Church and Tea

Confession and Grace

Dan — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:10:44 +0000

My nephew recently went for his first confession to a priest. This was a big deal. After spending a few minutes with the priest, he came out and met his religious education teacher. This is the conversation as recorded by my sister: Teacher: “Do your penance and then you can enjoy some refreshments.” Nate: “Penance? [...]

Shep Visits an Agnostic

Dan — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:26:08 +0000

The Reverend Dean Shepherd (Shep for short) stepped into the local coffee shop to meet with Brett Laud over a cup of coffee. Brett was a college student who was going through a rather difficult individualization phase because his ideas about religion and spirituality were unforgivably different from his family and his church. Sensing this, Shep [...]

The Encouragement of Jude

Dan — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:19:10 +0000

Verses 20-21 of Jude offer some words of encouragement that I am reflecting on today:

John Wesley: Read to Improve Preaching

Dan — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:04:14 +0000

What does John Wesley say is important for growing as a preacher and getting better and preparing sermons? Reading. Check out this excerpt from a letter that Wesley wrote to John Trembath. It is sure to encourage you in the importance of personal reading time!

What Good is Visitation?

Dan — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 02:34:21 +0000

I have recently been reading the Questing Parson blog. I love his way of putting posts into a narrative, and I think that style may help me out of a touch of writer’s block. I’m going to try it out: Reverend Dean Shepherd (Shep for short) drove through his neighborhood on his way home after [...]

Nine Suggestions for Cultivating Volunteers

Dan — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:22:35 +0000

Wouldn't it be great if all of our churches had continuous supplies of volunteer leaders to step into vacant positions on a moments notice? It almost sounds too good to be true, but I have seen churches where this actually happens!