all the wrong mistakes!” Monk was known as musician who did things differently, who played with a kind of dissonance that sounded like he was making … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, Compassion, Jazz, ministry, Mission, Musings, Pastoral Ministry, Social Ministry, spirituality, Thelonious Monk | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Let Us Now Praise Famous Pastors: Eugene Peterson

Posted on October 24, 2018 by tmrichmond3

To avoid being swept along by the winds of change and conducting a ministry which is mostly improvisation, one must stubbornly one’s heels into the ground.                    —Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Care More than once I have told people … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, Eugene Peterson, ministry, Musings, Pastoral Ministry, Wendell Berry | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

What Does God Care About?

Posted on October 22, 2018 by tmrichmond3
Posted in Church, Church Growth, Jesus, Meme, ministry, Mission, Presbyterian, Spiritual Growth, spirituality, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Diner Theology

Posted on October 20, 2018 by tmrichmond3

I love eating in diners. You how to tell if you are in a good diner? Your coffee cup is never empty. There is always a waitress coming by to fill it. You get to half a cup and this … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, Compassion, Jesus, ministry, Mission, Musings, Poor, Social Justice, Social Ministry, Spiritual Growth, spirituality, Wealth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Holy Yielding

Posted on October 17, 2018 by tmrichmond3

    This is a piece I wrote in 2008, after doing a workshop for the Quaker national gathering. At the time I was worshiping at a Quaker meeting, and considered myself to me more Quaker than anything else. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Compassion, Courage, Healing, Mission, Musings, Spiritual Growth, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Calmed, Healed, Sent

Posted on July 9, 2018 by tmrichmond3

  Just seeing it on the shelf at the library unleashed a flood of memories. The Next Whole Earth Catalog. It threw me 44 years into the past, when I bought The Last Whole Earth Catalog on a whim from … Continue reading →

Posted in Church, Church Growth, Healing, Jesus, ministry, Mission, Presbyterian, Sermons, Spiritual Growth, spirituality, Worship | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Sacred

Posted on November 6, 2013 by tmrichmond3

A few years ago I was asked to write about something sacred as a writing exercise. I immediately knew I would be writing about the Magnolia Tree in Reynolda Gardens where I used to hang out when I was a … Continue reading →

Posted in religion and politics | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments