Tag Archives: christianity

Next Adventure: Rocky Mountain Mission Center

18 Tuesday Oct 2022

Posted by in Community of Christ

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“I’ll spread my wings | And I’ll learn how to fly | Though it’s not easy to tell you goodbye | I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change | And breakaway | Out of the darkness and into the sun | But I won’t forget the place I come from | I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change | And breakaway”

– Lyrics from “Breakaway”, as sung by Kelly Clarkson –

In August I posted a meme that said, “And suddenly you just know it’s time to start something new and trust in the magic of beginnings.” You see, just a day prior my attention was drawn to a job posting for Mission Center President of the Rocky Mountain Mission Center. It was now the first night of the Adult Reunion and I was having a sleepless night thinking about a potential job change and what that might mean for me, if I decided to send my letter of interest and was offered the position. Not being able to sleep, I opened my phone and the very first post I see is that meme. Oh, did it hit me! It was my first confirmation that I should send in my letter of interest for the position. 10 days later, I would. The funny thing is that after I shared the meme, a friend said that it appeared as if a work change must be coming. HOW COULD THEY KNOW!? Haha.

Now let’s go back. In the summer of 2011, I was let known that a half-time Director of Youth Camping position was being created in the Greater Pacific Northwest USA Mission Center. I expressed my interest and started working as an employed minister with Community of Christ in January 2012. A year later that increased to ¾ time with more responsibilities added. Then in September 2015, my time was increased to full time.

It has been a deep joy to serve the GPNW USA Mission Center but a little over a year ago, I sensed that it was time to begin preparing for a change in my ministry. I wasn’t sure what, but I sensed that I needed to be open to the ways in which the Holy Spirit might be moving in my life. This past summer had me experiencing several things that signaled a change. I found myself engaging in conversations that had me thinking about my future. I also was invited to preach at Spectacular, our Community of Christ Youth Camp at Graceland University. That was an amazing experience that caused me to reflect on my ministry and where the focus should be. So, after over a year of being open to what may be shifting in my life, I believe that the Holy Spirit was preparing me for this change.

As a local boy, I have been so blessed to spend the first 37 years of my life here in the Pacific Northwest. While serving the GPNW USA Mission Center, I have greatly benefited by serving under the leadership of Kathy Sharp, Mike Bessonette, and Kim Naten. I take what I have learned from each of them as I transition into the role of Mission Center President. I have also been fortunate to have many co-workers, friends, and companions on the journey who have helped shape me into the minister I am today. It is with that that I now say, it is time for me to “take a risk, take a chance, make a change, and breakaway.”

Weary Soul: Will You Cross the Bridge?

17 Sunday Jan 2021

Posted by in Culture

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Let me be honest for a moment, my soul is weary and I’m not in a great place. As could be expected, 2021 is already producing a shit show of emotions for many people. I’ve come to realize that the events in D.C. on January 6 have affected me more than I originally anticipated they would. It’s important to me that people understand that when something like the domestic terrorist invasion on our US Capitol Building takes place, people in communities who are marginalized simply for being who they are as a child of God, view those acts through a different lens. We recognize that the folks who are willing to do that are the same ones who would be willing to harm us while going about our everyday routines of life. Though, my soul has certainly been weary at times since then, especially as someone who is in the LGBTQIA+ community, I haven’t felt like this since the Orlando Nightclub massacre. Back then, I just didn’t have an outlet for expressing so since I was not yet out to the world in 2016. 

Trust me, I want to be able to simply embrace the call for unity and a way forward. I can’t do so though without acknowledging that the division in this country is deeper than just a difference of opinion. When who you are is not only subject to debate but outright hate from groups of people, a call for unity and peace is met with deep distrust. 

I have friends and family who I love and care about but who support a political party with a platform which promotes values that are harmful to people like me. A platform that emboldens behaviors in folks that are acted out in harmful ways towards people like me. Friends and family who seem to follow rather than honor the worth of all people and help change the culture within. I don’t see how this is in any way reflective of the teachings of Christ. My soul is weary and my heart aches because I do care deeply about many of these folks. They are an important part of the relational fabric woven within my soul and throughout my community. 

