Reflections and Meditations

Over the next few weeks, we'll begin our annual process of identifying and electing leaders to serve in the ministries of Sonoma United Methodist Church. Before the Nominations and Leadership Development Committee begins its work...

Last week our Sonoma Valley was briefly filled with smoke from the Wildfire burning at the coast. A sobering reminder that fire season is upon us.
This week our prayers...

I hope to meet one-on-one with every member of our congregation now through the end of the year for a one-on-one conversation “Journey Talk”. There isn't much of an agenda beyond hearing your story, praying together, and wondering how God is at work in your life.
As I've been thinking about those conversations, one thought...

The last few weeks have included Annual Conference, a trip to Virginia to see family, a week at church camp, several thousand miles of travel, and approximately 47 gallons of coffee. It was all good, meaningful, and occasionally...

This week someone asked me about the cross and flame of the United Methodist Church. I had some of the information in my head but the dates not just right, so I looked it up and found the following information I thought...

This past weekend United Methodist delegates gathered in Sacramento for the 178th California Nevada Annual Conference Session. The time was filled with worship, inspiring preaching, presentations, legislation, ordination, and holy conferencing throughout. When I return from travels...

This coming Sunday, our worship service will take a different form than usual. Rather than a traditional service with hymns, sermon, and liturgy, we will gather for a Taizé service.
Taizé worship takes its name...

Around Father’s Day, it is tempting to speak about fathers in simple and sentimental ways. But for many people, fatherhood is more complicated than that. Some carry gratitude. Some carry...

There is comfort in routine.
Since exiting rehab last year and beginning my journey of sobriety and recovery, routine has become an important part of my life. Most days now have a familiar rhythm: Wake, Walk, Strength, Eat, Shower, Work, Eat, Work, Eat, Music, Read, Sleep – interwoven through the day is prayer and discernment. The details may change.....

One of John Wesley's most important sermons is The Scripture Way of Salvation. In it, Wesley reminds us that salvation is not simply about what happens after we die. It is God's healing work in our lives here and now.
Wesley describes salvation as...

There is a difference between being polite and being welcoming.
Politeness says, “You may enter.” Welcome says, “There is room for you here.” Politness says “I can tolerate you.” Welcome says...

Ascension Sunday has passed, but Pentecost (WooHoo!)has not yet arrived. The church stands in that strange in-between space between departure and arrival, between waiting and movement, between looking backward and stepping forward. Most of us know...

I love the curated chaos of a church rummage sale. There are tables full of dishes, books, lamps, jackets, old picture frames, and at least one completely mysterious kitchen gadget nobody can identify but everyone agrees was probably expensive in 1987. People wander slowly...

If you’ve been around Methodists for any length of time, you’ve probably heard the phrase “heart strangely warmed.” It comes from the story of John Wesley, who had been wrestling with doubt about his faith and even his own salvation. One evening...

Jesus said as he was dying “Forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” …oof…Christ on the Cross. This is the model. Even in great harm, we ...

How wonderful it was to share such a meaningful and vibrant Holy Week and Easter at Sonoma United Methodist Church. My heart was full—celebrating resurrection in a sanctuary alive with the beautiful diversity of God’s children. And yet ...

Over these past weeks, we have been living inside a different kind of story. Mended, our Lenten them, has not been about fixing everything or pretending that what is broken can simply ...

Palm Sunday begins with a word we often sing without pausing to feel it: 
Hosanna. It means, quite simply, “Save us.” It is praise, yes—but it is also a plea ...

There is a point in any long effort when enthusiasm is no longer what carries you. 
The beginning of something often comes with energy—new ideas, new commitments, new plans. But somewhere along the road ...

As we continue our “Mended” Lenten journey, this week’s theme is Visible Mending. 
Often when something breaks, our instinct is to hide the repair. We want the crack sealed, the tear invisible ...

I learned to hand sew and machine sew when I was around the age of 11.  The first things that  made were pajama shorts, puppets and small quilts for the Linus Project.  While I can sew, and can even enjoy it, I dare not say ...

What do I do when something tears? What do I do when something that feels like part of me—something I have come to rely on—rips open, feels destroyed, or reveals something unexpected? I would like to say ...

Do you have a favorite pair of pants you’ve owned for years—well loved and well worn? Worn so much that if someone else put them on, they might start to take on your shape? Maybe it’s not ...

Before  you read on, I invite you to open your Bibles and read the text that will shape this upcoming Transfiguration Sunday:  Exodus 24:12-18andMatthew 17:1-9… Go ahead and read, I’ll wait. 
As the Christian year moves from the light of Epiphany toward ...

Isn’t there a powerful temptation to always be reactionary? We see something happening in the world and immediately feel the need to respond—to speak, to act, to fix—or to carry guilt when we cannot. That instinct often comes ...

"People come to church for many different reasons—and often for reasons that are still taking shape. 
Some arrive with only a vague sense that this is where they are “supposed” to be. Others come to ...

I want to begin personally, because anxiety is not something I only speak about as a pastor—it’s something I know from the inside. I feel it around very ordinary things: finances, family dynamics, friendships, commitments I’ve said yes to too quickly, and ...