Posts from 2023

On Thanksgiving  Eve the Interfaith Coalition of Southwest Washington held an Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at Congregation Kol Ami, the Jewish synagogue.  This is a tradition that goes back a number of years, though it was interrupted by the pandemic.  It was good to resume that tradition, to take time to give thanks before eating a big meal and all the other activities associated with Thanksgiving.  It was good to gather with people from other faith traditions.  I am grateful for Rabbi Elizabeth…

I met Peggy when I was about ten years old.  Peggy’s daughter and I were in Girl Scout’s together, so Peggy was to me just someone else’s Mom, not someone I, as a child, thought much about.  Peggy continued in that role when I started to go to the youth group at Simpson United Methodist Church, in Pullman, WA, where that same daughter also attended.  As the years passed and I became more active in the church I learned to…

Last fall a number of people from Mill Plain joined a congregational study of a book titled A Bigger Table; Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community.  I also preached on that theme for three weeks. To my delight, months later the image of a bigger table comes up in multiple ways.  Sometimes it is as simple as a meeting with more people than can comfortably fit around the table that had been set up for it.  Someone will comment,…