May 3, 2026 Fifth Sunday of Easter

As much as I enjoyed England (so, so much!), I am delighted to be back with you this week. You will hear many things about our trip over time, but I will say here that I had expected an educational and sight-seeing trip, but found it to be more of a true pilgrimage.  As well as all of the places we saw and the things we learned, we had daily devotions and reflections, and we worshiped in various places and settings, from communion in Epworth Methodist Church and in Methodist Central Hall in London, to evening prayer at Lincoln Cathedral, to evensong at St. Paul’s Cathedral.  It was a privilege and a gift that I was able to go. 

And now that I’m back, we are finishing out the Bible study year with “A New Vision, A Shared Calling:  Embracing a New Era of Ministry as United Methodists.”  Since I know that not everyone can make it to Bible study, I will share a few things from the study here in the newsletter each week.  There is a link to the study here https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles/miracle-sunday-worship-study-resources#small-group-resources.  I will also put a few copies of the study on the counter in the front hall so that if you would like to do the study independently, you can access it easily there.  If you don’t find one there, it will be because the copies have already been taken—please let me know so that I can make more. 

April 19, 2026 Third Sunday of Easter

Grace and peace to you this April!

 As the weather warms and the rains continue, it begins to seem that spring has finally truly arrived.  I hope that you can take advantage of the opportunity to celebrate God’s good creation as the trees bud out and the flowers bloom.  Those of you who garden will likely be especially happy right now! 

 As a church, we’re moving into a new season—not ordinary time but the season of Easter, which lasts 50 days, up until Pentecost.  I invite you to hold that idea—that Easter is an entire season—with you this spring.  It is only reasonable that our celebrations outlast our Lenten season. 

 

Part of this celebration for me will involve a trip to England, to see the Wesley heritage sites.  I have wanted to go to England since I was a college student, and am very excited for this opportunity!  I will be at Epworth for the first Sunday of the month, and then will be off—your prayers are much appreciated.  I of course have subs for you for the two Sundays I will be away:  the Rev. Jeff Sterling and the Rev. Dr. Roger Owens.  I highly respect both of them, and think you will find their sermons compelling.  There will be no Bible study during those weeks.  And then I will be back from England, well-rested and looking forward to our times of worship and study together. 

April 12, 2026 Second Sunday of Easter

It was a delight to see so many of you, and many with extended family, in the service on Sunday! We had some new faces too, and a chance to celebrate communion together—it was a blessed Easter indeed!

You likely already know that one of my favorite authors is Kate Bowler, who had a new book come out this week called Joyful, Anyway. In her email this week, she wrote, “It feels, at times, as though we are experiencing, as the theologian Charles Mathewes described, a global withering of our capacity for joy.” And it seems fair to acknowledge that we as a society have had many challenges in the last several years: Covid (and long Covid), poisonous and alienating politics, and more recently, serious international tensions. And that doesn’t account for the personal challenges many of us have faced or are currently facing. We are, very many of us, just weary.

But we are also a people called to hope, and to joy. Neither of those things is real if they don’t acknowledge the actual circumstances in which we find ourselves—I’m not asking for a Pollyanna kind of denial. But I think as Christians we do have a core we can turn to (cling to, if necessary!), even in the midst of the evils of this world. Our faith is in something better and something far more certain and far more steady than these current circumstances.

April 5, 2026

Thank you to all who came last night to our last Lenten Soup Supper!  We had a meaningful conversation about how to think about Peter, with his promises and his failures during those final days before the crucifixion.  And we thought, too, about how Peter would have been the one who passed on the story of his failures, and what that would have meant to the early Christians—particularly as he became a significant leader in the early church—and what it might mean to us. 

Thank you also to all who set up and cleaned up for these dinners, and to all who cooked for us each of these nights—your gifts and your labor are much appreciated.  Thank you for helping to create an environment in which we could meet as a church community, and for your warm hospitality and love. 

This week, of course, is Holy Week, and our thinking about these days has only begun with Palm Sunday and with our final Soup Supper.  We also have a Good Friday service at 7:00 on the 3rd, and then our celebration of the Resurrection on Sunday the 5th.  By the way, if 7:00 on Friday is too late for your schedule or for your preference, you are very welcome to join in the Good Friday service at Epworth at 4:00.  Holy Week is a rich time in the church, crossing a wide range of emotional, spiritual, and theological ground, and I invite you to participate as much as you are able. 

March 29, 2026 Palm Sunday

As we move towards Holy Week, a few reminders: 

Our last Soup Supper is this coming Tuesday.  I’m still working on it, but I think what we’ll focus on is Peter’s betrayal. 

Good Friday we’ll have a service at 7:00.  If you prefer an earlier service, you are very welcome at Epworth at 4:00. 

