Monday, September 29, 2008

Laughing Pastor

My favorite part of being involved with the PCUSA Blog is seeing all the different voices, the wide variety of perspectives offered by we who call ourselves ourselves Presbyterian bloggers.

In order to choose which blog to highlight this week, I used the highly scientific method of scrolling through the Members of Our Community list in the sidebar to determine which blog was updated most recently.

It's my delight to point you toward the Laughing Pastor!

At this blog, laughter is the only evidence i need for God's grace. "I am a pastor living in Texas. Though there are many challenges in the church that don't inspire laughter....when a laugh comes along I enjoy it with gusto. My grandmother taught me the art of laughter. Laughter has been a source of healing in my life. Laughter gets me through hard times and good times. I believe we need more laughter...even in the pulpit!"

The gorgeous photos are only one of the good reasons to visit this blog. In particular, today I'm going to highlight the post it's time for a different story...
Some stories simply need to be forgotten. Some stories don't need to be told ever again. Some stories are told for the wrong reasons. Some stories tear down rather than build up, cause conflict rather than create unity, maintain anxiety rather than encourage joy.

Leaders in the church I serve admitted this. The time has come for different stories to be told. The time has come for some stories to be over-shadowed by trust, imagination and excitement.

And that's just what we decided to accomplish.

Now this is why I became a minister. This is why I desire to moderate the Session of a church.....to plan for meaningful ways to bring healing and growth to a church that desperately needs both!

Our prayer is that stories of faith will soon overshadow the negative attitudes that have ruled the roost far too long.

In my congregation, some of those stories have names like "The Schedule" and "The Portrait." But it's not just church. My marriage has these stories, too. And I appreciate the reminder that I have the power to tell a different story, even to myself.

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