“You Belong Here,” reads the yellow sweatshirt of the parking lot greeter at the church near my house. By the welcoming waves and the stream of people going into the building, I think they mean it. What LifeChurch and other houses of worship like it have discovered is that one of the greatest dangers and products of modern society is isolation. We are a divided people. We are a lonely world. The pace and fullness of life pull us apart socially, emotionally, and psychologicall

The Thursday Book Club returns in 2026 with Ted V. Foote Jr. and P. Alex Thornburg's  Being Presbyterian in a Dysvangelical America: A Guide to Reclaiming the Good News of God . After taking a book writing break following the release of the successful  Being Presbyterian in the Bible Belt: A Theological Survival Guide for Youth, Parents, & Other Confused Presbyterians (2000) and  Being Disciples of Jesus in a Dot.Com World: A Theological Survival Guide for Youth, Adults, an

The Fall Presbytery Meeting of the Three Oklahoma Presbyteries approved  seven motions from the Oklahoma Presbyteries Task Force  related to the next steps in the creation of a new Oklahoma Presbytery. One of the motions expanded the participation in the Oklahoma Presbyteries Task Force. Other motions named the six work groups and provided a process for populating them.  The individual presbyteries will be responsible - through their Nominating Committees and Councils – for f

We are better together  has been one of the key affirmations since we began to explore the possibility of creating a single Oklahoma presbytery. Why do we need everything in triplicate? We have three presbytery offices, three General Presbyters, three Stated Clerks, three administrative staffs, and three Councils, COMs, and CPMs. It is more than our state and churches need at this time. This is a practical and reasonable argument. It is simply hard to justify the current stru

The church is not always quick to act. Frequently, we are slow to change. I have heard the church described as a slow-moving ocean liner that takes miles to alter direction. But there are occasions when we act with vigor and clarity of purpose. This was demonstrated time and time again during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it seemed like every day brought the need for a new adjustment. Our churches were nimble. They did what was necessary, even if they had not done it that way bef

Robert Frost, famously, wrote a poem about two roads that diverged in a forest and concludes by saying:       “I took the one less traveled by,       And that has made all the difference.” On our recent Pastor’s Wilderness Retreat, I hiked both options of a trail that diverged in a forest, and I want to write to you today about my experience on each of them.  On the first full day of our annual hiking retreat, Rev. Lucus Keppel, Rev. David VanDonkelaar, and I hiked down and a

I will be involved in a couple of anniversary celebrations in September.   Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church of Bartlesville celebrated...

Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery will be hosting a Pastor's Wilderness Retreat again this fall at White Rock Mountain in northwest Arkansas....

The Synod Partnership for Disaster Recovery (SPDR) is a ministry of the Synod of the Sun dedicated to connecting, equipping, and...

On August 9th, the three Oklahoma Presbyteries met at First Presbyterian Church of Norman in a Special Called Meeting. They were blessed...

I made a mistake in my biblical exegesis ordination exam [1] . I am sure I made many mistakes over the breadth of the exams, but I made...

I have spent a lot of time talking to Pastor Nominating Committees lately. Two churches have started searches recently. If you have ever...

I woke up Easter Monday to the news that Pope Francis had died. While I am now a minister and leader in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),...

What is the witness of the church today? It is an ever-present question for us that love and lead God’s people. It is also a question...

Our Christian calendar has, at least, two seasons of preparation: Advent and Lent. Frequently, these two seasons are lived in...

I started the New Year by resolving to read more books. One of the reasons I lead book studies like the upcoming “The Anxious Generation”...

I think there are only so many times that you can write that you are living in “unprecedented times” before that phrase loses all...

In the early years of my ministry, while we were still planting the new church, it was our custom to partner with a retirement community...

Preparing for the Fall Presbytery Meeting and Retreat is a little like the Parable of the Great Banquet (Luke 14:15-24, Matthew 22:1-14)....

“Watch out for this rock. It is loose.” “The trail gets narrow here.” “There is a thorn bush to your right side.” “The trail goes to the...