I want unity. I want peace. Unity and peace are not possible though if marginalized groups of people have to feel unsafe for it to occur. Unity and peace are not possible if we have to try and hide parts of who we are to make you more comfortable with being around us. We can respectfully disagree and try to find common space on many things in our society but human dignity and worth is not one of them. 

A swift, fierce river separates two sides. If you find yourself in the middle of the bridge because it is safe and you are not comfortable engaging in the hard conversations for fear of alienating people you love on one side while others who you also love continue to stand in harm’s way on the other side, the bridge is crumbling underneath, and the water will continue to drown the moral fabric of humanity. You are not helping anyone, if this is where you find yourself. If you are willing to cross the bridge and build more of them though, thank you. We need bridge builders more than ever before. When it comes to human worth though, we can’t simply meet in the middle of the bridge. If peace and unity is truly desired, we have to do the hard work that is necessary to cross it. We have to listen and then respond.

I pray for peace. I pray for unity. I know many of us do. Often times though, prayer without action lacks authenticity and is just words muttered rather than heart and soul engaged. 

Sincerely, 

A weary traveler who is tired today.

When the Nativity makes us uncomfortable

10 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by in Community of Christ, Culture, discipleship, Politics

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“God, the Eternal Creator, weeps for the poor, displaced, mistreated, and diseased of the world because of their unnecessary suffering. Such conditions are not God’s will. Open your ears to hear the pleading of mothers and fathers in all nations who desperately seek a future of hope for their children. Do not turn away from them. For in their welfare resides your welfare.” – Community of Christ Holy Text

This past week there has been an image of the nativity scene at Claremont United Methodist Church in California in where Baby Jesus, Joseph, and Mary find each of themselves in their own cage. It’s a protest visual in response to our governments border policies. To view the image, check out this article from CNN. To use the nativity in this way is provocative, sad, disconcerting, and even maddening, and that is why it is incredibly appropriate. I wish more faith communities were brave enough to make a similar statements. For the purpose of Christ’s message wasn’t to spread a message of rainbows and butterflies with pats on the back for good deeds done. It was to challenge unjust laws and spread a message of Joy, Hope, Love, and Peace in the midst of a society that seemed to contradict that message. It was to bring hope to those who were lonely, oppressed, marginalized, and forgotten. It was to live within a spirit of shalom, not fear.

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Where does it hurt?: Another Day, Another Mass Shooting

08 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by in Culture

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I woke up this morning to see the Huffington Post alert on my phone. Mass Shooting at a bar in Southern California. This one only an hour and half from where I am currently at in Southern California while away for work and some play. I flashback to waking up on June 12, 2016, and seeing the alert on my phone of the Pulse Nightclub Massacre. My heart sinks.

We learn that it was college night at the bar. My emotions flood me as I recall every school and college shooting that is embedded deep in my memory. Of young, innocent lives lost. Of lives full of hope and promise gone in a matter of minutes. In a matter of seconds. Gone. The high school I graduated from suffered it’s own shooting a few years back. Images of the school being evacuated from the same classrooms I once learned in, haunted me. They were similar images I saw as an 8th grader watching the events of Columbine unfold on the television. My heart sinks. Continue reading →

I See You

24 Wednesday Oct 2018

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“However, it is not right to profess oneness and equality in Christ through sacramental covenants and then to deny them by word or action. Such behavior wounds Christ’s body and denies what is resolved eternally in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.” – Community of Christ Holy Text

I see Gayle. Who has inspired me with her journey. Who provided beautiful pastoral ministry that was just what I needed while in retreat with others in the LGBTQIA+ community and our allies.

I see Ramsley. Who is strong and courageous in being a voice for themself. Who helps so many new people gain a deeper awareness and understanding because they share their story with all of us. Continue reading →