And finally, this week we will have an extra collection for UMCOR Sunday, supporting the connectional work of the United Methodist Committee on Relief in responding to disasters all over the world, including here in the United States.  UMCOR’s work goes well beyond flood buckets, although they are the committee that often delivers them.

March 22, 2026 Fifth Sunday in Lent

Some of you will already know because I announced on Sunday, but I am happy to share with all of you that I passed my ordination interviews!  Technically the final decision awaits a vote of the clergy session of our annual conference, but this vote is largely a formality—the session trusts the decision of the Board of Ordained Ministry (which is the board which interviewed me)—so I am happily anticipating ordination at our Annual Conference in June.  Thank you to all of you:  you have given me grace and room to grow and shared your church experience with me as we face today’s questions together.  And thank you especially for your prayers and support in the lead-up to my interviews. 

As you also know, we had to reschedule our talk on the opioid epidemic with the Rev. Dr. Barry Steiner-Ball because of our recent weather and power outage.  We are in the process of rescheduling with him—he is a very busy man!  We will let you know as soon as we have another date on the calendar.

March 8, 2026 Third Sunday in Lent

We had another great Soup Supper event last night—we talked about the story of the woman at the well, from John 4:5-42.  We used three different pieces of art to reflect on the story and on the assumptions that different people might bring to the text.  If you’re curious, you can find the art here: 

A 6th century mosaic in Italy:

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-viewimage.pl?SID=20260302894834361&code=ACT&RC=54741&Row=&code=act&return=act ‍

An early 17th century painting also from Italy: 

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-viewimage.pl?SID=20260302894834361&code=ACT&RC=58377&Row=&code=act&return=act

And a more contemporary piece (1973) from Cameroon:

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-viewimage.pl?SID=20260302894834361&code=ACT&RC=48282&Row=&code=act&return=act

We also talked a little about the cultural situation in the 1st century in that area of the world, and that gave us even more information to bring to our understanding and our thinking about the story together. 

March 1, 2026 Second Sunday in Lent

As part of my morning study and prayer, I’ve been reading Lent: The Season of Repentance and Renewal, by Esau McCaulley.  McCaulley wants to recapture the fullness of Lent, and the gifts that it offers, and to make us think about the things we do to observe this season—and especially why we might do them.  Early in his book he writes,

“We hope that as Christians we mature and grow and become more and more like Christ.  But the church in its wisdom assumes we will fail, even after our baptism.  The church presumes that life is long and zeal fades, not just for some of us but for all.  So it has included within its life a season in which all of us can recapture our love for God and his kingdom and can cast off those things that so easily entangle us.”  (McCaulley, p.6) 

Several parts of that passage struck me, including that the church “assumes we will fail,” even when we have been introduced to Jesus, and the simple acknowledgment that “life is long and zeal fades.”  So Lent is a season, and it is a season precisely because our own lives go through seasons:  seasons when we are more in need or less, when we are better focused or less, seasons when we are thinking of others and seasons we’re not.  Lent is simply a time when we acknowledge that we are human and variable and finite, and it serves as a reminder to return to faithfulness.  God’s grace abounds, even when we fail.  Our zeal may fade for awhile, but God can and does refresh us.  Our human limitations may require reminders of this, but God remains ever constant, in both love and grace. 

February 22, 2026 First Sunday in Lent

Greetings on this Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent—

I know that some of you will be able to attend tonight’s service, and some will not. I invite you, either way, to take a moment to reflect on this day. I offer you these thoughts from Esau McCaulley:

“[I]f the ashes of Ash Wednesday point us toward the link between sin, death, and rebellion, they also contain something else, something more important than everything we have seen thus far. The ashes are in the shape of the cross. That cross carries within it an entire story and the foundation of human hope. It is the story of loss and gain, of the incarnation of the truly good one, his glorious life and triumphant defeat of death. The ashes are not just a reminder of our great failure; the remind us of God’s victory over sin and death through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son.”1

1Lent: The Season of Repentance and Renewal, Esau McCaulley, p. 25.

February 15, 2026 Transfiguration Sunday

As we move toward the season of Lent, we will of course begin with an Ash Wednesday service at 7:00 on the 18th.  If for any reason an evening service is difficult for you or simply won’t work out that particular evening, I invite you to join the service at 4:00 on Ash Wednesday at Epworth.  

We will also be resuming our Lenten Soup Suppers, starting the week after Ash Wednesday.  We will meet each Tuesday evening, February 24th and March 3rd, 10th 17th, 24th, and 31st, at 6:00.  We will have a signup sheet in the front hall to help with cooking and clean-up.  Remember, it’s Lent, and we’re keeping it simple.  Just some soup, preferably with one vegan for hospitality’s sake, and some kind of crackers or bread.  Feel free to partner with someone.  We’ll have a meal together and some fellowship, to be followed after with some study and conversation.  This has been a great experience for our community each year, and I look forward to being with you again.   

