This post is not likely to make me many friends in United Methodism. But here goes: the current mantra in UMC circles of "clergy self-care" has moved from concern to caricature to idol. Over the last couple of years in my Annual Conference, we have heard lectures,...
Kayden James Stockmeister Kayden James Stockmeister Kayden, 3, of Charlotte, went to be with the Lord on August 25, 2011. He leaves his loving mother and father, Krissy Hans and Kenny Stockmeister, Jr.; grandparents, Rick and Karen Hans and Ken and Lidia Stockmeister,...
If you're like me, you see a news brief like this one . . . Toddler drowns in SW Charlotte pool A 3-year-old boy drowned Thursday morning after he fell into a backyard swimming pool in southwest Charlotte. The boy was being watched by his grandmother at a home on...
I spent a couple of days last weekend at the Kershaw Correctional Institution in Kershaw, SC, as part of the Kairos Prison Ministry there. There are a number of men at Good Shepherd who are deeply involved in Kairos and I was only too glad to help their program in...
Disclaimer: I am having a good week. I am content in ministry and think Good Shepherd is in a good place. Please don't read this post as a sign of impending crisis in ministry.Having said that, I've been thinking about posting on things I can't do as a pastor for...
A couple of weeks ago, I posted on five things you shouldn't say to people going through the initial and even enduring stages of grief.Someone wisely commented with a request: then what should you say?So here goes:1. The name. We sometimes worry that hearing or...
I have a couple of pen pals.One is in a North Carolina prison. The other is in the Mecklenburg County jail. Both have connections to Good Shepherd.What is most interesting about these pens pals is the speed at which they reply to a letter. It's almost as if I receive...
Hebrews 13:4 sounds quaint, almost like a relic in 21st Century life:Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled.Sounds so . . . old, doesn't it? Even that word "undefiled" (also translated as "pure") has an ancient, almost...
I went to a funeral today. Not as the preacher, but as a pastor and family friend of the man who died, Harold Darling.And the funeral was at the Serenity Church here in Charlotte, which is a fascinating congregation focused on recovery from all kinds of addictions.The...
It's more than a Nike slogan.It's what you should do when you know of someone going through grief or recovering from illness.In those situations we usually say, "Just let me know if I can do anything for you." Or we ask, "Is there anything I can do?"But people going...