How have you searched? How have you suffered? How have you served? The assignment was to write a worldview paper answering these questions; it was part of my senior seminar course at Hope College several years ago. Writing and sharing our worldview papers was one of my favorite college memories, not only for my own process of self-reflection, but… Read More »

“We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.”   –T. S. Eliot I’m a nature documentary geek. I could spend hours immersed in any program put on by David Attenborough or Ken Burns. My partner, Jane, teases me that… Read More »

We will not go back to normal. Normal never was. Our pre-corona existence was not normal other than we normalized greed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, rage, hoarding, hate and lack. We should not long to return, my friends. We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment.  One that fits all of… Read More »

For the month of May 2021, we entered an experiment here at Central. We “flip-flopped” the worship schedule of our two main services, so that for those five weeks, Traditional Worship occurred at 9 am, and The Well Worship occurred at 11 am. Along the way we asked you to respond, via a survey, to… Read More »

Families and Friends of Central Church, This is the last blog I’ll write as your senior pastor. And while I’m not much of a blogger, I have enjoyed the regular opportunity to celebrate our church and its mission in this space. As I reflect on the 14 years I’ve served as your pastor, I realize… Read More »

Back when I attended Grace Episcopal, I listened with envy—and not holy envy—just plain human envy about the offerings of Central Church. Without stepping foot in the building, I knew that Central trained Stephen Ministers; served outreach breakfasts from a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, featured talented musicians, and had money to spare. The modest church I… Read More »

“It is amazingly good to see you!” That was the buzz I heard between Central friends coming into the building to worship together a couple weeks ago for in-person worship. You could tell there were big smiles, even behind masks. There was an out-sized joy in the air, even for the few gathered. It struck… Read More »

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”  Ecclesiastes 3:1 ‘I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and come and go and find pastures.” -Jesus Dear Friends, Well, we’ve certainly seen our share of changes this past year. As a congregation we figured out how… Read More »

Hello sisters & brothers, My hope is that you are caring for yourselves and for one another in these pandemic days. I sit to write these few lines, aware how this year of vigilance has been hard on everyone. Most all of us have someone in our circles of influence who have suffered symptoms of… Read More »

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 Dear Central Church Family, Blessed New Year Friends!  I must say, the dawn of a new year feels good. Thanks to a nearly yearlong battle with our foe, the coronavirus, I’ve been anxious to put a wearisome 2020… Read More »