February 8, 2026 Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany

As I get ready for the site visit Wednesday night, I want to thank the many of you who have taken the time to offer me words of encouragement and affirmation.  Our Methodist ordination process is long, and I respect that, as it gives us time to grow and discern and develop, but it also means that a lot is on the line for a long time.  So it has been helpful to me to hear that you feel that McKnight is doing good things, and that my ministry has been helpful in whatever way. 

And while we’re talking about growth and discernment, thank you for being such a hospitable place for me to learn and grow and figure out how to apply what I’ve learned in seminary and elsewhere.  I hope that we are given many more years together. 

In the meantime, please be aware of upcoming events, such as our upcoming Psalms event with Dr. Jerome Creach from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.  Dr. Creach is a nationally respected Old Testament scholar, and he is, in addition to his work at the seminary, also himself a pastor.  I think it will be a rich time of learning and discussion. 

On another note, we also have Dr. Barry Ball, retired law enforcement officer and husband of our bishop—as well as himself also a pastor—coming to speak with us about drug addiction.  Even if you and your family are not personally affected by this problem, it is still good for us to know and care about what our neighbors may be facing.  This is also a good event to which to invite neighbors, friends, and “non-church” people, as it is a topic many people care about for various reasons, and it is another low-stakes opportunity to encounter the church in a non-threatening way. 

February 1, 2026

I hope you are all keeping warm during this cold, snowy week!  Please let me or the church office know if you have any needs that we can help you address in this weather, as we know that it is not easy for everyone to get around in the snow. 

Here at church, I am finalizing my ordination papers (one more paper to proof!), and I will send both an email and a paper copy of everything later today.  And next week, on the 4th, we have our site visit scheduled—all are welcome.  We’ll start at 5:00, have dinner at 6:30, and you’ll have an opportunity to speak with the District Superintendent as well as the ordination site-visit committee about how things are going in church.  Church Council members are especially encouraged to attend, if possible. 

Please keep an eye out for announcements regarding Sunday’s events – both worship and our visit from Dr. Creach, who is scheduled to speak with us about the Psalms.  He prefers to speak in-person, so if it is not safe to meet for worship that day, we are likely to also reschedule his visit. 

January 25, 2026 Third Sunday After the Epiphany

This is turning into a cold January!  Council has been discussing church this Sunday, as it is predicted to be quite cold, and there are varying predictions of exactly how much snow there will be.  No decisions have yet been made—we all know how changeable Pittsburgh weather can be—but however the weather turns out, please stay safe on Sunday, and remember that services can be streamed via Facebook. 

For what is going on in the church, I invite you to look further into this newsletter.  As has already been announced, we will have the Rev. Dr. (and Professor!) Jerome Creach come and speak to us about the Psalms on February 1st, and I am in conversation with Barry Steiner-Ball, who is the bishop’s husband and a retired law enforcement officer, about coming to speak to us about drug addiction.  As you can see already, topics will vary.  These are good opportunities to invite friends to church, too—whether or not they choose to come to the event or afterward to worship, it is a good thing to make the world aware of the church’s work, both in itself and in the world around us. 

Part of the ordination process is a site visit by members of the Board of Ordained Ministry.  This is an opportunity for them to speak with you and with me and to see how our ministry is going together.  It has been determined that my site visit will take place here at McKnight, on February 4th, from 5:00-9:00.  We will have dinner together, and I'll do a slide presentation on the Vacation Bible School we did this year, and the board will have a chance to speak with all of us.  The invitation is open to everyone, so if you're planning to come for dinner, please let us know so that we can have enough for everyone. 

January 18, 2026 Second Sunday After the Epiphany

I was so happy to see so many of you on Sunday morning when the bishop came to worship with us—I’m glad you all could make it!  Bishop Steiner-Ball is a gifted speaker and a wonderful bishop, and you have now had a chance to see her in action—and she has had a chance to meet us and to see what we have been up to as well! 

I would like to ask your prayer:  I have just finished the first batch of my ordination paperwork, and the next set is due on the 31st.  I have done half of that next set so far.  I keep telling myself to “keep on swimming,” and I think things are going well, but your prayers are still very much appreciated, for me and for all of the other candidates, as well as for the committee that will review our work and interview us. 

Please keep in mind our Love Baskets/Bags as you go about your errands during the week.  These are an excellent opportunity for us to let our shut-ins and some others who have been having a rough time that we love them and that we are thinking about them.  Hand lotion, chocolates, small games or treats are all good options for them.

