“Shalom!” I can still hear this customary greeting from Raymond Charles, once my overseer. He nearly always began his sermons with this word of greeting, beckoning his hearers to respond with a hearty “Shalom!” …
The church today is made up of many traditions. It always has been. We can lament or celebrate that diversity, but we have to acknowledge it, despite the temptation to think our little group (and Mennonites are miniscule in the whole scheme of things) is the true church …
Most of us can easily conjure up a memory of disgrace: an embarrassing moment, a stressful event, a painful conversation. We might have felt that disgrace in the pit of our stomach or the clench of our jaw or the ache in our head …
This summer our congregation is focusing on the book of Philippians. We are paying special attention to the ways Paul was calling the church at Philippi—and us—to a life of joy …