This past week, I received a frantic call from my wife, Amy. “Did you order something big from Amazon?” She asked. “No, I didn’t,” I said - searching my memory, just in case I had ordered something big and then forgotten about it. “Why do you ask?”...
Hello Church! I hope that this finds you well and that you have had a wonderful summer! The Weekly Word has kind of been on vacation since June and I am stretching my "writing muscles" after a couple of months away from this weekly newsletter communication...
This past spring, when the Session voted to approve BPC’s new Vision and Mission Statements, one of the questions I had in my mind was, “Okay. . . now that we have these wonderful statements, what’s next?” How will we put these statements to good use? To that end, at...
Over the past few years, there has been a growing understanding in American culture that June is known - by many people - as “Pride Month.” This is the month in which a segment of the population celebrates LGBTQ+ people. Of course, not everyone celebrates “Pride,” as...
Come down, O Love Divine; seek out this soul of mine, and visit it with your own ardor glowing. . . For none can guess God’s grace, till Love creates a place wherein the Holy Spirit makes a dwelling. These are the first and last words of one of my favorite...
Back in 2008 - which seems like a lifetime ago - journalist and editor Phyllis Tickle published a book called The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why. In her book - which I and others have referenced in sermons and other places over the...
Photo: The US flag at BPC this past week. An e-mail will usually come to Michelle Jones in the church office, saying, "The governor of New Hampshire requests that all US flags be put at half-staff in memory of. . ." This past week, the request came through to put the...
Last weekend, when our congregation celebrated John Robinson's 100th birthday, there was a big group of people out in Los Angeles celebrating the 90th birthday of Willie Nelson. I have never been a huge country music fan but I was born in Nashville, Tennessee. I have...