January 4, 2026 Epiphany Sunday

I’m writing this on a snowy day near the end of December, and thinking back on a busy month of services and of beautiful moments together. Thank you to all of you who participated in our Advent services, either by simply attending or by reading, decorating, ushering, or lighting candles—or anything else! Your love and your service are a gift to the church.  

Thank you to Carla for coordinating our Hanging of the Greens, and for the many participants both in the service itself and in the preparations beforehand. Thank you to the M&M’s for the cookie walk, which was very successful even after a weather delay. Thank you to Jen for preparing the luminaries, and to the people who set them out and lit them on a cold winter night. And finally, thank you to Samantha for creating beautiful posts for our Facebook page, and thank you to Alex and Anna (and Yan!) for the beautiful music for our Christmas Eve service!

As we look forward into January, please note that Bible study starts again not on January 6th, as previously announced, but on the 13th. As my son Matthew was sick over the Christmas break, Wayne and I did not have a chance to travel to see Wayne’s parents after Christmas, and I simply kept on working that week. We will be traveling on the 6th instead and be gone for just a few days.  

I will, however, be back for the service on the 11th, and—great news!—the bishop will be with us that day to give the sermon. I hope that you can all attend, and that you have a chance to meet her. Bishop Steiner-Ball is very interested in all of us in Western Pennsylvania gaining a better sense of our Methodist connectionalism, and so I invited her to come and meet you all.  

December 21, 2025 Fourth Sunday in Advent

As we get closer to day Advent points us toward, the activities are ramping up, the shopping list is (hopefully!) getting shorter, the plans and arrangements are getting firmed up—

Christmas can be a lot!  Take a breath, and know that however your plans turn out, you are beloved by the God of the universe—so much beloved that God came to live with us and show love to us, and to give us hope. 

In the midst of the bustle, I’ll repeat here the invitation to you to come tomorrow night to our Longest Night service, not because you need another thing to do, but because maybe, like me, you need a moment of quiet in this season of rushing around.   And especially come if you need a place not to be merry, but simply to sit in the presence of God, as your real self, amidst all of the ups and downs you’re living with, and maybe also with the memories of the ones you miss, especially now.  

Please also note that since we weren’t able to do our cookie walk last Sunday, we’re doing it this Sunday.  So come to church on Sunday for worship, and for fellowship, and for some lovely treats made by talented and loving bakers! 

December 14, 2025 Third Sunday in Advent

I just finished reading The Choice: Embrace the Possible, which is a story of surviving the Holocaust—as well as its aftereffects—by Dr. Edith Eva Eger.  After she is freed from the concentration camp, and some time passes, she eventually moves to the United States and, after some time, becomes a psychologist.  Some of the people she works with are soldiers who have faced unthinkable things, and who have had great losses, and she has great sympathy for them, as well as an experienced understanding of trauma.  

I was deeply moved by her love for the world, and by her continued determination to seek life and hope after so much suffering.  But I was also moved by her interest in the people around her, which persists after life has given her every reason to insulate herself for her own safety.  Near the end of the book, Eger says to the reader, “And here you are.  Here you are!  In the sacred present.” 

Here you are—in the sacred present.  What an excellent reminder of where we exist in time.  Even in the Advent scriptures, which take us into some of the dark and difficult places of the world’s need and its disinterest in healing, there is an assertion that life is sacred—that all of our time belongs to God.  I could not think of a better phrase for this season than the “sacred present.”  Because even if our Scriptures were written long ago, we know that they also describe the humanity of today, which includes us, too. 

December 7, 2025 Second Sunday of Advent

On Sunday, I spoke about how Advent “begins the dark”—how, in this time of the year that has actual darkness, as the days get shorter, the lectionary has us thinking about why the world needed Christ to come.  And since we are in the world, too, we know also that we needed Christ to come—and that we still need Christ to come, and so we look forward to Christ coming again.  We Christians hold all of these truths together—because they are the same idea.  We remind ourselves of both of these things every time we have communion, saying together, “Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.” 

So we hold these two truths together:  the reality of the darkness in the world, and our trust in the coming of God’s light.  We know that whatever mess we human beings—including us Christians—get ourselves into (or have already gotten ourselves into!), we can trust that God, in God’s own time, will set things right.  And we give thanks for all of this, knowing that we, too, need to be set right.  We give thanks both for the grace that we are given, and for the overwhelming love that gave us that grace.   

So I invite you to think about light and dark this Friday, which is the McKnight neighborhood’s Light-Up Night.  One of our church families will be here at church that night, lighting candles in our sanctuary windows and shining a spotlight on the stained glass over our front door.  We do this partly to participate in our neighborhood, simply to be part of our community, but more importantly, we do it because, as Fleming Rutledge says, “The church keeps her lamps burning through the night, because she still expects her Lord.”